Ok well a couple months ago my clutch hydraulic system went, and being broke as I was/am decided to let my car sleep for the winter. I kept starting it every couple weeks just for the hell of it. THen about a month ago I went to start it with some snow on the hood. It cranked for a few seconds, and then just stopped without starting. I keep cranking and nothing, no clicking, nothing. I get out of the car and see some smoke coming from the top of the hood where it meets the windshield. I open the hood and see that a ground wire coming from the back of the engine where I cant get at it is what is smoking. The rubber is melted and the actual copper is exposed. Do you think that just splicing a new wire into this one and soldering it then regrounding it will fix this? Ive never soldered anything or really worked with electronics, but I have some 8-10 gauge wire and rome rosin-core solder so I guess its never too late to learn.

 

well yup, replace that wire, and check the ground from the battery to the engine. Sounds like your starter is taking the ground through that little 10AUG wire for some odd reason. If it is the wire from the back of the engine to the ??? firewall??

sounds fishy to me

 

maybe something else happened when it started smoking, but yes, the wire that I saw having problems was black ~10 gauge and it went from underneath the intake to a little clip on the firewall. I cant really get to see where the wire comes from, anyone have any suggestions of how to get around back there? the angle of the hood and the fact that the wire is right in the middle of the engine bay makes it tough. Can I just cut the wire half-way down, past all the melted parts and solder a new wire onto the old stub?

 

First fix the primary ground from battery (-) to the starter.
It can fail inside the terminals & still look good.

You can pull that cheesy clip on stock ground, and replace it with a good bolt on cable with bright shinny metal to matal contacts.
You can relocate it if you wish, anywhere from the engine core to the body.

 

Please explain how I can relocate this from the core of the engine to the body. I am technically impared, I require walk thrus =)

 

The upper intake manifold is in good electrical contact with the engine, so a cable from it to the firewall would work

Many of us add an alternator frame to coil mount ground.

 

how would you attach the wire to the uim? just like wrap it around some protrusion or something?

 

Get a short cable with big eyelets on each end.
Auto parts stores have them.
Bolt it on to get started.

If you're stuck somewhere, borrow a jumper cable & connect one wire from the batery to the engine

Limp to a shop with a lift & fix the primary ground.

 

Get a short cable with big eyelets on each end.
Auto parts stores have them.
Bolt it on to get started.

If you're stuck somewhere, borrow a jumper cable & connect one wire from the battery to the engine.

Limp to a shop with a lift & fix the primary ground.

 

Ok I added an 8 gauge wire with ring connector from a bolt on the top of the UIM to a bolt on the side of the passenger side strut tower. Still nothing when I crank. Any ideas

 

Also, when I turn the key, all I get is one click and a pause, and then the common *bzzzzzz* grinding sound of the starter or whatever it is trying to work.

 

Check the battery. It may be low from storage.
Check the battery terminal clamps. You want clean bright metal to metal contact.

Try that jumper cable trick from the battery (-) to the engine. It will temporarily bypass a bad primary ground.

 

I did try the jumper cable trick, and that was when I first noticed the Bzzzz of the started after a second. Then I took them off and tested again for the bzzzz sound, and it was still there. I will go grab some heavy duty cables from my uncle and see if it works when I jump it.

 

Keep in eye out for more burning grounds.. This doesnt sound good. SOunds like a high amperage wire is somehow shorting to the block..

 

Ok, well i charged the battery for 30min or so. Went out and tried to start it. The car cranked with what sounded like super-power, but never started. I have a fuel pump switch installed so I kept flipping the switch, cranking for 10seoncds or so, then repeating, seeing if I could even get a stumble.... nothing. After about 1min of cranking, battery died again. Could the original wire I fried be a ground that goes to the injectors?

 

bump, any ideas?

 

yeh, the injectors' ground is on top of the rear rotor or rear side housing, near the EGR valve, 12mm (I think) bolt...can't get to it unless you pull the upper intake/ dynamic chamber off (on a '88, anyway). If the ground from the back of the engine fried, a good place to start would be to check the big ground on the starter top bolt area. If a ground wire fries, it's not a short- it's too much current flowing through it, that should be flowing through another (bigger) wire. Hence the reason everybody's tellin' you to check your starter connections