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Possible short-circuit?


Muzzlebrake

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Oct 1, 2016
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Vehicle Year
'86, '88, '89
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
2.3, 2.9, 2.9
Transmission
Manual
So recently I was driving my 86 Ranger when suddenly I smelled a burning smell. It smelled like a burning wire or something electrical. Anyhow, my dash lights went dim and my fan slowed almost to a halt even though it was switched to full speed. The next day the truck wouldn't turn over at all and there were no dash or interior lights coming on. I assumed there was a short and it drained the battery over night so I disconnected the battery and charged it. I placed the fully charged battery back in the truck only to find that everything still acted dead. I began looking for shorted wires and thus far have not had any luck. I reconnected the battery once again the next day and attempted to start it again. It fired right up with no problems at all and everything is working perfectly normal again. I tested battery voltage while the truck is off at 12.8V and while it is running to be around 14.5V. Is it possible that either I have a shorted or loose wire somewhere? Could this also be caused by a bad ground? I looked everywhere to find signs of a short on the wiring and I haven't seen anything out of place so I'm not 100% sure what made the burning smell I noticed originally. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 


RonD

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TRS Technical Advisor
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Location
canada
Vehicle Year
1994
Make / Model
Ford
Transmission
Manual
Since you smelled it in the cab I would suspect cab wiring and maybe main light switch, these do fail and have lots of amps with full time battery connection.

Burning smell is melting plastic from device and/or wiring insulation, since all factory wiring is fused I would first look for "owner wiring" add-ons.
Previous owners may have added radios or lights that were removed before truck was sold, and they often put fuse at the device end so wire is not protected.

In 1986 the Power distribution for the whole vehicle is on the Starter Relay post(often called starter solenoid)
The Battery's Positive cable will connect to this post, alternator, fuse panels, ignition switch and relays all connect to this same post.
They connect via Fusible links, a fusible link is a shorter wire that acts as a fuse, but a slow blow fuse, it will separate if shorted but without burning, so virtually no smell.

I would check all the wires on that post, make sure none are "broken"/blown, also check fuses in the engine fuse box, then Cab fuse box

You could have had a partial short, enough to heat up the connection/wire to get a smell but not enough to blow a fusible link.
Then after a few times powering it back up the fusible link(or fuse) is now blown, so no more short and truck works again
 

RonD

Official TRS AI
TRS Technical Advisor
Joined
Jun 2, 2012
Messages
25,290
Reaction score
8,290
Points
113
Location
canada
Vehicle Year
1994
Make / Model
Ford
Transmission
Manual
Since you smelled it in the cab I would suspect cab wiring and maybe main light switch, these do fail and have lots of amps with full time battery connection.

Burning smell is melting plastic from device and/or wiring insulation, since all factory wiring is fused I would first look for "owner wiring" add-ons.
Previous owners may have added radios or lights that were removed before truck was sold, and they often put fuse at the device end so wire is not protected.

In 1986 the Power distribution for the whole vehicle is on the Starter Relay post(often called starter solenoid)
The Battery's Positive cable will connect to this post, alternator, fuse panels, ignition switch and relays all connect to this same post.
They connect via Fusible links, a fusible link is a shorter wire that acts as a fuse, but a slow blow fuse, it will separate if shorted but without burning, so virtually no smell.

I would check all the wires on that post, make sure none are "broken"/blown, also check fuses in the engine fuse box, then Cab fuse box

You could have had a partial short, enough to heat up the connection/wire to get a smell but not enough to blow a fusible link.
Then after a few times powering it back up the fusible link(or fuse) is now blown, so no more short and truck works again.

1986 could have Volt Gauge in the dash or AMP gauge

Diagram here that shows fusible links: http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/EDiagrams/files/Diagrams_StartIgnition83to882_9.JPG

And here with AMP meter: http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/EDiagrams/files/diagram_charging_1983to1985_1.JPG
 
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