Well, got the headers on nice and tight.

Figured I would run the engine to heat them up a bit then retorque the bolts.

Engine ran great for about 5 minutes then DIED.

I mean, dead.

No crank, no power. Nothing. Headlights don't work, absolutely no power.

Lots of smoke that smelled like the header paint and oil cooking off.

Heard a weird metallic sound from underneath, sounded like a relay or a circuit breaker.

Cycled about every 4 minutes.

I check the chassis battery, it is HOT.

I quickly take the negative lead off both chassis and coach battery.

hour later? Chassis batter is still HOT.

Really worried about this.

Any ideas?

Going to start running the leads later, after both the battery and I cool down.

Well, found the problem

Starter wires and the large wire feeding the solenoid came in contact with the headers.

Startup heat melted insulation.

The rest is history.
Same for the wire.

Now I get to rewire the main feed to the truck and hope that that battery didn't fry nor did my alternator.

Crap.

In confusion we grow, from error we learn. I'll bet a dozen guys on this site could recount similar experiences while climbing the learning curve, but it's never any fun.

What it teaches us is to slow down & do a final check before we hit the starter button. It's always a temptation to punch that button as soon as we think we have it buttoned up, but it often leads to an Oh sh*t! moment, as you just learned.

FWIW, you won't make that mistake again.

Dang it!

I was going to post on being careful about the wiring around the starter a day or two ago, but when I read that you had different headers than mine, I didn't think my advice would apply.

Can we talk about hi temp solenoids and starter heat shields? And Belleville washers?

quote:

Originally posted by bill h:
I was going to post on being careful about the wiring around the starter a day or two ago...

Sometimes when posting I find what I'm typing to be a little obvious and then I wind up deleting the post. Now, I know that Windsor Dalrymple knew not to lay the positive battery cable up against the hot exhaust manifold, it's not like he "Zip Tied" the battery cable to the header.

I'm sorry for the unfortunate mistake, like Bill H., I was going to post about the dangers of exhaust manifolds and headers melting battery cables, fuse-able links and "S" Terminal wires.

Let's face it, if you were installing a starter you would watch the wires. Unfortunately, stuff like this has happened to all of us.

quote:

Originally posted by olroy:
In confusion we grow, from error we learn. I'll bet a dozen guys on this site could recount similar experiences while climbing the learning curve, but it's never any fun.

Sad, but true.

quote:

Originally posted by bill h:
Can we talk about hi temp solenoids and starter heat shields? And Belleville washers?

I think we better...

I can assure you that there are many of us out here that are trying to maintain our Pride and Joy and that anything that you guys post is important to us. I know it is hard for you to remember that nothing is unimportant to us beginners. And we thank you for sharing your expertise with us.

You can put some heat shield on the headers near the starter and on the starter itself. I found the flexible shielding easier to work with around the extra large cables to the starter.

Another thing to check is proximity to the fuel lines. Lines running too close to the exhaust may boil the fuel in the lines when at idle, causing a severe gut feeling a few seconds after you resume throttle. Heat tape is the ticket under these circumstances. This is one of the rare times that the experts here have steered me wrong, with many of them saying they couldn't believe my problem was vapor lock.[Boiling gas in the lines]. After trying everything else I finally thermally protected the gas line and voila! no more problem.

Yep. Thermally protecting the starter, plugs/wires and fuel lines. Looking into a remote oil filter since the headers intrude on the stock length filter. For now, I will just have to get a shorter filter.

Electrical wiring aside, got a lot done today. 10 year old is showing some interest in mechanical stuff, so I let him remove some bolts. Really fun to work alongside my son, can't wait til my younger son gets involved.

Well, out of bad some good can come.

The leads to the starter were black with old corrosion. I dissassembled the entire loom, and cut back to nice looking copper, and soldered new wire to it. Now the loom is much longer, and I can route it away from the headers.

Gotta get some new fusible links the old ones were really nasty looking, and not from the short.

I also took this opportunity to remove the top AIR pump. What a difference that huge thing being gone makes. I can see the alternator now. The pump has to cost at least a HP at speed, what with parasitic loss and all. Now, if I need to replace the alternator, it won't be a HUGE pain, just a regular one. The AIR pump is a real bunch of nonsense. This size truck does not need this level of emissions, and it makes me mad that they are on there in the first place.

These engines came with two of them, and the bottom one shares the serpentine with the alternator, so it stays for now.


Got a list for tomorrow.

Will be more than thrilled to finish this project, let me tell you.