electrical

[white1970nova]

having problem with my 1970 nova. when cranking the engine, the ground wire from firewall to engine gets hot. have tried adding extra ground wires, but problem still exists. anybody have idea? :?:

[johnracer]

Make sure the neg batt cable is clean and tight at the block. I'll bet it's loose or not connected to the block. Fenderwell, alt bracket, trunk floor, etc isn't good enough, especially in a unibody car........

[TS1955]

Make sure the neg batt cable is clean and tight at the block. I'll bet it's loose or not connected to the block. Fenderwell, alt bracket, trunk floor, etc isn't good enough, especially in a unibody car........

X2...Check all grounds!!!

TS1955

[cepx111]

Is your battery trunk mounted or in the engine bay?

Going with a bigger diameter wire is a necessity when using a trunk mounted set-up.

Also on a trunk mounted battery I run a cable from the battery all the way to the engine block.


I'd double all your grounds, make sure the battery clamp itself isnt corroded and causing a bad return to the battery, seen that cause a cable to get hot a time or two as well.
Goodluck, Cp

[white1970nova]

battery is in trunk. ground from battery to frame. have 2 gauge wire to ford solenoid on inner fender. motor turns over, is getting fuel and spark(have checked both),but will not start. i have msd billet dist. and digital 6box.have done the test for output from box-per msd. did not have this problem until i broke driveshaft at track last summer.

[oldandtired]

battery is in trunk. ground from battery to frame. have 2 gauge wire to ford solenoid on inner fender. motor turns over, is getting fuel and spark(have checked both),but will not start. i have msd billet dist. and digital 6box.have done the test for output from box-per msd. did not have this problem until i broke driveshaft at track last summer.

By any chance did the driveshaft smash the hot lead? It may be damaged and only conducting the equivilant of a 14 or 16 gauge wire.
Dave

[TheYellaBrick]

Both grnd and hot leads have to be the same gage wire as the juice/volts/amps are the same coming and going.

DO NOT use arc welding cable !! :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

[oldandtired]

DO NOT use arc welding cable !! :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: [/b]:oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:[/quote]

From your faces looks like you did it too!! LOL

Dave

[cepx111]

You need to run a ground lead to your motor.
Grounding back at one end of the car and having the starter and all your electrical components at the other end is a bad idea.

I had a friend who learned the hard way, his wouldn't start either.
After buying a new module and coil he finally called and asked me to look at it.
It had too much of a volatge drop to fire the ignition.

It would spin over fine, but no fire, we ended up running another ground wire from the battery to the engine block and then one on the intake, it popped right off after that.

Not saying this is your problem but this is something that many people take for granted, you must have a good ground where all your components are, the frame is NOT adequete.
Sooner or later - grounding your battery on the frame near the trunk will bite you in the a$$.


JMO>Cp

[white1970nova]

thanks for that info. i am in the process of trying that now. i now think the msd box may be fried and the coil. thanks!

[DirkaDirka]

OK do tell the stroy behind the arc welding cable. PLEASE!!!!