porkchop : Positive wire getting hot and sparks.

[porkchop]

Re: Positive wire getting hot and sparks.
Post by porkchop on Nov 1, 2006, 7:24am

That is kinda what I was thinking when I first posted. I was thinking when he pushed it down with his hand it was at an angle and something broke internally. I am going to look over everything this weekend.

[Binford]

Re: Positive wire getting hot and sparks.
Post by binfordm715 on Nov 12, 2006, 7:27pm

What'd it turn out to be?

[compexp]

Re: Positive wire getting hot and sparks.
Post by compexp on Nov 12, 2006, 11:11pm


Quote:

I don't think anybody has mentioned this, but it makes perfect sense: Check your grounds. With all those freshly painted parts, chances are you have a series of bad ground connection... Use star washers, and I would put extra ground straps all over... 1) Engine to frame 2) cab to frame 3) fenders to frame 4) front clip to frame Excerpt from: http://www.off-road.com/jeep/tech/electrical/gauges/ =========================== Going to Ground Are your headlights flickering? Do your gauges sometimes work and then not? Dave Mellow has some great tips about grounding and your Jeep's electrical system. Remember that you are actually driving three separate Jeeps around: the FRAME; the ENGINE/TRANNY GROUP; and the BODY. The three groups are separated by insulating bushings, rust (lots of that), grease, and just plain looseness. When your Jeep was new and rust free, the factory thought enough about grounds to have little cables here and there going from the battery to these component groups, but when you and cousin Leroy jerked the engine in '89, you broke the cables and they never got put back. Do your Jeep a favor, and run dedicated cables to EACH COMPONENT GROUP. Go from the battery to the starter housing bolt for the ENGINE/TRANNY group; from the battery (or the engine) to the FRAME GROUP; and from the battery (or the engine) to the BODY GROUP. Work hard to get good clean spots; ground the tub and front end body material separately; be diligent about this, and you will be AMAZED at what a difference it will make (gee, the gas gauge started working'!), and maybe now that measly twelve volts can actually find it's way to the headlights!

EXACTLY what bit me last week with my J-truck. Drove it one day, 2 days later, wouldn't even turn over, no dash lights, no nothing. After a couple of days of troubleshooting including battery chargers, new battery, etc, I figured out that my ground to the body was bad. I moved the negative cable to a different spot on the engine, ran another ground wire to the body and wow, everything works again! Plus, my passenger backup light, which HADN'T WORKED IN OVER 10 YEARS, started working again.

Check your grounds buddy!

[porkchop]

Re: Positive wire getting hot and sparks.
Post by porkchop on Nov 13, 2006, 7:28am

Haven't played with it. I was hunting.

[PseudoZone]

Re: Positive wire getting hot and sparks.
Post by socal715 on Nov 13, 2006, 3:35pm

Porkchop.. you're talking about the floor ignition switch right? the stock one? I used to start mine almost every single time with my hand (never wanted to hop up into the rig just to warm it up)... never had a problem dude.

[PseudoZone]

Re: Positive wire getting hot and sparks.
Post by jeepistdougiowa on Nov 14, 2006, 8:40am

PC, I've fried switches that way too.

If you hit it at an angle, or too light of a push, and don't get positive contact it acts just like a little arc welder inside. Once the contact points are burnt the switch becomes a point of resistance and can heat up the wires.

I did pull one apart once and clean it up...got a surprising amount of life out of it after that. Year or so IIRC.

[porkchop]

Re: Positive wire getting hot and sparks.
Post by porkchop on Nov 14, 2006, 9:27am

Thanks, Doug, I am going to mess with it this weekend and see what happens. I just think he fried the switch when he pushed it at an angle, just like you discribed.

[PseudoZone]

Re: Positive wire getting hot and sparks.
Post by socal715 on Nov 14, 2006, 11:36am

Dang , i must have gotten lucky all the times i started mine that way then.