ok so i decided to try to get my new engine to turn over, i stuck the battery and hooked it up and went to start and it just clicks. the starter clicks and groans, the carb is clicking like crazy, and the positive battery cable is getting hot. so i guess its a short somewhere. but i hooked up everything the way it was before. i hooked up a multi-meter to the positive cable and its drawing like 2amps with nothing on. now i dont know what to do. i've been checking all my connections and havn't found anything wrong. any ideas. i would hate to have to just keep disconecting stuff to try to fix the problem and i realy dont wanna fry anything

 

ok so i trace the ground to one of the wires going to the starter selinoid. according to the wireing diagram that wire goes back to the ingnition switch. problem is how do i test where it is getting grounded out? if i can unplug the giant main connector on the drivers side i could probably test to see if the ground is in the engine bay or in the dash right? and then if it is in the engine bay i gotta tear through all the wire loom in the harness. and if its in the dash i gotta figure that stuff out. wish me luck

 

It could just be the starter is bad. Ive seen them pull to many amps and wont start, just do what your describing.. Turn your key to ON/Start then get out and jump the starter manually with a screw driver. If the starter spins then obviously its good. Check the wires coming from your ignition key then.

 

well i tried to just jump the starter connectiong and it just clicked and groaned and was still heating up the positive battery cable. so i guess i have a bad starter and a bad wire to it. i got another starter and tonight i'm gonna se if it will work, but i think i'm still gona have to hunt through the harness to find the short

 

Check your grounds. which includes between the starter and the block. you may have a high resistence at a ground connection. That can account for a warm B+ cable.

 

how is the starter grounded to the block? i know the seliniod is attached to the starter itself for ground, i just assumed the starter itself was grounded through its bolts into the motor. i haven't tested the new starter yet its too late now but i plan on doing it tommarow afternoon.

 

You are right the bolts are a ground path but so is the complete mounting surface where it mounts to the block. In turn it then grounds to the body by the ground straps at the back of the head and through the neg back to the battery at the front of the block . It wouldn't take a lot to induce a high resistance in that path. When you put the starter back in just make sure the bolts and the mounting surface are clean. I have seen where the bolts and one or more of these connections aren't tight enough, dirty/corroded or the starter mounting surface covered with corrosion and dirt/oil cause a no crank, high current draw and have also seen some of the ground wires get hot enough to melt the insulation off.

Hopefully the starter fixes your problem, chasing wires is hard enough but chasing grounds can be a beeech.

 

yeah i know what you mean. trying to follow that dam wire around is such a pain. i wish i would have known about this when i had the motor out. i guess im lust gonna have to search throught the sea of plastic loom and wires untill i find the problem. i think i know where it is but i hope i'm wrong because tis gonna be a pain to get to it behind the motor. also on a side note the guy i traded my truck to for this car seems upset with me saying his mechanic said my motor might need new bearings or a new oil pump(i have no idea why), i felt it good to mention i found out his car had been in a frontal collision and it had a wireing issue :|

 

ok so new starter is in and jumping the terminals works. but i still cant figure out the other ground. i think it might have something to do with the viper alarm in the car. > i wanna know one thing. how many wires are suposed to go from the positive starter terminal into the black wireing harness. i have three. my wireing diagram shows one. i know one leads up to the AC area and ties in to that stuff. the other two go through the friewall on the drivers side. i know which of them is grounded but i cant figure out where it is under the dash. there are hundreds of wires under there, for the system, the alarm, all kinds of stuff. i think i know which wires go to the ignition colum but i tested both of them with the switch on and they both came up ground. i only have one ground under the hood. then i tested them with the switch in the off position and both wires were not grounded anymore?? so i guess there not what i'm looking for. i'm thinking about just eliminateing that wire and seeing if it will work without it. i dont really know what to do. i really need someone that knows this system to figure out what is what. it so frustrateing not knowign where the problem is. i dont wanna procede finishing up the car untill i figure this out in case i gotta rip the stuff back out again, anybody have any ideas on the wire in question? or some better diagrams than chiltons manuals offer?

 

ok so i just eliminated that wire from the starter and it trns over. i think i just gotta check that i have spark still and i will be good to continue putting the car back togeather. hopefully i can find some time this weekend to manage to at least get the car running. the hopefuly have it inspected by the end of next week (it better be because i'm takeing a long weekend and i wanna visit my friend in college upstate. then i can decide wether these rumors that a 305 can hit 130mph are true or not