[Tigers] Electrical short during start attempt

[Gharlowe]

Thanks, Gary.  I’ll check again, but the ground strap was bolted tightly at both ends and wasn’t broken.  I gave it a good tug.  

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 23, 2018, at 10:02 AM, Gary Winblad <garywinblad at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> Graham,
> The loose ground in the trunk WILL prevent it from starting.
> BUT your problem is the ground strap on the engine.
> Make sure it connects from the engine to the chassis (the old Alpine tranny mount threaded hole).
> It must be loose or connected wrong to burn the small black wire.
> It is straightforward, really only as complicated as a flashlight ;-)
> Gary
> 
> 
>> On 7/22/2018 11:03 AM, Graham Harlowe via Tigers wrote:
>> 
>> Thank you all for the replies. (I knew I should have paid more attention
>> during those EE classes!)   The starter circuit seems pretty straight
>> forward:  heavy gauge positive cable from the battery to the starter
>> solenoid and then to the starter/engine block.  The circuit is closed via
>> the ground strap from the engine block to the chassis at the clutch slave
>> cylinder and then from the chassis to the battery negative terminal via the
>> short cable at the trunk bulkhead.
>> 
>> The "two" ground wires that fried are actually two ends of the same wire.
>> The wire enters the harness from the ballast resistor (chassis mount), does
>> a 180 inside the harness, and exits the loom with the sending unit wire
>> (block mount).  As others have said, when the heavy gauge starter circuit is
>> open, the power seeks another ground path and the light gauge ground wire
>> between chassis and block couldn't carry the load.
>> 
>> I found the ground strap at the slave cylinder was intact with good
>> connections.  I'll remove and clean up the contacts to be sure.  The battery
>> cable at the trunk bulkhead wasn't tight.  I'll tighten that connection and
>> hope that was the primary problem.
>> 
>>  Let me know if there are any other places to look or items to check.
>> 
>> Thanks again,
>> 
>> - Graham
>> 
>> 
>> 
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