Hello!


I'm experiencing severel electrical problems and I wonder if there might be one reason behind then all? I'm thinking of bad ground somewhere or perhaps one crucial part of equipment? The car is a 350 TPI -89.


The following has happened:


- Ruined the alternator. Switched to a new one.
Battery was still okay and is now charging as it should. This occured at the very exact same time as a severe leak in the inlet gasket was discovered.


- Car didn't crank (warm engine). Starter ruined, switched to a new one which worked.
Before the starter went out I'd seen white (smelly) smoke coming up from the same area several times when starting, mostly when engine is cold but perhaps it doesn't matter. Could this be electrical smoke? There's a suspicion that this problem might be linked to the inlet gasket leak mentioned above, since a lot of coolant went out and probably poured over the starter.


- Fuse went out for central locking. Switched it and it works.
Happened at the same time as the starter went out.


- Car didn't crank again! (warm engine, just took a shorter spin). About to give up but then all of a sudden it started.
It has been starting since but that white smelly smoke has once again occured just after start-up, then it goes away! Comes from the very same area as before (starter location of angine room) but maybe it could be water vaporizing on exhaust, gathered from a wash earlier that day? Hard to tell but very distressing for me since I connect it with the previous starter failure.


I'm suspectiong that there might be a common cause to all or some of these problems and before I've located it, I'm afraid to ruin yet another piece of equipment. Any ideas? Come to think of that before every incident mentioned above (apart from when starting and seeing white smoke), I've been running the AC which I mostly don't. Could this in any way be linked to my problems?




Thank you for your help!


Best regards,
Per

 

follow the wires from the Alt to the starter to the battery, make sure nothing is touching or a nic in the wire could be grounding. if you have a buddy that can watch where the smoke comes from can see if its still happening and locate it for you easyer. get it up on jacks or ramps.

check your ground/ground strap, and ground n positive wires on your starter

just check n look all you can do at this point, water damage + electric = bad news
but to hard to just make guess work.

make sure your grounds are tight n proper.

 

Thanks Queball, I'll include this in my check-up!

 

Hi again!


How many ground straps should there be in the engine compartment? Gage?

 

Most cars come with 1 ground strap which is attached typically from passenger valve cover head to the firewall , then neg battery cable from battery to engine block and a smaller wire from neg side of batter to fender well.(thats how mine is setup)

mine has it and i attached 1 more from the driver side engine where the
alternator bracket bar that's attached to the exhaust manifold ( i sanded away the pain on the bracket so nice n clean metal to metal contact) to the driver side
top fender well is

i could have done it else where but was decent location i just drilled a bolt hole and used a non painted/coated threaded bolt an mounted it there.

you can pick up a ground strap from your local part store
u can also just use a negative battery terminal wire to the same thing
ground strap just makes it easier to move n flex around if necessary.

it dont hurt to have a couple in stalled dont need alot just make sure you dont mount it in/on something near the fuel lines
u can use a meter to test for good ground spot. but engine to something is fine

typical ground strap looks like

 

Thanks again Queball!