JDRez42

So i was getting ready to break in the new motor hooking some last minute things up this morning. I hooked up the battery and there was a lot of sparks when i was trying to get the bolt started. Did not think anything of it then a few minutes later i walk back into the garage and i could smell some burning. I look at the starter and one of the wires was burned in half by the fused link. So i did some "fixing", didn't think that the fuse was supposed to be there so i left it out. well when i tried to hook the battery up again it fried two wires that were on my alternator. So whats up what do you think the first problem may have been...the wire with the fuse was in pretty rough shape..also where should the ground for the starter be bolted i had it on a bolt in the bell housing. should i check other grounds or do you think i had a hot wire grounded?

noonie

You may want to leave the battery disconnected and ring out all your wires to ground and for continuity, with either an ohm meter or a powered test lite.

JDRez42

the car is an '80. I think i am going to get the new starter harness and the harness for the front lights i think that is the one with the alternator wiring right. is that one hard to replace at the firewall or what.

jnb5101

i always use a 10 amp fuse in line with the battery cable in order to test the circuits after any electrical work-just in case i've done something stupid. never blew the fuse yet. by the way i own a bridge that i can sell you real cheap.

...Roger...

Smart man-

Wuttin

Strater grounding on the frame = big sparks. The fact that you impacted the alternator indicates your problem is downstream of the starter and its fusible link.

Regardless, the bell housing is the correct ground for my 79, smaller gauge wire. Also check the main heavy gauge connection at the frame near your idler arm that connects the starter brace to the frame.

Best of luck, Steve

onaqwst

also check the main ground from battery to frame...even if the rubber looks ok, the cables could be oxidized and bad ... i had a bad ground and it cooked a few things

JDRez42

So as far as testing it with a fuse in place are you saying to connect the lead that goes to the engine harness with a fuse then connect to the starter to protect everything else.
Also i got the new harness and it doesn't seem like there is a lead to connect to the positive on the back of the alternator. I just see the plug with two wires and the ground. Also there are three wires i beleive i am not using anymore....light blue w/connector...dark green&black w/connector...orange w/connector....i no longer have the stock carb with the choke and assume maybe one went to the air pump perhaps. Let me know what you think.

68/70Vette

Seems like there's been some similar posts lately...

NEVER CHECK OUT A NEW WIRING CHANGE USING THE BATTERY. The battery can produce a 600 amp momentary surge which can destroy wiring harnesses. And just to say destruction is an understatement, the battery can do catestrophic damage. As the above posts recommend, use at least a fuse or circuit breaker in series with the battery cables for protection. A more expensive option is what I opted for. I bought a 14 volt variable voltage power supply with a 10 amp circuit breaker. I use this in lieu of the battery. It cost about $80.

...Roger...

What brand of harness ?
I believe one of the radio options added in a separate battery charge wire but I think it still retained the red 12 going from alt to starter.

JDRez42

The harness i bought is from Ecklers and it is manufactured by Lectric Limited The Ecklers invoice says w/stereo and the packaging from Lectric Limited says "all delivered from factory with stereo tape player" Number on lectric limited package is VHL8000ST

JDRez42

Just got off the phone with lectric limited and it sounds like i have to order another harness for the battery charging


So this just keeps getting crazy. I look at my assembly manual and i see that my car does not have an accessory junction block in the battery compartment. So does this mean that my car didn't come with a factory stereo or what.. I don't even see holes in the compartment where the block should be nor does my positve cable have a small lead to jump to the block. Do i just order these parts and add them. What do you think is going on. Should i check my alternator as well to make sure it is right for the car...It does have the same two plug connection on the side, and i have paperwork from the previous owner that the alternator was replaced by an actual shop. So if i don't have that harness what was charging the battery before. Compared to my new harness the old one looks like it has been played with a lot. I just want to get this thing back on the road.

...Roger...

From there catalog it looks like the VHL8000ST is the forward headlight harness. Looks like you also need the VGB 8082.

I thought 81 was the first year for the charging wire and the junction block in the battery compartment.

...Roger...

Wait a min , looks like you need the VHL8000NT ,ST .
Here is a link to the catalog. I think you need to call LL

http://www.lectriclimited.com/mainpage.htm

edit sorry the link did not work,you will have to enter your info to get to the 1980 page.

JDRez42

Well what is the difference between stereo or no stereo are you saying that this car never had a factory stereo or what. Cause it has one now thats for sure. So should i just buy the stuff and switch it to the harness that i have that is for the stereo.I have what look like a build sheet with suffixs but it looks very fragile i can try to open it up and see the options right.


EDIT I opened up the build sheet and tried to get all the info i could off it, it is in pretty bad shape but i did see U58-AM-FM Radio, Stereo there were a bunch of codes though that i did not see on any of the websites K73...i think it a 3 says "70 amp alt" after it is there better sites with more codes or what.

...Roger...

If I remember right what you have is stanadard and if the car had 1 of the other 3 radios it had the battery charge wire.

There was a thread about this awhile back, I will do a search and see if I can find it.

But I still think you need to get the techs at Lectric Limited on the phone. Its possible the other harness has all you need in it.

...Roger...

This thread says the radio in question is a tape player and that the standard harness has the alt wiring in it.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...ator-wire.html

JDRez42

So you think i should return it for the other one. I called lectric limited and the guy said their head tech guy that could answer my question won't be in till Monday. So does any one know if i may be better off adding the charge harness and junction box?