Wiring fire - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

Brian19692 · 04-08-2002, 08:46 PM

I was sitting in my living room about 10 mins ago and the headlights came one. I thought someone was in it so I ran outside and opened the door. Smoke rolled out, smelled like wiring so I unhooked the battery. The wiring from the solenoid to the fuse box is fried. The wires that run up under the dash were hot but didn't feel burnt. Any ideas on what happened? The truck was parked for over an hour when it happened.

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69 short box 4x4
72 long box
69 Camaro 327 4-speed
71 4x4 suburban, soon to be crew cab short box
87 S-10 V-8 FOR SALE
Des Moines, Iowa

meathead95 · 04-08-2002, 09:04 PM

I dont know but you are lucky you caught it when you did I have seen totally restored trucks burn to the ground from wiring consider yourself lucky

Dean23 · 04-08-2002, 09:08 PM

Somewhere there was a short to ground... that reaaly sucks. good thing you caught it. I'm going to get a wiring kit from gm they have one in their performance catalog, just like the ones from painless

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Dean
edmonton,canada
68 c10, project in works,350, th350, plain jane.
SLOW AND STEADY GETS THE PANELS READY
http://communities.msn.ca/MyChevytruckpage

Brian19692 · 04-08-2002, 09:12 PM

I feel lucky about catching it. I'll feel luckier if it didn't ruin the Autometer dash! I guess I'll find out how lucky I am tomarrow after I check it out more.

Dean23 · 04-08-2002, 09:14 PM

Pray for the guages, I want to do a custom guage package with their phantom series and i know ho pricey they are

------------------
Dean
edmonton,canada
68 c10, project in works,350, th350, plain jane.
SLOW AND STEADY GETS THE PANELS READY
http://communities.msn.ca/MyChevytruckpage

Dean23 · 04-08-2002, 09:14 PM

Pray for the guages, I want to do a custom guage package with their phantom series and i know ho pricey they are

------------------
Dean
edmonton,canada
68 c10, project in works,350, th350, plain jane.
SLOW AND STEADY GETS THE PANELS READY
http://communities.msn.ca/MyChevytruckpage

**COBALT** · 04-08-2002, 09:22 PM

Something similar, but not as bad happened to me a few weekends ago while I was working on my back-up lights.

I had spent the entire day fixing them, and was rewarded with little white lights turning on when I backed up! When my wife and I went to leave my dad's place that night I turned on the dash lights, and there was a POP, and the whole dash went black. My wife immediately said, "oh, great...", and went in the house. I on the other hand was worried because of the ozone smell and the wisps of smoke.

Turns out a wire that runs to the radio had never been tied off after they hacked the dash up. While I was under the dash replacing the back-up switch I must have jarred it loose. To make matters worse someone replaced the old fuse with a 30 amp monster, which managed to blow even though the circuit was probably only rated for 15 amps. I checked all the wiring and didn't find any bad spots.

The next day I replaced every fuse in the truck. Every damn one was WAY bigger in amps then it was supposed to be.

That's exactly how to increase your chances of having an electrical fire in your truck...put fuses in that are too big for the circuit. If the fuse doesn't burn (when a short or a serge happens) then it will fuse-out at the thinnest or weakest wire in the circuit.

Boom. Instant Fire.

------------------
'69 3/4 ton C20 2wd w/ 350ci/400THM and a wood bed!
'69 3/4 ton Custom 20 2wd w/ ORIGINAL 350ci/4sp Manual and a wood bed (parts beast).
Seattle, WA.

*See pics of my trucks and project at www.webshots.com!

imdarren · 04-09-2002, 12:41 AM

Somthing I keep saying I'm gunna do and never do is put a pair of BIG wire cutters in the glove box. Then if you, or a car smoking on the side of the road can cut the positive or ground wire quickly if needed and stop more damage from happening. Somtimes when you are in a state of panic you can't find tools to disconnect the Batt. terminal quick enough. Darren

------------------
Darren
Washougal, Washington
darrengale67@hotmail.com

1972 GMC C1500 (Bone Stock)

Saving / Looking for a 72 SWB 4X4 Or 2WD Automatic with little or no rust.

O'l Buck · 04-09-2002, 12:51 AM

I had an open wire in my dash that fell onto my brand new throttle cable, needless to say it melted the cable into the housing at near full throttle, scary, smelt smoke, tried to stop, no stopping, no decel, just go baby go, pulled the wire off at about 75mph put truck into neutral, killed engine, cut throttle cable off pedal and cut gromet in firewall, drove home 75 miles pulling on the cable with my hand, I was not real happy about that, even though I didn't have anything bad happen to the truck, or me.

------------------
Ol' Buck: '72 Chevy 1/2T 4x4 shortbox stepside 350/350auto on '84
ralleys and 31/10.5s

Angel girl: 67 Cutlass convertible
330, 3spd stick

Greener: 90 GMC Jimmy
350/auto
Chad Stephens
Orleans,NE

no name yet: 72 442 under serious construction

**stllookn** · 04-09-2002, 01:25 AM

Brian, See what happens when you take care of your truck. It tells you when something bad is going to happen...it flashed its headlights at you didn't it? Who says these trucks aren't partially human and don't have feelings...LOL!

04-08-2002, 08:46 PM	#1
Brian19692 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Des Moines, IA. Posts: 188	Wiring fire I was sitting in my living room about 10 mins ago and the headlights came one. I thought someone was in it so I ran outside and opened the door. Smoke rolled out, smelled like wiring so I unhooked the battery. The wiring from the solenoid to the fuse box is fried. The wires that run up under the dash were hot but didn't feel burnt. Any ideas on what happened? The truck was parked for over an hour when it happened. ------------------ 69 short box 4x4 72 long box 69 Camaro 327 4-speed 71 4x4 suburban, soon to be crew cab short box 87 S-10 V-8 FOR SALE Des Moines, Iowa __________________ 67 short 2wd. FOR SALE 69 long box w/72 grill 69 Camaro 327 4-speed Des Moines, Iowa

04-08-2002, 09:04 PM	#2
meathead95 computer illiterate Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Des Moines, IA Posts: 6,446	I dont know but you are lucky you caught it when you did I have seen totally restored trucks burn to the ground from wiring consider yourself lucky __________________ 72 2wd blazer 72 swb 4x4

04-08-2002, 09:08 PM	#3
Dean23 68cst_ss490 Join Date: May 2001 Location: edmonton,canada Posts: 1,363	Somewhere there was a short to ground... that reaaly sucks. good thing you caught it. I'm going to get a wiring kit from gm they have one in their performance catalog, just like the ones from painless ------------------ Dean edmonton,canada 68 c10, project in works,350, th350, plain jane. SLOW AND STEADY GETS THE PANELS READY http://communities.msn.ca/MyChevytruckpage __________________ Dean edmonton,canada a winter wonderland 2005 Chevrolet Avalanche LT cold air intake, performance exhaust, Comp cams cam, jba shorty ceramic headers. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3090973

04-08-2002, 09:12 PM	#4
Brian19692 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Des Moines, IA. Posts: 188	I feel lucky about catching it. I'll feel luckier if it didn't ruin the Autometer dash! I guess I'll find out how lucky I am tomarrow after I check it out more. __________________ 67 short 2wd. FOR SALE 69 long box w/72 grill 69 Camaro 327 4-speed Des Moines, Iowa

04-08-2002, 09:14 PM	#5
Dean23 68cst_ss490 Join Date: May 2001 Location: edmonton,canada Posts: 1,363	Pray for the guages, I want to do a custom guage package with their phantom series and i know ho pricey they are ------------------ Dean edmonton,canada 68 c10, project in works,350, th350, plain jane. SLOW AND STEADY GETS THE PANELS READY http://communities.msn.ca/MyChevytruckpage __________________ Dean edmonton,canada a winter wonderland 2005 Chevrolet Avalanche LT cold air intake, performance exhaust, Comp cams cam, jba shorty ceramic headers. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3090973

04-08-2002, 09:22 PM	#7
COBALT Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Seattle, WA, USA Posts: 5,817	Something similar, but not as bad happened to me a few weekends ago while I was working on my back-up lights. I had spent the entire day fixing them, and was rewarded with little white lights turning on when I backed up! When my wife and I went to leave my dad's place that night I turned on the dash lights, and there was a POP, and the whole dash went black. My wife immediately said, "oh, great...", and went in the house. I on the other hand was worried because of the ozone smell and the wisps of smoke. Turns out a wire that runs to the radio had never been tied off after they hacked the dash up. While I was under the dash replacing the back-up switch I must have jarred it loose. To make matters worse someone replaced the old fuse with a 30 amp monster, which managed to blow even though the circuit was probably only rated for 15 amps. I checked all the wiring and didn't find any bad spots. The next day I replaced every fuse in the truck. Every damn one was WAY bigger in amps then it was supposed to be. That's exactly how to increase your chances of having an electrical fire in your truck...put fuses in that are too big for the circuit. If the fuse doesn't burn (when a short or a serge happens) then it will fuse-out at the thinnest or weakest wire in the circuit. Boom. Instant Fire. ------------------ '69 3/4 ton C20 2wd w/ 350ci/400THM and a wood bed! '69 3/4 ton Custom 20 2wd w/ ORIGINAL 350ci/4sp Manual and a wood bed (parts beast). Seattle, WA. *See pics of my trucks and project at www.webshots.com! __________________ '69 3/4 ton C20 2wd-350ci/TH400 '69 3/4 ton Custom 20 2wd-350ci/4sp Manual '99 2wd 5.7 Chevy Tahoe Seattle, WA.

04-09-2002, 12:41 AM	#8
imdarren Registered User Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: SW Washington Posts: 1,006	Somthing I keep saying I'm gunna do and never do is put a pair of BIG wire cutters in the glove box. Then if you, or a car smoking on the side of the road can cut the positive or ground wire quickly if needed and stop more damage from happening. Somtimes when you are in a state of panic you can't find tools to disconnect the Batt. terminal quick enough. Darren ------------------ Darren Washougal, Washington darrengale67@hotmail.com 1972 GMC C1500 (Bone Stock) Saving / Looking for a 72 SWB 4X4 Or 2WD Automatic with little or no rust. __________________ Washington State 1967 Chevy C10 LWB Rodstoration In Progress. 1972 K20 Cheyenne Super

04-09-2002, 12:51 AM	#9
O'l Buck Recovering Truck Driver Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Orleans, NE USA Posts: 1,883	I had an open wire in my dash that fell onto my brand new throttle cable, needless to say it melted the cable into the housing at near full throttle, scary, smelt smoke, tried to stop, no stopping, no decel, just go baby go, pulled the wire off at about 75mph put truck into neutral, killed engine, cut throttle cable off pedal and cut gromet in firewall, drove home 75 miles pulling on the cable with my hand, I was not real happy about that, even though I didn't have anything bad happen to the truck, or me. ------------------ Ol' Buck: '72 Chevy 1/2T 4x4 shortbox stepside 350/350auto on '84 ralleys and 31/10.5s Angel girl: 67 Cutlass convertible 330, 3spd stick Greener: 90 GMC Jimmy 350/auto Chad Stephens Orleans,NE no name yet: 72 442 under serious construction __________________ 67 K-20 350, SM465, Eaton rear, 4.56 no spin option 00 Dodge 2500 4x4, 24V cummins, 5 speed Chad South Central Nebraska

04-09-2002, 01:25 AM	#10
stllookn Saving 1 truck at a time! Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Kent, WA Posts: 6,463	Brian, See what happens when you take care of your truck. It tells you when something bad is going to happen...it flashed its headlights at you didn't it? Who says these trucks aren't partially human and don't have feelings...LOL! __________________ '68 C20 Longhorn 50th Anniversary 400/TH400 '68 C20 Longhorn 50th Anniversary 468/TH400w/buckets '72 C20 Halfhorn (Longhorn w/o cab and front clip) '69 Flxible Cruiser (look up ugly in the dictionary)



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