[jims68ragtop]

Hi,

A couple days ago, I was driving my '68 Lemans and there was a very loud pop that sounded like an electrical short in the engine compartment. Smoke rolled out of the engine and I had to tow the car home. On the driver's side of the engine, there is a bundle of wires leading from the cowl to the alternator and some go down to the starter. The medium sized wire leading from the alternator to the starter was burned in two a few inches from the starter. This wire had been so hot that it melted some of the insulation off of the wires that are harnessed together with it and all of the insulation burned off the broken wire. I am just starting to dig in to figure out what happened and I will be replacing the burned wires soon. I pulled off the starter to check things out. The large starter solenoid stud nut was loose (the one that tightens against the solenoid housing). The wire that burned in two is the one that attaches to the large starter solenoid stud along with the positive battery cable. The battery cable is unharmed. At the alternator, the stud that the burnt wire attaches to also had a loose nut (again, this is the nut that tightens against the alternator housing). These nuts were not loose when I installed the starter and the alternator. I am guessing that the extreme heat running down the burnt wire may have loosened these nuts somehow.

- Any ideas what might have shorted to cause this?
- Do you suppose that there is damage to the starter or alternator?
- How do I check starter alternator for damage?

Thanks, Jim

[nytrainer]

I had similar situation with my 68. What happened was a rub through of the insulation of the wires going into the metal "tube" that is in between the #6 and 8 cylinder's exhaust manifold. Since these wires are right off the battery they have voltage present at all times.
My fix, after repairing/replacing damaged wires, was to have the wires that pass through this tube pass through a piece of woven loom material for abrasion protection. I also placed a cutoff device on the
battery post to isolate the circuit when put in the garage. Some have rerouted these wires using the Ram Air style wiring.

Te

[jims68ragtop]

Nytrainer,

Thanks for the reply. Did you suffer any damage to either the alternator or the starter when that happened?

Jim

[nytrainer]

Both were fine..

[jims68ragtop]

Nytrainer,

You were right on the money. I just rewired everything and she fired right up. No apparent damage to the alternator or starter so far. Thanks for your help.

Jim

[AdamIsAdam]

Originally Posted by nytrainer

I had similar situation with my 68. What happened was a rub through of the insulation of the wires going into the metal "tube" that is in between the #6 and 8 cylinder's exhaust manifold. Since these wires are right off the battery they have voltage present at all times.
My fix, after repairing/replacing damaged wires, was to have the wires that pass through this tube pass through a piece of woven loom material for abrasion protection. I also placed a cutoff device on the
battery post to isolate the circuit when put in the garage. Some have rerouted these wires using the Ram Air style wiring.

Te

What's the "Ram Air style wiring?"

[nytrainer]

Adam,
I might be using the wrong term but the tube I referenced in previous posts that's used on log exhaust manifolds (that goes down to the starter between #6 & #8 cylinders on drivers side) would not work with Ram Air style exhaust manifolds. Those exhaust manifolds, I'm told, use a tube that sends the positive battery cable around the front of the engine. I'm not sure as I don't have that style but the tube that passes the pos. cable past the motor mount to the starter? Someone who uses one will chime in.
I had posted a question regarding this setup as I would use R.A. exhaust on a 455 transplant into one of our cars. One question that wasn't answered is that I sorta understand the placement of the pos. batt. cable but how are the alt. and "purple" starter wires routed when using the R.A. manifolds?