What did I fry?

[michaelh712]

Does this make sense, as I'm feeling like I'm chasing a ghost?
Batteries have power
Dash is dead, no lights or any sign of electrical life.

Now the interesting part: I have power to the starter lug ONLY WHEN IT IS THE ONLY CONNECTION TO THE LUG! When I connect it with the other red wires, I have no power reading on the multi-meter. Does this suggest some kind of short (probably caused by frying something?).

Your help with electronics for Idiots is appreciated.

[Lightningpinz]

Michael, I'm sick in bed so the mind may not be at full strength, but if you have power to the starter stud with "no-Load" you need to check for power handing problem between batt and starter. You can jump the starter solenoid to try to carnk. Carefully take a wire from the battery supply stud on the starter to the little connection on the starter. If the Power + and ground (power +) are good the starter should crank. If it doesn't crank one of the leads is not a good connection. Try this test if fails, run a battery jump cable from battery negative to the starter and retest, if still fails run a jump cable from batt + to the starter stud with the negative jump cable removed. Let me know what happens. AND Don't let the smoke out. That Positive jumper cable has a lot of amps available.

The analogy is you home toilet is hooked to a 1/2 or 5/8 inch dia pipe. The voltage is similar to the pressure and the amps is similar to the gallons per minute. Now if you hook the toilet to a drip irrigation pipe (about 1/8 id or smaller) there is the full pressure until you flush and then the flow (amps)cannot keep up with the demand and the pressure (volts) drops. In electrical you have two flows. In a Physycs class they preach the electrons frow from the negative post to the positive post. The prior test will confirm if either of the feeds (+ and -) are a drip irrigation hose instead of a 1/2 pipe.

[michaelh712]

some progress:
I ran the tests outlined and for two of them; nothing.

I ran a jumper cable from the - negative terminal of battery to the ground of the starter and volla! Lights worked, dash lights up. I tried the starter button and only got a click at the starter.

I also noticed that when this negitive jumper brushed the engine tin that there were a few little sparks.

Short somewhere: where to look or how to go from here.

thanks for the assistence

Michael

[Lightningpinz]

Now for your next bit of magic, Try the test Scott ar EI suggested. Take your jumper cable and jumper across the battery disconnect. Let me know what happens

[michaelh712]

This time it worked! The battery disconnect is not fried, but something happened with the ground connection, causing an intermittant ground. I ran this test numerous times before and no improvement. Last night I ran it again after jiggling the ground wire and volla!

They salt the roads here in Utah, and near as I can figure, this may have caused just enough interference that something happened when I let the smoke genies out grounding oujt the starter bolt.

Aggravating, but a cheap fix.

Thanks to all for your help, and to this forumn.

Michael