This can't be good....

[hey mister]

Well...
Let me start by saying this snafu was completely my fault.
After the refresh I had run the truck for almost 2 weeks and no problems.
I decided to use it for the camping trip.
Within a half mile of the park...BANG!!!
Everything went dead. 5 seconds later...BANG!!!...again (of similiar 9mm caliber)
I had no power, engine dead, shifted into neutral, no starter, no flashers, no horn...dead.
I coasted to the side of the road shoulder.
Wife said she smelled something like hot wires/electrical. I didn't smell anything, but since the woohooflu, my smeller is broke.
So, finally got a flatbed out to get back home. Family member took camper to campsite.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Rut-roh! Battery? Loose unsecured cable made contact with exhaust manifold?

Had that happen once, no booms, but pure dead truck and the purchase of new battery. Luckily a friend that lived in the town we just left, was going back home and saw us, and was kind enough to give us a ride to get a new battery and back to the truck to install it.

 

[CountKrunk]

Any ideas? Did anything look busted in the engine bay? Backfire?

 

[hey mister]

Sorry, I had to grab dinner and couldn't complete the post...lol

So, none of the mechanical systems appeared to be the problem.

Once we got home from camping, I started to pull the wiring harness out from behind the block.
That would be the fuel gauge wire, starter wires, alt wire, oil pressure, temp sensor, dizzy wire.. Also the house batt wire.
It became obvious, when I pulled the house batt wire, that I had found the culprit.
The house batt charging wire had not been attached back to the top of the valve cover, like it should of been.
I had layed it down next to the intake manifold.
There is an exhaust channel in the intake manifold that heats the manifold and goes right under the divorce choke pull-off mech.
That got hot enf to melt the insulation off the house batt charging wire.
When it did, it blew one of the fusible links on the firewall. And since the starter solenoid is also in that immediate circuit, it also blew that fusible link as well. Hence the 2 big BANG's.

The fix?...a quick trip to parts house and get 2 wire gauge specific fusible links and solder them in.

Took it apart yesterday and fixed it. Put it back together today and put all the wires where they're supposed to be.
It started right up and no damage to the alt or anything else.

Frustrating for sure, but learned a valuable lesson.

 

[hey mister]

Rut-roh! Battery? Loose unsecured cable made contact with exhaust manifold?

Had that happen once, no booms, but pure dead truck and the purchase of new battery. Luckily a friend that lived in the town we just left, was going back home and saw us, and was kind enough to give us a ride to get a new battery and back to the truck to install it.

I will say, there are still good citizens out there.
2 different folks stopped to see if we needed anything.
One even offered to pull our camper the rest of the way into the park.

 

[Grit dog]

Wow! That doesn’t happen every day. Cool that you’re tugging your camper with a classic BIG10.
And proof positive that fusible links in these old rigs are as important today as they were when they were originally designed and not to be bypassed as you just witnessed.
Glad to hear you figured it out without much fanfare. Sorry it boogered your trip.

 

[ali_c20]

I will say, there are still good citizens out there.
2 different folks stopped to see if we needed anything.
One even offered to pull our camper the rest of the way into the park.

A few years ago the battery of my wife's 66 Impala exploded at a parking lot in front of a restaurant. Late afternoon on a Sunday of course.
Voltage regulator was shot and charged the full load into the battery which was pretty old but working.
One guy gave me 12 bottles of water he had in his car to rinse all the acid mess off.
A second fella drove to his garage and brought me the battery of his boat as European car batteries don't fit old American cars.
He accompanied me to my garage (~30 miles) to take his battery back home cause he wanted to go on vacation with his boat the next day and needed to charge it.
I wanted to give him money for the gas he spent for driving around helping me but he refused.

 

[hey mister]

Throughout the years, I would stop to assist.
Lost track of the number of tires I've changed and cars I've towed out of a ditch.
Not bragging, just wondering if some degree of Car-ma (ha ha) exists.
I do have to share this latest one...
A couple years ago, We were pulling into a parking lot at an Outback. It was a cold November evening. The car next to us had an older couple standing next to it and obviously the keys were locked inside the car.
They had no cell phones on them.
I called the police and offered the shelter of our suv to await the police.
A very nice officer-ette arrived and brought out a couple wedges and wire. For close to 20 minutes she tried to catch the door handle to no avail. When I seen the frustration set in, I asked if I could give it a try.
By this time, both of us were freezing. The owners watched from the warmth of the SUV, which I had started back up.
It took me about 60 seconds and I was in. We joked about past criminal activity....at least I was joking.
So the couple got in after we all said our goodbys. Now my wife had gone in to claim our seats st the huge table my daughter had reserved. I came in and sat down and the waitress started taking everyones order. Everyone wanted an update on how it went, so I filled them in.
A couple minutes later a manager came over looking for a "handsome guy who helped a couple with their car." I had not heard what the manager was saying, but everyone started pointing at me. My knee-jerk reaction was, "I never touched her!"
The manager came over and confirmed that I was who he was looking for.
He handed a gift card and said it was from the couple I had helped.
The amount is not important, but what we didn't use I gave to my daughter because it was her and her daughter's birthday celebration dinner.
When we finished and got back in the Pilot, there was three $2.00 bills setting on the center console.
My wife and I busted up laughing. We hypothicized that the old man left the $2.00 bills, but mama footed the gift card.
They were easily in their 80's.
Good times for sure.

 

[DoubleDingo]

I will say, there are still good citizens out there.
2 different folks stopped to see if we needed anything.
One even offered to pull our camper the rest of the way into the park.

There are, and it's good when they come out to help.

 

[hey mister]

Wow! That doesn’t happen every day. Cool that you’re tugging your camper with a classic BIG10.
And proof positive that fusible links in these old rigs are as important today as they were when they were originally designed and not to be bypassed as you just witnessed.
Glad to hear you figured it out without much fanfare. Sorry it boogered your trip.

BTW,
@Grit dog , I really like the color scheme of that Big10 of you badge.
I don't know why, it just makes me drool...lol

 

[Grit dog]

BTW,
@Grit dog , I really like the color scheme of that Big10 of you badge.
I don't know why, it just makes me drool...lol

Well, you’re just one stripe away from that!
If n when I redo the paint on it I’m considering something like this.
And a pic of mine and buddy’s brothers truck at the local Fri night car show.

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That last one to include the stripes on the hood that are mostly removed on the truck pictured.

 

[Casca2525]

do you use a battery isolator?
I use a 140amp princess auto 2 wire unit, it is mounted to the inner fender well away from heat sources, its little ecu constantly monitors voltage at each terminal if the source terminal drops <12.6v it opens separating the vehicle source from the trailer load, if the source is high 12.6v> and the load is low<12.6v it allows current flow to the trailer battery, I have had it in place and working spot on for nearly 6 years


edit: connected battery to battery with 2ga wire and a big stereo amplifier fuse, rated at 120 amp, and welding cable quick connect at the hitch, with heavy rubber caps for when not in use.

 

[bigcountry78]

Sorry, I had to grab dinner and couldn't complete the post...lol

So, none of the mechanical systems appeared to be the problem.

Once we got home from camping, I started to pull the wiring harness out from behind the block.
That would be the fuel gauge wire, starter wires, alt wire, oil pressure, temp sensor, dizzy wire.. Also the house batt wire.
It became obvious, when I pulled the house batt wire, that I had found the culprit.
The house batt charging wire had not been attached back to the top of the valve cover, like it should of been.
I had layed it down next to the intake manifold.
There is an exhaust channel in the intake manifold that heats the manifold and goes right under the divorce choke pull-off mech.
That got hot enf to melt the insulation off the house batt charging wire.
When it did, it blew one of the fusible links on the firewall. And since the starter solenoid is also in that immediate circuit, it also blew that fusible link as well. Hence the 2 big BANG's.

The fix?...a quick trip to parts house and get 2 wire gauge specific fusible links and solder them in.

Took it apart yesterday and fixed it. Put it back together today and put all the wires where they're supposed to be.
It started right up and no damage to the alt or anything else.

Frustrating for sure, but learned a valuable lesson.

I learned that same lesson on a zero turn mower. They route the wires a certain way for a reason. I had been repairing something unrelated and had taken the zip ties holding the wiring harness in place off. I didn’t put them back when I put it back together. Ran it about ten minutes when it felt like the engine locked up. Didn’t take long to figure out that the entire harness had gotten sucked into the hydraulic cooling fan, broken the blades off, wrapped around the shaft 73 times and yanked all of the plugs out. So lesson learned, put all the doohickeys back in place lol.

 

[Sad Sack]

Well, you’re just one stripe away from that!
If n when I redo the paint on it I’m considering something like this.
And a pic of mine and buddy’s brothers truck at the local Fri night car show.

You must be registered for see images attach

This may be a Chevy but thought I'd insert the link anyway:

1985 Chevrolet C10 Pickup w/ Lowenhart Wheels – Beige (Just Trucks) Diecast 1:24 Scale Model - Jada 35859 - Karson Diecast Co.

1985 Chevrolet C10 Pickup w/ Lowenhart Wheels – Beige (Just Trucks) Diecast 1:24 Scale Model - Jada 35859 FREE SHIPPING...

www.karsondiecast.com

 

[xm20k]

Well, you’re just one stripe away from that!
If n when I redo the paint on it I’m considering something like this.
And a pic of mine and buddy’s brothers truck at the local Fri night car show.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

That last one to include the stripes on the hood that are mostly removed on the truck pictured.

I've been considering doing the black stripe/panel on mine to fit in with the hood but without the trim. I'm no photo shopper so my attempts to edit it to see if I'd like how, it looks have been utter trash.

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