Ground wire burning when trying to start car.

16533 Views 17 Replies 5 Participants Last post by SRT-8Charger, 3 mo ago

Lamar

Discussion Starter · Aug 23, 2020

I’m trying to figure out why one of the ground wires are burning when attempting to start the vehicle. Both black wires are fine. It’s the black w/ red stripe wire that’s burning up.
I’ve checked ground wires in trunk and under the hood. It seems to be starter related as it only gets hot when trying to start the car. Then the wire goes to no power like a ground wire should. I’m lost. These 3 wires are bundled within the harness, but they seem to go behind the block. Not through the firewall. The only thing I haven’t done yet is the unraveling of the tape to trace the wires to their locations.

Wire Electrical wiring Technology Cable Electronics

- 2006 charger srt8, 94k mileage, headers, straight 4” pipe to 44 series exhaust, door poppers, aftermarket alarm.

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CtCarl

· #2 · Aug 23, 2020

Looks like you may have a bad ground somewhere. There are something like 20 of them in total. The ones in your pics aren't enough to handle a high amp draw like your starter motor. I think you've got to trace out all your grounds to see which is/are bad.

Just curious, have you tried a heavy-duty, old-school ground strap like the Standard B12G? They're not expensive and it might be a useful tool for tracking down the problem.

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CtCarl

· #5 · Aug 23, 2020

Lamar said:
Update: “thanks to @CtCarl for his reply”! I ran a jumper from the alternator to the body as an additional ground and now the car starts with no issues. That one wires still gets a little “warm”, but not hot enough to where you can’t hold it. Now, I need to figure out where the ground wire is located on the main block to frame so I can verify if it’s loose or broken, or if I need to simply clean the connection point. Thanks again @CtCarl

No problem! Sounds like you're on the right track.

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CtCarl

· #7 · Feb 27, 2021

Dicegame said:
I have that same problem with my 2009 challenger a wire is getting hot when I try to start my car but it is not the back side of my engine or transmission to the engine.

Which wire?

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CtCarl

· #12 · Feb 27, 2021

Dicegame said:
It is two wire that connects to one ring that goes in the wire harness but screws on a bolt that is attached to the back side of the engine and transmission meets together close to the firewall I can reach from under the hood the wire cover is pilling off like the picture the guy had.

Usually, what you're describing happens when one or more of your chassis grounds are disconnected, and when you try to start the car, you're forcing whatever ground or grounds remain to carry all the power, so they heat up and sometimes burn.

That blue-wrapped wire looks like a ground wire that has been disconnected.

There is typically one ground lead coming off each cylinder head at the rear, and a group of them attached to the fenderwell near the jump-starting post. Check to make sure they're all clean and tight. Also, try to find out where that blue-wrapped wire goes and get it socked down.

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