Miatapower List Archive

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: (email redacted)

Be warned, this is sort of long...

OK, here is the deal. I was splasing around in the
puddles when it was raining a couple of weeks back and
I think the water got somewhere and shorted
something. After Lunch I get in the car and try to
start the truck (91 1500 GMS Sierra)...Click Click
Click on so on is all I get.

so I left it and took the miata to work. This morning
I got around to playing with it a little (After about
2 weeks). I get in and turn the key on...nothing, no
buzzer, nothing. Then a couple of seconds later I
hear this faint buzzing noise that gets louder. Well
the buzzer is back now. So I try turning it over
again...nothing. So I figured the battery was
bad...So I jumped it. I got it started...but only by
pounding on the starter a couple of times with a BFH.

Well being the moron that I am, I shut it down and
tried to strt it again. Nothing...and this time
pounding on the starter doesnt help. Oh, the jumper
cables are still connected to another car BTW. I say
that because I look over at the battery and there is
smoke coming out of the "exhaust" port on the top of
the Delco battery. So I grab the jumper cables to
take them off and they are too hot to touch...This
tells me that there is a serious short somewhere.

So, I took the cables off of the battery. I got my
volt meter, put it into resistance mode. I touched
one end on the + cable and then other on the - cable.
I get a beep and about 2-3ohms. This tells me there
is indeed a short somewhere...which explains the
jumper cables heating up.

So I figured the starter was causing the short...I
took it out and did the same Resistance test...I still
get a beep and about 2-3ohms. Which tells me that the
starter wasnt problem....

SO, is my logic correct here ? If so where do I go
from here ? Where is the best place to begin to chase
down an electrical problem ?

TIA....

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: "Fred Hubert" <(email redacted)>

Did you check conductivity while the dead battery was connected? The batte=
ry
could have been so run down that it reversed polarity...

>-- Original Message --
>To: "Miatapower" <(email redacted)>
>Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2002 18:06:01 -0500
>From: (email redacted)
>Subject: (NMC NPC)Need help diagnosing an Electrical problem (Chevy 5.0L
>V8)
>
>
>Be warned, this is sort of long...
>
>OK, here is the deal. I was splasing around in the
>puddles when it was raining a couple of weeks back and
>I think the water got somewhere and shorted
>something. After Lunch I get in the car and try to
>start the truck (91 1500 GMS Sierra)...Click Click
>Click on so on is all I get.
>
>so I left it and took the miata to work. This morning
>I got around to playing with it a little (After about
>2 weeks). I get in and turn the key on...nothing, no
>buzzer, nothing. Then a couple of seconds later I
>hear this faint buzzing noise that gets louder. Well
>the buzzer is back now. So I try turning it over
>again...nothing. So I figured the battery was
>bad...So I jumped it. I got it started...but only by
>pounding on the starter a couple of times with a BFH.
>
>Well being the moron that I am, I shut it down and
>tried to strt it again. Nothing...and this time
>pounding on the starter doesnt help. Oh, the jumper
>cables are still connected to another car BTW. I say
>that because I look over at the battery and there is
>smoke coming out of the "exhaust" port on the top of
>the Delco battery. So I grab the jumper cables to
>take them off and they are too hot to touch...This
>tells me that there is a serious short somewhere.
>
>So, I took the cables off of the battery. I got my
>volt meter, put it into resistance mode. I touched
>one end on the + cable and then other on the - cable.
>I get a beep and about 2-3ohms. This tells me there
>is indeed a short somewhere...which explains the
>jumper cables heating up.
>
>So I figured the starter was causing the short...I
>took it out and did the same Resistance test...I still
>get a beep and about 2-3ohms. Which tells me that the
>starter wasnt problem....
>
>SO, is my logic correct here ? If so where do I go
>from here ? Where is the best place to begin to chase
>down an electrical problem ?
>
>TIA....
>

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