Electrical issue

[SirSharker]

My 71 Roadrunner is having strange issues and strange wires.

First the strange wires.
On the passenger side I have some loose wires thanks to the previous owner. But I cannot place where they are supposed to be or what they are for.

Any thoughts?

Second issue is all about electrical. Sure won't start, on a jump she pulls so much power that she over heats the cables. Had to be a ground somewhere, it is not the starter or the power line to the starter from battery. Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Make sure you have a ground to the engine. And a ground to the body grounds are a good place to start. Also make sure your pos cable is tight in all locations.

 

[SirSharker]

Make sure you have a ground to the engine. And a ground to the body grounds are a good place to start. Also make sure your pos cable is tight in all locations.

Thanks. Ground is tight to the housing. Positive big and positive solenoid all check out.

More ideas please. She is dead for now and not happy.

 

[BeepBeepRR]

You need a block to frame ground if you do not have one. Also back of block to body. You can never have enough grounds.

 

[Frank Mopar]

Probably a bad starter

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Starter drag would cause heat on the cables. I agree with the above post.

 

[SirSharker]

Probably a bad starter

I did pull the starter and have it tested. All checked out replacing the starter relay next.

Other ideas? Also, any thoughts on the picture?

 

[65wgn440]

Sounds like you replaced positive cable already, I would do a voltage drop test on negative cable. Who "tested" starter ? Don't know that you can really trust parts store equipment or employee's. Bad cell in battery, timing way off (initial and/or cam), internal engine damage, bad accessory bearing (alternator, p/s pump, etc) ??

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Here is a worst case. Hydrolocked piston. That means a cylinder full of water. That doesn’t compress and would stop the engine from rotating. Pull the plugs out and see if it will spin over.

My neighbor has a Dodge Avenger that did this very thing. 2 starters later I suggested he pull the plugs and bingo he had oil in the piston.

 

[SirSharker]

Thanks all.. the mystery continues. I replaced the starter relay, checked all the grounds and major power lines. Put her back together and started up on a jump off my Honda.. I drove her for a drink and she was happy.... Till I got home.
Stalled and battery was to low to crank. Left her for a couple hours, battery was down to 2.. going to do some parasitic draw testing tomorrow.

 

[flypaper]

Sounds like the voltage reg or alt
Is acting up..
That is what I would test first

 

[SirSharker]

Ok, issue solved. It was a broken cell in the battery. I had it tested multiple times and it worked fine, I finally got it tested when it was acting up. Pulled every bit if juice it could and still registered empty. New battery and all is good!! Thank you all, sometimes it is the simplest solution

 

[beanhead]

Thanks for the update! So many times threads get left hanging. Intermittent issues are so hard to track down....I had an S-10 pickup years ago that would intermittently crank without starting. Sometimes. Other times, started right up no problem. After much frustration I was able to catch it when it was the problem was happening, traced it to the pickup on the 3-month old distributor, the one part that "shouldn't" have been the problem because it was "new" lol. Anyways glad you got it!