MD69Boss
Suspected Troll
So....on my way to the Knotts show, about 20 miles from home, I heard what I thought, at the time, was the heater blower motor come on, only it sounded really loud. It was hard to discern , as the sound of the Boss motor turning at 3k rpms kinda masked the sound, making it difficult to determine exactly what the sound actually was with any certainty. In hind sight, the sound was not the heater, rather I believe it was the starter spinning. I also catch a faint smell of something burning and as I slow to catch the upcoming exit. I then see faint smoke coming from underhood, immediately following the engine dies, but the starter is still spinning like crazy, really loud! Luckily I was able to coast to a stop in a park and ride lot just off the freeway.
The sound I had initially thought was the fan blower, I now am almost certain it was the starter spinning but the engagement piston to turn the fly wheel wasn't engaged!
So I grab a wrench from the trunk and take off the neg battery cable and listen to the fan starter slow itself to a stop. From just in front of the passenger headlight bucket, I look down and see where a small fire has partially consumed the junction where the alt wiring harness meets the main headlamp harness, (see photo below). I couldn't have been more bummed as over the previous week I had put about 100 miles on the Boss in anticipation of this weekend trip.
Anyhow, I ended up carpooling with my brother in his 67 GT 390 fastback to the Knotts show after flat bedding the Boss back home.
Tomorrow evening I am going to begin investigating, in earnest, the cause of the issue, so I can address that first, before replacing the wiring harnesses...
Right now, in talking through the scenario with my brother over the course of a round trip run to LA, I am thinking that the starter solenoid may have shorted... but why??
Was it the 20 minutes idling in stopped traffic 15 min before things went south?
Was it the very recently replaced voltage regulator? I had about 75 'test' miles on it after installing... hmmm, again, no bueno...
The sound I had initially thought was the fan blower, I now am almost certain it was the starter spinning but the engagement piston to turn the fly wheel wasn't engaged!
So I grab a wrench from the trunk and take off the neg battery cable and listen to the fan starter slow itself to a stop. From just in front of the passenger headlight bucket, I look down and see where a small fire has partially consumed the junction where the alt wiring harness meets the main headlamp harness, (see photo below). I couldn't have been more bummed as over the previous week I had put about 100 miles on the Boss in anticipation of this weekend trip.
Anyhow, I ended up carpooling with my brother in his 67 GT 390 fastback to the Knotts show after flat bedding the Boss back home.
Tomorrow evening I am going to begin investigating, in earnest, the cause of the issue, so I can address that first, before replacing the wiring harnesses...
Right now, in talking through the scenario with my brother over the course of a round trip run to LA, I am thinking that the starter solenoid may have shorted... but why??
Was it the 20 minutes idling in stopped traffic 15 min before things went south?
Was it the very recently replaced voltage regulator? I had about 75 'test' miles on it after installing... hmmm, again, no bueno...

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