Fire!

[Liberty&Justice4All]

I have a friend who has an 03 3.7. He changed the starter, battery cable ends , fuel pump and had to replace a ground strap from firewall to engine. AnyWay after all that work it started easily and ran for about 5 seconds the dash electronics went out, he saw smoke coming out from under the hood, he turned off the ignition and took the key out but it was too late. The original ground strap had burned in half prior to installing the new one (which wasn’t factory).
Any ideas on what went on. I personally own a 07 haven’t had any electrical issue(knock on wood). Any help or thoughts greatly appreciated, he wants to get it going again.

 

[DadOSix]

Hmm. I’ll bite.

Guessing he did both cable ends at the same time. Some combination of leads getting reversed.

 

[Liberty&Justice4All]

Hmm. I’ll bite.

Guessing he did both cable ends at the same time. Some combination of leads getting reversed.

You mean battery ends? Idk, I wasn’t there when he did it. He called me for for a Q&A session, I’d never heard of that happening. I wonder if since they used 4 gauge wire for the ground strap If that caused it because the original strap was already burned in half.

 

[DadOSix]

You mean battery ends? Idk, I wasn’t there when he did it. He called me for for a Q&A session, I’d never heard of that happening. I wonder if since they used 4 gauge wire for the ground strap If that caused it because the original strap was already burned in half.

Yeah. I just looked at my 06. There are 2 leads to each terminal. 2 reds 2 blacks. One heavy, one light gauge. From looking at mine, it would be hard to mix up. My wire loom is in decent shape there. Without knowing what your buddy’s harness looks like near the battery, i’m suggesting somehow he got’em mixed. That’d melt the ground strap, if it was carrying full current when the starter is engaged. It draws a lot of power. Not sure what the long term damage would be. To me, it is a likely scenario.

 

[LibertyTC]

Did he forget to put the ground wire on at alternator ?

 

[Liberty&Justice4All]

Did he forget to put the ground wire on at alternator ?

I don’t know.

 

[Liberty&Justice4All]

Yeah. I just looked at my 06. There are 2 leads to each terminal. 2 reds 2 blacks. One heavy, one light gauge. From looking at mine, it would be hard to mix up. My wire loom is in decent shape there. Without knowing what your buddy’s harness looks like near the battery, i’m suggesting somehow he got’em mixed. That’d melt the ground strap, if it was carrying full current when the starter is engaged. It draws a lot of power. Not sure what the long term damage would be. To me, it is a likely scenario.

I will talk with him tomorrow to see what he found out.

 

[Liberty&Justice4All]

I don’t know.

I’ll ask him tomorrow

 

[03GoingStrong]

He let the smoke out. You should never let the smoke out. Follow the burned wire. It should, might, maybe will tell what he did or didn't do. Weird that the original ground strap was burned in half before he replaced it along with all the other stuff. What did he think was going on with that? Or maybe I should ask, well what was he working on when that happened?

 

[Billwill]

The thick negative lead from the Battery should go onto the engine...this carries the large starting current and charging current.

If this is not there and on firmly and cleanly the current will find its way through thinner wire and burn that out!

I have not had a close-up look at this wiring on my Export CRD!

 

[Phuc Nguyen]

Hi Liberty&Justice4All, this is just a share from my past experience.
I replaced a torque converter on one of my Liberties, of course starter had to be removed, and when I connect negative cable to the battery after everything is completed, that's when a big spark comes in not like regular spark that are for interior lightings. When I double check all electrical connectors that I reinstalled and found this positive cable at starter touched the heat shield which cause the large spark that I don't normally see. Luckily I didn't do any damage to mine except a battery terminal melted away.

Have your friend double check the positive end at starter since he replaced it, it is oblong not round, it's kind of hard to see after the starter is installed, and could possibly touch the engine or starter heat shield when he connects it back in.

 

[Liberty&Justice4All]

He doesn’t remember when Or how the original got burned. We’re going to look at it this weekend. I’ll check the wiring and look for contact along the way especially at the starter. Thanks for the info.