Project Truck Update: Short Circuit Edition

Checked up on the truck for the first time since Gustav. I went to crank it and nothing. I checked everything, but no horn, no nothing. Battery was completely shot. Pull the truck out of the garage, look underneath and what do I see? A mass of molten rubber hanging off the main starter cable.

The main live wire got stuck against the hot exhaust when I drove it back into the garage. The insulation melted, the battery short circuited and stayed that way for 3 weeks.

I replaced the main wire (something I wanted to do anyway), hooked it up to another car for a while, and bingo, it cranked again.

Old trucks are very simple to troubleshoot and very easy to fix.

So, instead of doing bodywork like I intended today, I had a diversion. This incident has inspired me to get a new wiring harness soon and be done the rats nest of cables underneath the dash.