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Leeboy · Jun 17, 2008, 10:35 PM

We just bought a very used 1976 Ford motorhome with a 460 in it. It started up fine the day we brought it home. The battery was dead, but we jumped it and it drove the 20 minute drive back to our house. We put in a battery, it was 650 cranking amps compared to the 950 cranking amps of the dead original one. We also changed the solenoid, because the original one was sticking. We fired it up and ran smooth for 20 miuntes. 2 days later (today) , we started it up and it just shut off instantly after 15-20 seconds. The positive wire was smoking and very hot. I thought, even if the possitive fried right off, it would still run, and just not charge.. but it died instantly. We haven't tried again to start it, we wanted to get a few ideas before we try something else... Thanks everyone...

CaptainRich · Jun 18, 2008, 05:05 PM

When you say the

Originally Posted by Leeboy

"The positive wire was smoking and very hot."

...
Which lead? From the battery to the solenoid... or... from the solenoid to the starter, or what?

When it "died instantly," there may have been other circuits that could be affected, also. Have someone experienced with automotive harnesses, best bet is an actual Ford tech, and have this problem diagnosed to eliminate the chance of somebody burning something up.