Shock

[steve from staten island]

I had something happen on my car and I'm wondering why. The car was running, it was hot out and i was sweating. I reached over to fool with the carb. My arm was on the master cylinder, my hand on the carb and i felt a pinch at the spot were my arm touched the master then i got a shock.
I checked the plug wires and they were all on. The negative battery terminal has one of those disconnects you unscrew it and it was loose. Thats the only thing i could see. All the other grounds looked ok. Could a leaking spark plug wire do that? I do not see any sparks jumping from the wires. Ive never had this happen before. Any explanations? Thanks

 

[PP1RT]

Check under the hood in the dark with the car running. Might see a little blue streak somewhere.

 

[Lefty71]

I've not heard of such an issue, but I would suspect plug wires somehow, or the coil wire. Are all your ground straps and body grounds in place, in their original locations?? You know they are the first things lost on a classic or musclecar. I'd check that too, before you end up with something mysteriously damaged. HTH, Lefty71

 

[69 GTX]

That's how I always knew when it was time to change plug wires back in the day. Open the hood on a cloudy dark night. If I saw anything I changed wires. Headers were death on plug wires back in the day.

 

[dvw]

Run the engine in a dark area. Spray the wires with a mist bottle of water. Look for lightning.
Doug

 

[moparedtn]

You became the de facto ground. Since that screw jobber was loose on the negative pole of the battery, I'd suspect that.
I always run a braided ground from the back of the engine to the firewall for just this reason.
Same thing with radiator support to the negative terminal of the battery. Makes the headlights a little brighter.

 

[moparwacko]

You became the best path to ground.
The loose connection on the terminal says it all. Your arm resting on the master cylinder (grounded body)and then touching engine component. There is still a high voltage bleed somewhere to create enough to feel a shock, 12V can't do it by itself. Like others stated, check plug wires first, and all grounds......

 

[Mike67]

Yep, you became a better ground than what is attached to your block...

 

[super-bee_ski]

I had something happen on my car and I'm wondering why. The car was running, it was hot out and i was sweating. I reached over to fool with the carb. My arm was on the master cylinder, my hand on the carb and i felt a pinch at the spot were my arm touched the master then i got a shock.
I checked the plug wires and they were all on. The negative battery terminal has one of those disconnects you unscrew it and it was loose. Thats the only thing i could see. All the other grounds looked ok. Could a leaking spark plug wire do that? I do not see any sparks jumping from the wires. Ive never had this happen before. Any explanations? Thanks

Ha Ha
Happens all the time
As PP1RT AND dvw said:
Open up hood in the dark and "Watch the Light Show"
New wires for sure

 

[multimopes]

Oh come on Steve, admit it. It wasn't the car at all, you just got out of the seat that you recently put wool seat covers on! Static discharge from You to the car. LOL I gotta try that myself, the spark might stimulate some hair growth!

 

[zyzzyx]

Has to be ignition spark. You would not feel D.C. voltage of 12 Volts. You have an insulation breakdown somewhere.
Good luck!

 

[Mike67]

Has to be ignition spark. You would not feel D.C. voltage of 12 Volts. You have an insulation breakdown somewhere.
Good luck!

You will feel DC when sweaty, at that low of a voltage its not much more than a good tingle, a little more when your soaking wet with sweat.

 

[super-bee_ski]

Has to be ignition spark. You would not feel D.C. voltage of 12 Volts. You have an insulation breakdown somewhere.
Good luck!

yeah huh?
Gee, 12 Volts aint nothing

I "got Bit" on 270 once a couple of years ago, early morning Pre-Flight, F-22 Test Bird here at Edwards
I had to pull my left Arm off the damaged Regulator with my right hand
My Left arm was tingly for 2 days later
AND...guess what?
It had rained that night, Im underneath at 0400hrs that morning..sitting in on a wet Ramp under the jet.
(I should have gone to the Flt. Doc's office as soon as it opened, 0700Hrs)

WHY WOULD SOMEONE RED X YOUR STATEMENT?
You are correct, SFSI was bitten by Ignition Coil generated Voltage of at least 40,000!

Not 12 V

 

[super-bee_ski]

PS:
Who's the forum member that constantly throws down a RED X with out any rebuttal?

DO you disagree with fellow forum member zzyzx's statement?
You didn't get "BIT" by 12 VDC dumb ***!
You got Bit by the Ignition Voltage of +30,000 Volts

When you walk across you carpet and touch a door knob and you see a Blue Spark? That is 40,000 volts static electricity
Yes, it takes 40,000 to make a Blue Spark.
Read a book some time Red X Phantom

 

[beanhead]

I had to give it the 'dread X' too, because I have zapped myself many times by leaning over and getting my arm on the positive battery terminal and the intake or valve cover at the same time..now it's NOTHING like the ignition jolt, of course, but it IS there...

 

[kiwigtx]

Sounds like you could get a job with an Orchestra Steve....you make a good Conductor.

 

[super-bee_ski]

Oh
So sorry for the Harsh words.....
Yeah,
Didn't you ever put your Tongue on a 12 VDC battery (Square ones for Garage Door opener remote, etc) to see if it had a Charge?

BTW: I just replaced a Failed Petronix in one of my Cars this past weekend and I got BIT 3 or 4 times, it's mild, startling but not too bad.
I installed a Davis Unified Ignition in this Little 400 CI 68 Firebird.

 

[Mike67]

yeah huh?
Gee, 12 Volts aint nothing

I "got Bit" on 270 once a couple of years ago, early morning Pre-Flight, F-22 Test Bird here at Edwards
I had to pull my left Arm off the damaged Regulator with my right hand
My Left arm was tingly for 2 days later
AND...guess what?
It had rained that night, Im underneath at 0400hrs that morning..sitting in on a wet Ramp under the jet.
(I should have gone to the Flt. Doc's office as soon as it opened, 0700Hrs)

WHY WOULD SOMEONE RED X YOUR STATEMENT?
You are correct, SFSI was bitten by Ignition Coil generated Voltage of at least 40,000!

Not 12 V

Red x phantom????
I red x'ed him..wasn't hiding it shows my name when you click on the X.and I left my rebuttal/reply.
Just going off of what Steve said, I know hes a bad *** steel worker but if it was an ignition jolt it would have been more than a " pinch " as described. 40-50kv would have caused him to yank his arm back in pain that he would feel in his toes and leave a metal taste in his mouth...thats just physics. No one can control their muscle reflexes at that level.
A pinch, tingle is just battery voltage going to ground, been there done that ignition on/off and in accessory...

 

[beanhead]

Man I've had women that tingled my tongue with more tartness than a 9 volt battery (whoa! sorry that's maybe a wee bit offsides hahaha) Isn't it funny how, thousands of volts DC from that ignition system still doesn't hurt quite like 277VAC...

 

[Mike67]

Ya I have 4 scars on my knuckles & thumb where 277 decided to kiss me along with 20 something 2x4 light fixtures about 25yrs ago....