Help: Electrical issues

[durallymax]

So friday afternoon my truck was a block and a crank. Sunday at 5 it was running but it took some weir things to get it to run.

1st it wouldnt crank and there was smoke coming from the drivers side behind the motoro where my wires run into the cab.

Then my buddy flipped the valet switch and it cranked but wouldnt fire.

I then noticed my intake manifold was piping hot. My lift pump does ground through this not sure if its always this way. But if figured it was the intake manifold heater so i unhooked it and the truck fired up.

Other notes:

When i hooked up my pass side battery there were no sparks. Then when i hooked up the drivers side there were tons. The battery could be shot, it had boiled some during the compression check. And i had it sitting on concrete for awhile which i know is a nono. But otherwise the power is lost somewhere along the line.

Also when you hit the horn the blinkers flash. When you hit the left signal things are fine. when you hit the right signal both flash but the left is dim and only 4 of the 7 LEDs in the mirror blink.

Any ideas?? Im thinking a short, i already triple checked my grounds.

 

[durallymax]

anybody

 

[Fingers]

More than likely you missed hooking up a ground to the block. The Horn/blinker is the give away.

 

[sweetdiesel]

there is atleast 4 grounds on the block
one from the head to firewall...trying to member the rest?

sounds like a bad ground

 

[durallymax]

Head to firewall, two on drivers side. one or two on pass side. am i mising on somewhere??

I wonder if the ground fromt eh head to the block is bad since there was smoke coming from that exact area.

 

[JoshH]

There are also some at the lower right and left sides of the block towards the front, at least there is on my truck.

 

[durallymax]

those were the ones i was referring to. lower front left and lower front right near PCV dump on LB7s.

 

[JoshH]

Ok, I just went back and read what you wrote. I can't think of any others you are missing. It's been a few months since I pulled my engine though.

 

[durallymax]

unless one got pinched or damaged nd ist grounding correctly.

 

[MaxPowerLB7]

There are two grounds on the lower front portion of the block, one on either side that goes to each battery. There is one from the head to the firewall as well.

 

[Fingers]

Engine will be grounded to the firewall off the back of the head on the driver's side. If you are missing a main ground, the one battery (driver's?) has a ground link to the body/chassis. If you're not grounded to the block, it will use the chassis ground to carry the power. Needless to say, the ground strap is not big enough to handle the load.

Down below, on either side of the block, just above the upper oil pan, there will be a ground from each battery, one on each side. There will also be grounds for the following:

Passenger side:

One from the engine harness
One from the harness that goes to the starter.
The battery ground
​

Driver's side:

One engine harness ground coming out of the harness for the oil sensor
Battery ground​

So, on your truck, there should be at least 5 wires hooked up to the block down below.

 

[JOHNBOY]

Do you still have the glow plug, intake heater controler? If you deleteed either but the controler is still there you need to remove the lead wire and cover the terminal. If you do not anything that can carry ground that hits will be low voltage weld fodder when the control is cylcing. Don't ask how I know.:shifan:

Got to love the magic blue smoke.:joker:

 

[durallymax]

Do you still have the glow plug, intake heater controler? If you deleteed either but the controler is still there you need to remove the lead wire and cover the terminal. If you do not anything that can carry ground that hits will be low voltage weld fodder when the control is cylcing. Don't ask how I know.:shifan:

Got to love the magic blue smoke.:joker:

nope both still there.


I will go recheck my grounds once i get around to working on it again.

 

[durallymax]

well i feel dumb. After 3 weeks my oil cooler gasket showed up. So i went under to double check my grounds and dangling there was the pass side battery to block ground. connected that and no difference.

I put in my new batteries too.

Then i noticed another ground dangling on the pass side rubbing the frame. Im guessing this is the culprit. Didnt have time to check tonite though. The oil cooler kicked my ass. Kindof a PITA when its in the truck.

Hopefully it is the culprit as i have two pulls this weekend id like to make it to.

 

[JoshH]

At least you found it. Good luck at the pulls.

 

[durallymax]

cross your fingers i havent tested it yet.

 

[durallymax]

well that solved part of the problem i can now start the truck with the key and no switches flipped. My blinkers sitll dont work right nor does my horn but that hs nothing to do with going 300'

the gasket is a nother story. my oil cooler had some stripped threads but i put it in anyways. well it leaked. so i completely removed it and swapped in a spare i had. but then the o ring on the water pipe broke. i put one on that was similar from my o ring set but it has a slow drip. not a big enough one to keep me from pulling it though.