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  • March 29, 2024, 12:00:45 PM

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Author Topic: jumper cable fire?  (Read 13352 times)

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Offline demonicdragon

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jumper cable fire?
« on: February 15, 2011, 04:11:30 PM »
so after getting through part of the NYS winter were finially getting a bit of a thaw. So i thought id like to start up the eagle. My eagle 90% of the time needs a jump start so i attached the jumper cables and the lights started to come on in the eagle once again. but after a few times trying to get it to turn over my cables were smoking and soon a small fire broke loose. nothing was damanged besides the jumper cables and my thumbs a bit burnt trying to remove the cables from the batteries. any idea what caused this? my wires werent crossed or anything so its just weird. did i try to hard turning it over ? should i splash a bit of gas in the carb?

Offline craigp29690

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #1 on: February 15, 2011, 04:31:10 PM »
Was the motor turning over?  Cables can get hot when they are too small for the load and you keep cranking the motor too long.  Jumper cables vary in gauge, some of the cheap ones are a lighter gauge wire than some of the more expensive ones.  A lot of the newer ones are designed for small 4-cyl engines that draw less amps than the bigger 6-cyl.

A little starter fluid down the carb and cranking it for a minute then letting it rest then trying again is better than just cranking the motor for 5 minutes straight. 
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Offline mudkicker715

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2011, 05:34:50 PM »
Sounds like a bad starter. How were you jumping it?  I have with 1 dead battery in a diesel tried to crank it over for roughly 1/2 hour with no problems to some wimpy car battery cables. Can't believe that would be the cause (battery cables meaning). If starter is good,which I doubt. Check ground.



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Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2011, 08:22:43 PM »
Ill try the starter fluid. Ive used these cables before for the same situation. Im getting a hei unit in the mail so then the ecm will be bypassed. Though idk if yhis is a electrical issue or fuel

Offline craigp29690

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2011, 09:22:51 PM »
Is the starter turing the motor over?  Do you have spark at the plugs?

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Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2011, 11:24:18 PM »
i know i heard the solonoid. i havent checked for spark yet. ill check tomorrow in the 40 degree weather were finially getting. lol

beacheagle

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2011, 11:34:23 PM »
From my experience, you probably have used your jumper cables one too many times and the ends are frayed. melted the end of my thumbs a couple of times with bad jumper cables.

Most cold start problems with the 6 is the fuel..it floods easy. just push the pedal down 1/4 of the way and crank her..don't pump it cause it will flood, then you have to hold your foot to the floor and run the starter longer

Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #7 on: February 16, 2011, 05:44:37 PM »
well i got the distributer install. took a while to get the thing lined up. lol. just barely fit. was getting woried it was to big. so anyways at the moment i got it hooked up to the battery but just read thats not a good idea cause of drainage. so what simple wire can i hook up to for ignition? something off the solonoid?

wagoneerhauler

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2011, 05:51:42 PM »
Is this an HEI unit?  If so and you are no longer using the ford ignition then you can take power from the main switched power wire that went to the old ignition module.  It is a heavier gauge wire (12ga or 10ga) I'm not sure at the moment but I believe it is yellow on the Eagle but might be red.  Someone will chime in and let you know.

Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #9 on: February 16, 2011, 05:54:13 PM »
yeah i installed the Hei unit. im waiting for the chime. lol. what would i do without this forum?  :P

Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #10 on: February 16, 2011, 09:05:05 PM »
so a buddy of mine says i have to line up the engine tdc which i didnt since it didnt say it in the directions. haha. i dropped it in how i had the old one in though not sure if anything turned while i installed it. should i bother lining up the marks on the engine and finding tdc?

wagoneerhauler

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #11 on: February 17, 2011, 08:13:54 AM »
So I take it you have not had it running yet?  Since you don't know if its right you might want to.  You can pull the #1 plug out and cover the hole with a finger (don't put it in it  ;) )  Then bump the motor over till the compression pushes your finger off.  That will be the point at which you'll want to have the distributor line up with the correct position on the cap for #1.  It will turn as you lower it in so you might need to pull it back out and move it a tooth over and try again.  It should be fairly close to the correct position at this point and you can clamp it in lightly to allow manual movement as you time it.

Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2011, 11:56:05 AM »
not to many people know the answer to which wire is a easy ignition by the solonoid? im thinking its the green on the solonoid...

Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #13 on: February 17, 2011, 12:38:19 PM »
ok. heres the update. got my tdc with the use of a screwdriver  ::). laid a plug on top of something metal and cranked the motor to see if i got spark. well i didnt see anything. so im guessing i either got the distibuter in backwards or the 18gauge wire i ran from the battery to the distributer isnt enough.

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #14 on: February 17, 2011, 03:00:11 PM »
so i found out with the help of 2 people that the motor wasnt turning over. all i could hear was the whining of the solonoid. haha. so new starter tomorrow. lol

Offline mudkicker715

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #15 on: February 17, 2011, 03:08:40 PM »
thus the reason for your fire as stated.



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Offline craigp29690

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #16 on: February 17, 2011, 05:34:21 PM »
The motor not turning over may not necessarily be a starter issue.  Can you turn the motor over by hand?  Is it locked up?
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1964 Rambler Classic 770 2dr
1965 Rambler Classic Wagon              NON-AMC
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Offline Booko

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #17 on: February 17, 2011, 06:16:21 PM »
I have an 86 Eagle and used the yellow wire for power to the HEI distributor.
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Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #18 on: February 17, 2011, 08:00:52 PM »
I can turn it by hand and ill check that yellow wire for power

wagoneerhauler

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #19 on: February 18, 2011, 07:53:14 AM »
Yup that's the one.  Switched with the key.  Should be atleast a 12ga too.

Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #20 on: February 18, 2011, 02:32:51 PM »
well i installed a new starter nothing changed with that. so i worked on my other and at least got that done today. if i feel like i got any more motivation in me ill try hooking up that yellow wire maybe im just not getting the right amount current to the distributer. i just used my jump starter to try and start it. i really dont want to go through my last set of jumper cables. lol

Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #21 on: February 18, 2011, 04:13:23 PM »
not going to give up. weather is going to turn ugly again tomorrow. ill redue the tdc again. and hook up  my last set of jumper cables and hope to god i dont burn these all the way through. lol

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #22 on: February 23, 2011, 02:14:00 PM »
alright. today i went out to test around with my volt meter. only thing that im wondering is should i have voltage on the starter side of the solonoid when the keys are on acc? or do i have to turn the key like i was going to start the car in order to have voltage on that side?

Offline mudkicker715

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #23 on: February 23, 2011, 02:26:55 PM »
You need key to turn



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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #24 on: February 23, 2011, 03:34:29 PM »
haha. ok. i thought about that. i shouldnt have voltage unless i turn the key all the way otherwise there would be voltage to the starter all the time which is bad. lol. im going out to get a remote starter switch so i can do this under the hood and without using the key.now do i put one alligator clip on the battery and the other on the top post on the left (yellow ignition wire) or do i clip it right on the starter post?

Offline mudkicker715

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #25 on: February 23, 2011, 03:52:16 PM »
You only need 12 volts to the post nearest the front of the car to remote start it.



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Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #26 on: February 23, 2011, 04:12:58 PM »
ok. definitly something is seriously wrong with my engine. i hooked up the remote starter switch got the starter to make some noise but the motor is sitting still...

Offline mudkicker715

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #27 on: February 23, 2011, 04:25:21 PM »
Doesn't tell me much. Could be weak and wore out



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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #28 on: February 23, 2011, 04:42:43 PM »
new starter..but crank isnt moving.. should i take the starter out and test it on its own?

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #29 on: February 23, 2011, 04:46:39 PM »
You could but even a weak one will spin at times. How is the ground to the block?

And you said it turns over by hand so ......



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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #30 on: February 23, 2011, 04:49:46 PM »
the cables are fine as well as the mounting points.. and the motor does turn by hand not easy but it turns

Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #31 on: February 24, 2011, 01:20:23 PM »
so today i took the starter out by hand and tried jumping it. i got a short spin then nothing. the arm didnt come out or anything. so i went to autozone had them tested the kid didnt know what he was doing so it came up negative. i got another starter from autozone and had someone else test it for me. it worked so as soon as i get motivation to crawl in the snow and under the eagle ill install it and try again. i was thinking maybe my flywheel is binding or something. any easy way of testing it? or do i just stick my hand in and feel around lol?

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #32 on: February 28, 2011, 02:23:05 PM »
How do i overide the solonoid? I know theres a screwdriver method but which posts are the ones i want to cross..or can i just run a 4gauge wire from the starter side to the battery

Offline mudkicker715

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #33 on: February 28, 2011, 03:02:21 PM »
MAKE SURE ITS IN PARK.

The 2 big posts can be jumped by. Crossing wrenches while touching those posts. Now what this does is going to leave marks in your wrenches or screwdrivers. I had a cheap scredriver get red on me in a second or 2. So be aware................

You mentioned 1 fire already. Since your asking I'm starting to think somthing is not right that you did. Just saying you might have somthing wrong somewhere.  So use caution. If all is good nothing wrong should happen. It should spin the motor. It might make you jump a bit. When and if you get it to spin (as if someone tried to sneak up on you).



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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #34 on: February 28, 2011, 03:41:32 PM »
ok. thanks!

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #35 on: February 28, 2011, 04:13:10 PM »
I just use a cheap pair of non-insulated pliers.
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Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #36 on: March 04, 2011, 09:20:30 AM »
well im ok and the eagle is ok. i tried cleaning grounds and i tested for voltage. i switched batterys and then she was dead. lol. thats the short story. yesterday i sent the eagle down to my cousins shop for him to play with it. hes going on vacation next week so looks like my eagle wont be fixed too soon. ill let you guys know what was wrong with it when i do

Offline demonicdragon

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #37 on: March 25, 2011, 12:46:23 PM »
got my eagle back today! so i found out the battery sucked. he had to use a jumper cable and a charger to get her to turn over. lol. i got a new battery specified for her and she turns over. so idk if the spare battery just didnt have the right volts or what. but shes back. and now i can spend money on her now and not my gt. lol

Offline maximus7001

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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #38 on: April 07, 2011, 06:33:44 PM »
I had a battery cable fire in my old Concord. Turned out to be an intermitant internal battery short.
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Re: jumper cable fire?
« Reply #39 on: April 08, 2011, 05:09:17 PM »
wow. im still baffled by this. but at least im glad its running again.

 

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