Hey all, longtime lurker first time posting, you guys rock my world. Finally got my trans back in after replacing my clutch, but I messed up and hooked up my negative cable to listen to some music and neglected that I never unhooked the starter wires and got a nice little fire where the insulation burned off the hot wire where it grounded out, actually got hot enough to melt the negative terminal and splatter some molten lead around where I knocked it off with a wrench in a panic trying to break the connection. So my question is, will the starter be ok? I probably fried something I figure, maybe the solenoid? Relay? Gonna pull the starter in the morning and clean it up and try to bench test it somehow, anyone have any advice before I see what's inside a starter? Also not sure how to check the relay aside from hook it all up and see if it works. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

 

Fireworks!

I doesn't sound like you shorted the starter, but rather the power cable to the starter. So power went through that cable and then to ground, before it got to the starter. In which case you'll need to replace the main starter wire, the battery (if you're melting the terminal posts, that battery is toast), and clean up any other fire damage.

Unless you're trying to describe something else. With voltage TO the starter, the starter should have immediately spun. But if it was locked up somehow (not easy to do; the starter is capable of a lot of torque), you might have incinerated the winding inside the starter. If you did that, testing will be easy. You won't be able to turn the starter by hand.

 

Thanks, it tested fine at AutoZone so I just put her back in and everything seems fine, whew! Cleaned the burned hot wire and wrapped it in electrical tape til I get another one. And the battery is leaking acid from where I melted the negative terminal so I guess it's only good for a few bucks off a new one for the core now, had a deep cycle that fit the space so I just threw that in for now. Now I just have to fix this oil leak before it ruins my new clutch, think I have to pull the head for that (I scrunched a piece of the front of the head gasket when I did the timing chain and guides, couldn't quiiite get it back flat and it weeps oil out the front), not looking forward to that but it'll be great to get it done, along with all the intake stuff. Will def be on here when I do that job! Thanks again!