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Old 08-27-2006, 04:09 PM
pontiacphil pontiacphil is offline
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Default Now the ***** Catches On Fire!

Did the new "tweaked" Cardone water pump, Flex-A-Lite 18 in. fan with 2 in. spacer, and the 160 degree thermostat with the 4-drilled holes help my overheating at idle problem? I don't know! Got everything installed, going to let it idle and see if it still goes to the 230 range. Idles for about 5 minutes and my buddy, whose watching under the hood, yells FIRE and smoke starts rolling out from under the hood. No close extingusher or water handy, of course. He thinks clearly and rips off the positive battery cable and pours his Budweiser on the flames to extinguish them.

When I did the rebuild of my motor this past Winter I went with the Ram Air HO exhaust manifolds. I did use the factory metal tube wiring cover that goes down between the #5 & #7 cylinder. Looks like the manifolds got hot enough to melt the starter wires and set them on fire! Is there a better route to run the starter wires to get away from the HO exhaust manifolds? I'm running the factory starter which is a pretty tight fit. Would a "mini-starter" help any? Does the heat wrap and starter heat wraps help any?

So, my Sunday has been exciting enough, don't know if my motor still overheats or not, and I've got a rewiring/rerouting job ahead. Any suggestions
or helpful advice will be appreciated.

  #2  
Old 08-27-2006, 04:16 PM
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damn phil, that sucks...but i guess budwieser is good for something..lol

as for the reroute, i have re routed mine down the fire wall and to the starter (yes a mini starter) from the back of the motor. that has been my setup with ram air and with headers. i have also always ran with a reflective heat shield wrapped around my starter which the starter wires hide underneath protecting them from the heat. i have a manual tranny but you could probably stick a 2 inch or so bolt into the block where the stock clutch arm pivot goes and plastic tie the wiring to that to help keep it in place and away from the exhaust manifolds.

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Last edited by 6D6GOAT; 08-27-2006 at 04:24 PM.
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Old 08-27-2006, 05:16 PM
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Same exact thing happened to me - I think the stock routing of the cable is poor design. It was kind of comical at first "like what else can go wrong with this thing". Then I realized the whole damn thing could go up, it wasn't too funny.

I changed to a mini-started, and rerouted the cable forward,next to the motor mount, used a plastic tie here and there and then jumped it under the power steering pump - to the frame and up to the battery.

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Old 08-27-2006, 05:51 PM
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That's part of the reason I use the ford style fender mounted solenoid set-up,that way the + cable to the starter is "cold" until the starter is being engaged.

Also eliminates the need for all the other wires to go down there by the starter too!

Much safer and far better performing set-up.

Also there are plenty of heat shield products on the market for the cable if needed too.

Try design engineering inc.,earls,MSD,among others.

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Old 08-27-2006, 06:18 PM
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The HO manifolds have a different positive cable routing. I think there is a tube that mounts to the driver side motor mount for this. It's also pretty important to use the tar paper type heat shielding on the positive cable. PY sells all this stuff!

That being said, my 73 T/A shorted the positive cable to the tube down the front of the block. It just started cranking and smoking and sparking like an arc welder. it was so hot I was able to separate the cable by pulling on it but got a nice burn on my hand.

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Old 08-27-2006, 06:34 PM
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With the RA manifolds the starter cable doesn't run through the tube beween the #5 & #7 cylinders like with standard manifolds. I runs from the front of the engine through the tube attached to the motor mount mentioned by Batman. This tube can be bought as a repro part.

I made my own cable tube, ran a 2/0 welding cable from the Ford solenoid to the factory starter. Also used the factory ($10 repro) starter solenoid sheetmetal heat shield, no insulation on the cable. Never had any hot-start issues, engine is a 455. Put over 30K miles on it, cable is still in great shape.
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Old 08-27-2006, 09:38 PM
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"No close extingusher or water handy, of course. He thinks clearly and rips off the positive battery cable and pours his Budweiser on the flames to extinguish them."

...wow, thank god for friends and beer...good thing you werent alone...i have headers with a ministarter and have all my starter wires covered with that tar like tubing...ultimately i would like to re route and use welding cable for tidyness...b-man where can i get those battery connectors with the wingnuts...very handy and cool...

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Old 08-27-2006, 10:37 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by form406
b-man where can i get those battery connectors with the wingnuts...very handy and cool...
I think I picked them up at Pep Boys or Kragen. They're marine battery terminals.

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  #9  
Old 08-27-2006, 10:57 PM
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Another alternative is to purchase or make a longer positive cable; route it down to frame level from the battery, and pass it under the exhaust and along the oil pan to the starter terminal. I use Adel clamps on the pan rail to secure the cable.

Les

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Old 08-27-2006, 11:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pontiacphil
He thinks clearly and rips off the positive battery cable...
He didn't think about it all that clearly - a guy I knew burnt his hand (not too bad) doing that, those terminals can get quite hot if there's a short. If they're loose enough to pull off, consider grabbing the cable and not the connector?

  #11  
Old 08-28-2006, 12:19 AM
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Quote:
If they're loose enough to pull off, consider grabbing the cable and not the connector?
That's what I did, although the clamp connection was solid. The cable was melting where it was arcing and separated with a solid tug, but the insulation was so hot it left a burn stripe across my palms and fingers. I was at the County court house so had no beer to cool it off.

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Old 08-28-2006, 10:23 AM
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Same thing happened to the 70, but my brother in law picked up a pan of antifreeze and threw that on the fire.. Um that stuff is flammable... Well he knows now, lucky for me I had a purdy green bottle full of halon..

I did the Ford mod, now it starts much better and doesnt have fires.

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Old 08-28-2006, 06:53 PM
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Yup, ford mod here too. I had two fires before I wrapped the starter cable, rerouted it behind the block, and use the Ferd solenoid. Much better

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