No electrical power!!

[700Triple]

I have a 91 ranger xlt 2.3. I had to replace a head gasket due to two broken off head bolts. So I took off the head with all the accessories and had to weld nuts onto the broken bolts in the block to get them out. After I got everything back together I went to start the motor but I had no power anywhere. The battery was dead somehow. I took the battery cables off and charged the battery. When I put the cables back on the green and brown relays constantly keep clicking. When I try to start the the engine I have nothing except the check engine light stays on even when the keys are out of the ignition. When i was welding i didn't take the positive cable off of the battery but i did have the ground off. Did i wreck the engine computer??

Thank you!!

 

[Mark_88]

Could be you fried something...

Might want to get a code reader (borrow) and check for codes...not sure if there is a test for the computer that would indicate its functionality...but if it indicates a problem trying to read codes it might tell you something...

My other brilliant idea would be to disconnect the battery completely and leave it off for half an hour or so...then reconnect and try the starting process again...if that doesn't work or you get the same results then it may be new CPU or whatever they called them back then...

 

[Big Jim M]

I am curious to know where you attached the ground wire from the welder while welding on the engine block. The path of the welding electricity might give a clue as to what is happening here.
EXAMPLE: Attached to bumper might be you have burnt body grounds up. Since computer and most other are connected to body grounds that would be a place to look.
Big Jim

Ps. When I do engine welding I always attach ground as close to the welding as possible.. A few inches if available but always on the engine itself.

 

[700Triple]

I hooked the battery up again a day later but it still did the same thing and I had the ground for the welder clamped on the water pump.

 

[Big Jim M]

Ok

I hooked the battery up again a day later but it still did the same thing and I had the ground for the welder clamped on the water pump.

I have done such a weld many times in the past. Never causing any electrical problems.
I'm thinking you have an extra wire hanging that you haven't plugged back in.
Could be a ground between the engine and the frame.
Or some other wire that isn't completely plugged tightly.

Now on the other hand if while welding you accidently touched the weld rod to the frame or body or some other part of the vehicle that isn't EXACTLY the engine then you could have burnt up almost anything in the vehicle.

I would have run a cleaning tap into a head bolt hole in the block and installed a clean bolt into that hole to clamp my ground clamp on and had a direct path for the welding current to travel.

Anyway I'm of the opinion that you should look closely at anything that could be causing the problem and not think about the welder having burnt something.
Big Jim

 

[700Triple]

The gauges on my cluster are all swept forward also except the speedo, tach, and voltmeter.

 

[Mark_88]

The gauges being "pegged" as the term applies to the needle hitting the limiting peg, could simply mean a ground wire is not connected properly...which would be essentially what Big Jim is saying...there is a wire not properly plugged in or fastened.

Check the battery ground connection if you haven't already done so...and trace it down to the starter...and don't forget the body ground that goes from the back of the firewall to the head...this is, essentially, the most important ground next to the battery ground itself...I don't think anything will work properly if that is not attached to the engine.