Need a lil help fellas

[chillydog]

Hey guys,

i welded a bracket on my left rear frame rail( neg cable disco'd from battery ) and now i have a dead bronco. Battery conns are tight and batt measure 12.2v Hot side of solenoid measures 12.2v also. I have no power to the rest of the truck however, All fuses checked fine /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> no lights,horn,radio, no crank! no nothing! Its as if the battery was removed. Here is where get a little stranger..... i have a triple gauge set up under the hood oil,temp, and volts. Just to keep an eye on things while breaking in my new camshaft. While moving the gauges to check things, the temp line from the engine to the gauge ( looks like a spring around a wire ) started arcing on the fender. I could actually see and hear the arc. I disco'd the battery and have been on shift for a few days. Going back to diagnose it tomorrow but was fishing for suggestions.

Thanks

1977

351w

c4

dana20

ONE-WIRE Alternator

HEI distributor

centech harness

 

[Bully Bob]

Hi Chillydog.., welcome..!

OMG.., how strange is that..!!

What exactly did you weld on the frame & was the item mounted to it electrical or mechanical..?

Which happened first, the welding (& everything dead) -or- the wire touching the fender w/sparks..??

Is this a "Bordon-tube" type of temp. gauge..? (they use liquid in a very small tube & are usually protected by a spring)

RU sure some other part of the gauge-set didn't touch at the same time... i,e, volt meter..?

The oil & temp. senders just increase ground (less resistance) as they warm. They're all meant to go thru the firewall so the only thing that can short (12v) (while moving 'round under hood) is the voltmeter.

It's possible (& some on this board would know) the centech harness has a "fusable-link" ..., which would be a good thing for this very reason.

 

[chillydog]

I just installed a 23 gall main tank with all new braided lines and an6 fittings. I mig welded a small bracket back by the left rear tire to hold a canister type fuel filter. Everything worked peachy prior to filter install.

 

[Rons beast]

Hey Chilly,

Welcome,

What you described sounds like bad grounds. The gauge was "arcing to Ground', or "searching for ground", I would check and clean all grounds. replace the battery ground to block if it's older than 7-8 years or more. or looks the least bit stressed.

good Luck

 

[chillydog]

Thanks !!! i'll do it tomorrow. I think there is only one ground and goes from the battery to the cylinder head. Perhaps i will replace that and add another from the block to the frame.

 

[chillydog]

Guys

shes alive again!!! I pulled the ground wire off, cleaned both connections and re-installed. Guess what,,,, that didnt work either /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I ended up replacing the starter solenoid on the firewall and ****! everything works /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I'm not going to question why, where, what, or but! at least we're moving forward again on this project.

Thanks for the help fellas

Chillydog.

 

[Rons beast]

Chill,

cool...glad you got it running, and thanks for the update.