2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Tons of smoke...... from dash!

[Swamp Donkey]

I have put the 98 out to pasture for the winter. I just bought a new battery charger, so I thought I better charge up my batteries and take the old girl for a rip. The batteries did not seem to take a charge because the truck was pretty much dead when I turned the key on. Anyways my batteries post could have been cleaned because there was a wetness to the negative side and crystaly looking stuff.



This is where things went wrong. I was having problems with a sticking throttle and had no idea my truck could pull 3,600 - 3,700 rpms with a 3,000 rpm gov spring kit and go as fast as it did in 3rd gear! Anyways I shut the ol girl down, unstuck my throttle and fired my truck back up. Drove about 10 feet and the alt gauge kept jumping from from 14 right down to being bottomed out. Done this about 10 times in the span of 15 or so seconds. The gauge was all over the place, and all of the instuments would just quit. I thought to myself... ... . weird. LOL Until smoke started billowing out from around my stereo! Shut the truck down again and gave the wet corroded battery posts a little wiggle and cursed myself for being over 5 miles from home in the middle of nowhere without my cell phone. It was at least -25c with a strong wind so walking was not very high on my list of things to do at that time. Anyways what I ended up doing was turning my heater switch to the off position and firing the ornery old goat up again and everything was somewhat back to normal. The alt meter was showing over 14 and no smoke coming out from around the stereo so I idled the 5 miles back home. (throttle still sticking) Gauge showed like it was charging the whole time and when I got back in the yard, I got brave and tried the heater. That worked as well. Only tried it for a bit, did not feel like burning my "project" truck down! What do you think happened?

I am probably going to remove the batteries for the winter and have them tested, or better yet just get new ones in the spring. The alternator is fairly new, maybe about 2000 miles on it. Anyone else ever have anything like this happen? Smoke from the dash has me slightly concerned. Wanky voltage reading I think is from bad battery/connection I think. Whats your guess?

 

[RWhites]

Been there done that

Sounds like wire chafed thru the insulation and went to ground. Check your fuses and hopefully one blew. That might give you a clue as where, what happened.



I work for a utility company and we have the big double bucket trucks for doing line work. I was driving one up in the hills and went to hop out when smoke billowed from under the dash. I just started to rip out the wiring

and found the #8 wire the radio shop had run un-fused from the battery going under the door sill plate had shorted when I stepped on the door sill. Melted holes in the air brake lines. suprising what you can patch with electrical tape and Kerneys.

Rich

 

[Crowhurst]

You might want to check that the fuel pre-heater wires haven't burnt out where they enter the pre-heater above the fuel strainer, low on the driver's side of the motor. This is a common problem. Nick.