rgs944

I don't know guys. I really think the best thing to do here is to get everything changed. Especially something like the CE panel that is easy to change out and there should be plenty of them out there.

jcorenman

John, looking at the CE solenoid wires I agree- that is almost a certainty.

What is confusing is that the OP reported that the yellow wires (solenoid connection) in both the engine and chassis harnesses were OK--
but that a small brown wire (intake air-temp sensor return) was melted.

It makes sense that the yellow harness wires might be OK if the CE-panel wires were smaller and limited current. And the small ground wire couldn't possibly conduct enough current to toast the solenoid wires in the CE panel, so there must have been direct short to ground.

But if the short was from solenoid to starter ground (i.e. engine block) then why did the small ground-wire get fried?

That suggests more than one problem-- either the solenoid wire is melted inside the engine harness and shorted to the brown ground wire, or the harness is damaged elsewhere.

Hard to tell without getting under the car...

Agreed, it looks very repairable. No idea about the two harnesses, though, without more pics.

rgs944

Thanks jim , I will get some pics of the main harness today but it does not look like anything that can be used again. I am also hoping to get my lift moved to the house today to work on the underside and do further inspection

rgs944

To add to this mess some piece of crap stole my metric gear wrenches, long metric set, and allen head set. Who know what else they got.

GregBBRD

Either that, the key was held/stuck in the start position for a long time....and the solenoid was making contact, but the internal connection from the solenoid to the actual starter motor was "open".

rgs944

Here is a pic of the top end damage. The wire I have bent over goes down to the starter/alt area from 14 pin. It baked at the 14 pin but once I peel it back a little you can tell it did not get nearly as hot as the yellow wire leading from the fuse panel to the 14 pin. The bare wire at the bottom of the pic is the ground that goes to the headlight area.

rgs944

Update. I ordered the Fuse panel and harness's from Mark at 928 Int. today. I took Greg B's suggestion on getting the parts off of the car that Mark just got from him. Thanks to both Greg and Mark and everyone who is helping with suggestions and tech advice.

jcorenman

Good move, I think.

And thanks for posting the pic. Kind of a mess...

rgs944

Yes Jim the more I looked at it the more of a mess it became. It is to good of a car to 1/2 *** it so I think its worth changing everything and hopefully it will be alright. I am still plenty sick about this whole deal but at least now I am starting to feel a little more positive about a good ending. I got my lift back to the house now and will hoist it up today.

j.kenzie@sbcglobal.net

I am sure you have pulled the starter, and are going through it for faults. It would be nice to find the mechanism for this whole problem, either internal to starter, or related to wiring connections, or operator error.
Good luck,
Dave

IndyMatt

Awesome man, glad that you ended up purchasing the parts rather than robbing them off the other car!

Alan

Lets remember - you still don't know why this happened.

Figuring that out is still the most important thing you need to do.

If the starter is faulty - that would probably be the best outcome... easily replaced.

...If it isn't - you really need to find the cause before you try again.

Alan

victor25

+1 on the good move to get the panel and harness. I would order a lightweight starter from Roger also. Then be sure to do some wire testing before hooking up the battery
You will be back up and running in no time!!

rgs944

Thank you, Yes I hope we can figure out the exact cause. I will be looking very closely as I go though the removal and install procedure and will post as I go along.

rgs944

I am fairly certain I found the cause. The main starter loom rubbed into the oil pan. Pics coming soon.