im workin on a 1980 pickup with a 22r and the thing needed a jump start so we pulled my friends truck up and he was an idiot and didn't look at the wires (my negative is red, but its grounded to the frame 2 inches away...) so the terminals started melting and and now the thing wont even start. i thought at first it was just the battery so i threw a new battery in it and tried turning it over but theres nothing. soo im thinking he fried either the starter or the alternator... what do you guys think?

 

darn, could be a lot of things. I'll bet it blew a fuse, check them all.

 

X2...

Does it turn over at all?

 

that would be sweet if its just a fuse. i'll check it in a bit. But no it does not turn over at all. usually the battery light in the speedometer will light up when i turn the key a bit but the whole thing is dead..

 

so is the whole dash dead? no lights at all when the ign key is on run? if there are lights on when the ign is on run i would look at the starter.
i would say start checking power from the batt to the ign switch to the ign coil to starter etc. follow wiring diagrams to show where power should be and when. good luck

 

no there are no lights at all when the ign key is on run. If what u say is what happened would i just have to replace the wires? I was thinking it must be the starter that quit since there is no lights on the dash.. i dunno

 

He is saying you melted a wire. Very possible. It is also possible to fry the ECU w/ jumper cables...

 

the first thing i would do is go through all the fuses

 

yep check all fuses. If fuses are good then we got a wiring, switch, or computer problem. That gets labor-intensive and expensive fast.

 

.....

 

i checked the fuses today and they are all good. i've been told by a few people its probably the alternator.. i asked them if it could be a melted wire and they said they didnt think so but maybe.. ??

 

well I don't see how a bad alternator would keep it from cranking. Time to break out the voltmeter and start checking for voltage.

 

so i put a brand new starter and alternator in yesterday, hoping it would solve the problem, but there is still no power to the engine to even try turning it over.
what wires do you think would be fried? i dont even know where to start, or what to look at lol

 

for starters ensure that the battery is charged. Since all fuses are good I have no idea. Do any lights come on or anything? Like I said make sure its charged.

 

Try jumping the solenoid on the starter itself. Make sure its out of GEAR first and be careful not to ground out on anything!!! Theres the main wire from the battery to the starter which should always have power. Now theres is another smaller wire on the starter, just unplug that and use a small wire to jump across to the main power cable. Its scetchy but works, and it will tell you if the starter works.

 

have you checked the fusable link at the battery?

 

the battery is indeed fully charged, but there are no lights that come on at all. its basically like turning the key with out a battery.
that does sound kinda sketchy what Sked mentioned haha but im not sure its necessary because its a brand new starter right out of the box.

with those things in mind, is it possible that the main wire from the battery to the starter is fried/burnt/garbage? man this sucks lol i have no idea whats wrong

 

If nothing works like there is no battery, and you are 110% sure the battery is charged fully, I'd replace the wires from the battery.