near electrical fire

[jetsg4]

i know there wont be any help out there for this, but maybe some tips for troubleshooting electrical problems.

History:
the previous owner, in his infinite wisdom, put a "hot" switch in next to the ignition switch. it acts as the run position does on the stock ignition. i've been having some problems having to hold the gas open to get it to start, which i got pointed towards it flooding. upon suggestions i checked the fuel pump, ok, and checked the float for sticking, which there was a bit of dirt in the bowl, but everything looked fine. bringing us to the new problem.

i stick it all back together, and turn the starter over a few times. then the wonderful melting wire smell starts. the negative side of the starter solenoid was smoking, there is a wire nut in the middle of the hot wire running to the run switch which was smoking & melting the wire insulation, and all of the wires in the run swich loop we hot &/or smoking.

the hits just keep on coming.

 

[22213evl]

bummer dude

 

[blubuckaroo]

Does this car have a MSD ignition box? Some were having problems with their cars running after the switch was off and added a kill switch to fix it. The correct fix is a diode which MSD can supply. If you had enough current to melt the wires, I wonder if you even have a fusable link. Or maybe the fusable link was smoking. Take it as a message to fix it right. Just get a drawing, ohmeter, and some tools. Complete replacement harnesses are available but you may not need that much to get your's fixed. Besides, there have been folks replacing their harnesses and still having problems with ignitions and lights.

 

[jetsg4]

update:

no msd

i installed a fuse in the hot wire to the run switch. turned the switch on, and everything was fine... DUH. i still had thew wires off the post on the solenoid. as soon as the solenoid is hooked up it all goes POP. looking at it, most of the melting that happened is at the back side of the solenoid. anyone ever had a solenoid short out? is it possible? is there a way to test it other than replacement?

Thanks

 

[jetsg4]

update update:

i took my multi-meter and hooked it up to the hot side of the battery and turned off all the switches and pulled the fuses. i then touched the other side of the multi-meter to all 4 posts on the starter solenoid, all 4 ohmed a complete circuit.

went to autozone and got a new solenoid, and boom... no problems. all my starting problems are gone also. i guess it's been pulling a lot of voltage that the ignition system needed. dunno, but it's running like never before now. who would have thought that a $20 solenoid would make that big of a difference. i'm going to look on the bright side on the day from hell with the bronco. at least it happened @ the shop with a spare vehicle around and didn't leave me stranded in the middle of BFE.

 

[Viperwolf1]

Good deal. It's a good idea to carry a spare solenoid--all the electrons running through your bronco pass through part of that solenoid.