Ok, this really sucks. I just put in a Atkins Stret Port. I went to hook up the battery cables and blew my main fuse. If I hook up a test light to the ground of my battery, and touch and metal on the engine, or the body apnnel, it lights up. It is hot everywhere. I have disconnected all the visable wires, starter, temp sensor, all the little connectors along the firewall, ect. I am left now to pull off my upper intake and look under there. But,,,,, I thought to get some advise first.

Thank you all!
Chris

I am soo glad this site is back up!
:0)

 

You say if you hook the test light to the GROUND (-) of the battery and touch any metal, it's live? That means you've got the connections at the battery reversed. Are you sure about the way you've checked it? Are you connecting the test light to the positive side of the battery and then touching metal? There's no way that groun-to-ground is going to make the light come on. You've got to have the positive in the circuit somewhere.

 

sounds like you installed your battery in backwards.

 

ditto

double check to be sure you have the right connections at the battery, positive battery cable has a medium size wire that runs up to the fuse box which is the charging wire, 80 amp which keeps blowing.

 

Either that or you wired the alternator feed line from the + battery side to a ground........

 

Yeah thats the only thing that ever blew the main fuse 80 amp. Was my buddy threw my battery in for me and put it in wrong. THough the horn went off and then it blew.

 

Man, I will double check htis. If that is the case, I need to stick to two bongloads instead of 20!

 

The positive cable should run from the battery to the starter, witha branch going to the alternator and the 80amp fuse.

The negative cable should go from the battery to the engine block where the long starter mount bolt goes through the starter/tranny bellhousing/engine block. It should have a branch also going to the chassis.

If you are blowing the fuse, that means something is drawing current at a higher amperage than 80. This usually indicates a short. Somewhere, you have the positive power from the battery feeding directly to ground. The battery is trying to discharge power at a rate higher than 80amps. Connecting the battery backwards will not necessarily blow the fuse. My battery has been connected backwards, and while it does spark and make scarey noises, it didn't blow the fuse because the current draw didn't exceed 80 amps.

 

Well mine did and it blew the instant I connected them. By default the negative is closest to the front of the engine bay near the headlight and the positive should be nearest to the firewally or engine. So if you changed them around you could have a problem.

 

Please post a closing or summary entry on the thread when you resolve your hot ground problem. It gets really frustrating when someone has the same problem and reads a thread, finds a lot of suggestions but no information how the thread owner finally resolved the problem.

 

This is what I am afraid of. I am 99% sure the battery was hooked up right. I will certainly double check when I get home. Otherwise, I will pull off my upper intake and see if I pinched something down there.
Thanks all,
Chris

 

You can count on it!
Chris

 

 

Double check that battery, if indeed it is hooked up correctly, grab a friend and start pulling fuses till the test light goes off. That will at least show you the circuit the short is in.

 

the short is in the circuit being protected by the 80amp fuse. Thats why the 80amp fuse keeps blowing out.

 

not necessarily, a backwards battery connection can blow it out. the only reason the engine block would be hot (postively charged from the battery) is if the battery polarities were reversed.

 

Well guys, definitly not the battery. Wires are hooked up fine.

Question? The second harness, with the emissions ect. It seems to me that the ignition needs to be on before power goes that way, would that be correct? Basicaly, the entire harness that goes under my intake.

See, when I did the engine swap, I wrapped my harness with fresh tape. Maybe somewhere in there, I fked it up. But, I thought to ask the above question before I un-wrap my Main harness.

Thanks for all your help guys!
Chris