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Brosky
Great Pumpkin
Offline
Well, I pulled a beauty this time that could have turned out much worse. After all of these types of jobs that I've personally done or had done, you would think that I'd learn to double check myself. You would think....
As embarrassing as this is, I'm posting this as a lesson for those who may be doing something similar, so that they don't have a result worse than mine.
It begins with a simple alternator swap on the TR8. I noticed some cracks developing in the corners of the alternator bracket and figure that "while I'm in there", I'll get Woody's new custom bracket and turnbuckle, as well as a new 95 amp alternator from BNR. I'm thinking that while nothing is wrong with the original alternator, I'll do this now and forget it forever.
So far so good.....during the bracket swap, the engine ground cable to the right side frame rail is left off, but I don't see it when the bolts go back in. That's where the not so good part comes in. The car starts up, but the starter sounds kind of weak, so I think that the battery needs a good charge and I take off the cables, clean them and slow charge it overnight.
Saturday is a nice day, so I check the battery voltage and it is fine, so I put the cables back on and start it up. Again, it sounds weak, but starts and I think that the starter is giving up the ghost. I email Mickey to ask if he had any issues and how old the starter was. He answers, says he has had none and it's only a few years old. Hmmmm???
OK, I'll just call Woody and get a gear reduction starter and swap it out and that will be behind me forever. He's not in, so I leave a message. I go back out and this time it starts right up, so I decide to go for a ride because it's so nice. I need gas, so I stop less than a mile from my house and fill up. This time it won't start and there's a puff of white smoke from under the hood. A guy next to me helps me push it into the parking area and I open the hood, but nothing looks wrong, so I figure that the starter finally died. AAA comes, flat beds me home and 20 minutes later I'm sitting in the garage wondering if it will start one last time.
This is where it could have gone really bad....
I turn the key and after a few slow groans, it starts right up, but a bigger puff of smoke comes up and as I step the throttle down to bring it off fast idle, the pedal jams to the floor and it redlines. Luckily I'm in the car and shut the key right off.
The pedal is now stuck to the floor and I'm really puzzled. I crawl under the dash and look and the cable appears to be all balled up right at the firewall, with a few strands going to the pedal, but it won't pull back and the carb linkage is 3/4's of the way open and jammed. I pop off the ball connector and the carb linkage snaps shut. Hmmmm????
I did not know what was wrong yet, but I called Woody to see if he had a starter and a throttle cable. He called me back today, knowing full well what was wrong.
Well, for those who have not figured it out already, several things happened, none really very good, but some could have been really bad.
One, the ground was off the engine to the frame. My fault, don't you do it too.
Two, the starter was looking for a ground when I turned on the key and couldn't find the cable that it needed so it took the next best thing, which was the throttle cable to the engine. It's actually melted, NOT frayed and that is why it jammed wide open.
Three, the engine revved up to redline, but I got it shut down right away. Proof positive why one should stay in complete control of the engine/car before getting out of the car to look things over with the engine running. At least I remembered to do that from the old days. Luckily, this engine was rebuilt well and I don't expect any problems from a quick rev up and shut down.
Four, this could have been really bad if it happened on the highway or in traffic when accelerating, especially if my wife was driving it.
Five, the starter is probably fine, but I'll drop it off Monday at My buddy Brad's Yankee Auto Electric to have him check it out, now that it's sitting on my bench. No sense putting it back together without being sure.
Six, just because you can't see where the smoke came from, just having it happen should be cause for further investigation to prevent a disaster.
There it is in a nutshell. I hope that those who read this will be a bit more cautious and double check their work before turning the key. I know that I will.
Pics below. The ground cable that I show pointing up was not there as it is in the picture. It was tucked down below the alternator, so I could not see the end of the unattached cable, or this would not have happened.
You can see how the throttle linkage is pulled back because the cable is melted internally to it's housing at the firewall.
Yes, I did go to Mass this morning and gave thanks......
As embarrassing as this is, I'm posting this as a lesson for those who may be doing something similar, so that they don't have a result worse than mine.
It begins with a simple alternator swap on the TR8. I noticed some cracks developing in the corners of the alternator bracket and figure that "while I'm in there", I'll get Woody's new custom bracket and turnbuckle, as well as a new 95 amp alternator from BNR. I'm thinking that while nothing is wrong with the original alternator, I'll do this now and forget it forever.
So far so good.....during the bracket swap, the engine ground cable to the right side frame rail is left off, but I don't see it when the bolts go back in. That's where the not so good part comes in. The car starts up, but the starter sounds kind of weak, so I think that the battery needs a good charge and I take off the cables, clean them and slow charge it overnight.
Saturday is a nice day, so I check the battery voltage and it is fine, so I put the cables back on and start it up. Again, it sounds weak, but starts and I think that the starter is giving up the ghost. I email Mickey to ask if he had any issues and how old the starter was. He answers, says he has had none and it's only a few years old. Hmmmm???
OK, I'll just call Woody and get a gear reduction starter and swap it out and that will be behind me forever. He's not in, so I leave a message. I go back out and this time it starts right up, so I decide to go for a ride because it's so nice. I need gas, so I stop less than a mile from my house and fill up. This time it won't start and there's a puff of white smoke from under the hood. A guy next to me helps me push it into the parking area and I open the hood, but nothing looks wrong, so I figure that the starter finally died. AAA comes, flat beds me home and 20 minutes later I'm sitting in the garage wondering if it will start one last time.
This is where it could have gone really bad....
I turn the key and after a few slow groans, it starts right up, but a bigger puff of smoke comes up and as I step the throttle down to bring it off fast idle, the pedal jams to the floor and it redlines. Luckily I'm in the car and shut the key right off.
The pedal is now stuck to the floor and I'm really puzzled. I crawl under the dash and look and the cable appears to be all balled up right at the firewall, with a few strands going to the pedal, but it won't pull back and the carb linkage is 3/4's of the way open and jammed. I pop off the ball connector and the carb linkage snaps shut. Hmmmm????
I did not know what was wrong yet, but I called Woody to see if he had a starter and a throttle cable. He called me back today, knowing full well what was wrong.
Well, for those who have not figured it out already, several things happened, none really very good, but some could have been really bad.
One, the ground was off the engine to the frame. My fault, don't you do it too.
Two, the starter was looking for a ground when I turned on the key and couldn't find the cable that it needed so it took the next best thing, which was the throttle cable to the engine. It's actually melted, NOT frayed and that is why it jammed wide open.
Three, the engine revved up to redline, but I got it shut down right away. Proof positive why one should stay in complete control of the engine/car before getting out of the car to look things over with the engine running. At least I remembered to do that from the old days. Luckily, this engine was rebuilt well and I don't expect any problems from a quick rev up and shut down.
Four, this could have been really bad if it happened on the highway or in traffic when accelerating, especially if my wife was driving it.
Five, the starter is probably fine, but I'll drop it off Monday at My buddy Brad's Yankee Auto Electric to have him check it out, now that it's sitting on my bench. No sense putting it back together without being sure.
Six, just because you can't see where the smoke came from, just having it happen should be cause for further investigation to prevent a disaster.
There it is in a nutshell. I hope that those who read this will be a bit more cautious and double check their work before turning the key. I know that I will.
Pics below. The ground cable that I show pointing up was not there as it is in the picture. It was tucked down below the alternator, so I could not see the end of the unattached cable, or this would not have happened.
You can see how the throttle linkage is pulled back because the cable is melted internally to it's housing at the firewall.
Yes, I did go to Mass this morning and gave thanks......
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