[mar10]

I have a 350 sm chevy, I wired it myself and beleive me I am NO expert on wiring.

When I start the car, for just a about 60 seconds, the battery cable seems to get way too warm, almost hot. I have also noticed that there seems to be about 1.5 volt between ground and the far side of the resistor, on the ignition system. This 1.5V is there when the key is in the off position.

Earlier this month I had a problem starting the car. When I pulled the spark plugs to check spark, I noticed that the spark was very week and (here is the strange part I have never seen before) the spark was jumping from the center electrode to the side of the plug. Not up to the tip of the plug tip, even though the plug was clean and gapped correctly. I purchased a new set of plugs and the car started right up!

Is it possible that I "polarized" or "magnitized" the plugs by some screwup in the wiring. All instruments, lights, etc... are working fine. The don't have the alternator hooked up yet.

ANY thoughts? <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

[chevyguy75]

it seams like you hane a bad ground. check all grounds...battery to alt. bracket, motor to frame, and body to frame. make sure its all metel to metel contacts. if you have a bad ground (1.5v on the ground side is bad) the plugs will not work properly, that could be why they were sparking to the side. your warm, battery cable is a red flag to a bad circut. probally the ground. also because your battery cable directly hooks up to the starter selinoid have it bench tested, it could be the source of resistance. im not the worlds best electriction but i did spend 7 years as a mechanic in the army.....im only speaking of my personal experience.
hope this info helps.

[mar10]

Thanks for the input. SHould the ground go thru the frame to the block or directly to the block from the battery? Does it matter?

Thanks

[dollybud]

The correct way is ground from battery to block, and than block to frame. You will need 2 cables. This is what I have read from other posts, I did it this way and it stopped a lot of ghost problems. My battery is in the trunk, but it doesn't matter where the location is. Give it a try!