back to the stealership...

[BlackoutViper]

If it burnt that clean you will have other issues than just one wire.

any ideas on what other issues to look for? or what the true cause of this may have been?

 

[yellowfever#154]

If it burnt that clean you will have other issues than just one wire.

Exactly, you have more issues than just that wire. Ground wires dont just burn up like that because they want to, nor because of a bad connection. There has been a direct short to a power source on that wire. Your just lucky it didnt burn up your truck. The tech needs to trace that wire back to whatever it is connected to and diagnose the cause of the problem. Sure they can install another wire but as soon as you flip on the key the new one will probably look like the old one.

 

[OSO]

Exactly, you have more issues than just that wire. Ground wires dont just burn up like that because they want to, nor because of a bad connection. There has been a direct short to a power source on that wire. Your just lucky it didnt burn up your truck. The tech needs to trace that wire back to whatever it is connected to and diagnose the cause of the problem. Sure they can install another wire but as soon as you flip on the key the new one will probably look like the old one.

Agreed , a bad connection will cause heat and will eventually cause the jacket to melt but not that fast and not that clean . If the rest of that wire looks like that you will have a number of wires melted together.


Edit:
It is possible to be caused by a bad ground but there would have to be a large load on that wire to do that that quick, did this happen during start up???

 

[OSO]

any ideas on what other issues to look for? or what the true cause of this may have been?

Not without pulling the harness apart, could be the consumer at the end of the wire or something in between. I just don't believe that is from a bad ground .

What were the symptoms when this happened?

 

[wesalbert]

If it burnt that clean you will have other issues than just one wire.

Thats what I'm thinking. I haven't seen a wire burn that much in a long time. When I did it was a wire someone ran from the battery straight to a radio through the sharp pieces of the dash. Once the rubbing wore through the jacket of the wire..... up in smoke it went until there wasn't anything else to burn. Then the wire lit up like a light bulb.

 

[OSO]

Thats what I'm thinking. I haven't seen a wire burn that much in a long time. When I did it was a wire someone ran from the battery straight to a radio through the sharp pieces of the dash. Once the rubbing wore through the jacket of the wire..... up in smoke it went until there wasn't anything else to burn. Then the wire lit up like a light bulb.

Long time ago i had a car come in with an 8ga wire sized burn mark from the battery to the trunk burnt paint carpet seats speaker box, I really did try not to laugh


I did edited my post above it is possible to burn a wire like that if that was the only ground source for the vehicle but there will be other issues than just that one wire now.

 

[BlackoutViper]

What were the symptoms when this happened?

had to make a lot of stops one morning. Everytime I turned the truck on it seemed like it struggled more and more to turn over. sounded very much like a dying battery though I knew it wasn't since I just replaced the battery and negative terminal (the one in question of course) exactly as I removed the stock one at least a year ago... I dont see how I screwed it up but they're pointing at it as the cause of all this. anyway I got it home to let it rest but had one more stop to make so I went to start it after a while and boom, saw the smoke show after another struggle to start.

 

[OSO]

had to make a lot of stops one morning. Everytime I turned the truck on it seemed like it struggled more and more to turn over. sounded very much like a dying battery though I knew it wasn't since I just replaced the battery and negative terminal (the one in question of course) exactly as I removed the stock one... I dont see how I screwed it up but they're pointing at it as the cause of all this. anyway I got it home to let it rest but had one more stop to make so I went to start it after a while and boom, saw the smoke show after another struggle to start.

The bad ground diagnoses is correct, that wire was the best ground source it was getting and the starter was to large of a load for that wire to handle causing it to burn .

I have a feeling they are going to charge you 350 then come back to you and say it still doesn't work we need to replace a dozen more.

 

[BlackoutViper]

The bad ground diagnoses is correct, that wire was the best ground source it was getting and the starter was to large of a load for that wire to handle causing it to burn.

the diagnosis they gave me? meaning the battery ground is no good?

 

[OSO]

the diagnosis they gave me? meaning the battery ground is no good?

I am going to say yes, final answer. I wont say its directly from what you did but a bad ground or more than likely a lack there of caused your problems.

 

[BlackoutViper]

I have a feeling they are going to charge you 350 then come back to you and say it still doesn't work we need to replace a dozen more.

I'm thinking if I pay to get this ground replaced and the problem recurs then it should be covered under warranty. agree/disagree or thoughts anyone?

 

[OSO]

I'm thinking if I pay to get this ground replaced and the problem recurs then it should be covered under warranty. agree/disagree or thoughts anyone?

No, the replaced ground wire was not the problem it was the result of a problem. If they fix the "problem" and it fails than yes. If something new arises due to the original problem no warranty.

 

[WOT]

I replaced my entire engine wiring harness myself (rats chewed up the wiring under the intake manifold). The whole harness cost about $350 from the dealership. It took me a couple of days to install it.

It looks like yours burned up where I have circled in red in the picture below. You could just unwrap the harness and replace the wires that are burned and then make sure that you have a solid ground going to your engine block from your negative side of the battery and also from the negative side of the battery to the truck body/frame so that it doesn't happen again.

Worst case scenario: a new harness is about $350 and about 8-10 hours labor max to install.

 

[yellowfever#154]

After reading the changes since my last post I agree that the negative cable could cause this problem. The engine ground from the thermostat housing to negative battery cable could be the culprit. If there is a bad connection there then the current must find a different path, in this case the different path is the ground wires for all the other electrical components on the engine.

On my truck since I have JMB's battery relocation kit I have a 2/O cable grounding my engine to the crossmember of the truck to prevent this from happening.

 

[yellowfever#154]

I replaced my entire engine wiring harness myself (rats chewed up the wiring under the intake manifold). The whole harness cost about $350 from the dealership. It took me a couple of days to install it.

It looks like yours burned up where I have circled in red in the picture below. You could just unwrap the harness and replace the wires that are burned and then make sure that you have a solid ground going to your engine block from your negative side of the battery and also from the negative side of the battery to the truck body/frame so that it doesn't happen again.

Worst case scenario: a new harness is about $350 and about 8-10 hours labor max to install.

The harness would be easy to change if the intake didnt have to come off. I would think that the ground wires that have melted could be long wires leading to any of the particular sensor connectors in the harness and might not be that easy to repair. If it was me I would consider a new harness as well especially since they are only $350.