# Wire smoking??



## cjshloman (Nov 10, 2004)

Well I bought a snowbear winterwolf, hooked it all up was moving up and down and then I noticed smoke coming out from nothing I just hooked up.....I checked all the connections, all ok. Then I noticed a wire on my '98 tj that was black, screwed to the frame and it goes to the side of the engine......the wire was peeling and had melted. Why could this be? Could it have just been bad before? Why have I had no probs with this before I hooked the plow up??? Any help would be sweet. THanks. Jon


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

Sounds like you dont have the plow grounded directly too the battery terminal. If you grounded it to the engine or frame, it's trying to get ground back to the battery through the stock frame to engine ground cable, which isn't large enough to carry the plow current back to the battery.


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## theplowmeister (Nov 14, 2006)

your batery should have a heavy gage wire going to the engine block its missing or bad conection.


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## cjshloman (Nov 10, 2004)

The wire thats smokin is pretty thin. What guage shoud it be? Also, this would happen down there, now that I hooked a plow up. I didnt even touch that wire at all, never any probs. Thanks though, Im gonna correct it.


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

cjshloman;499226 said:


> The wire thats smokin is pretty thin. What guage shoud it be? Also, this would happen down there, now that I hooked a plow up. I didnt even touch that wire at all, never any probs. Thanks though, Im gonna correct it.


Where did you connect the ground cable for the plow winch? What exactly is it connected to?


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## cjshloman (Nov 10, 2004)

Its connected to the neg terminal on the batt.


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

cjshloman;499230 said:


> Its connected to the neg terminal on the batt.


 OK, then more than likely it's due to the alternator trying to keep the battery charged now that you've added a high current draw accessory (plow). The alternator needs a good ground path back to the battery to charge at full output. If the connection's on the stock ground are a little weathered or corroded it will cause a lot of resistance to the ground path between the alt and the battery. Add an additional heavy gage ground cable (4 gage is good) between the frame and engine. And also from the frame to the battery.This will give it an excellent ground path with little resistance between the alt and battery by tying it all together.


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## cjshloman (Nov 10, 2004)

Got some 4 guage, I will be replacing that frame to eng wire and running another from the frame to the neg terminal. Well see how it does.


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## JohnnyWalker (Jan 28, 2007)

*almost same problem*

I have a 95yj and just had the tranny rebuilt and had it back for 2 days and it ran fine , now won't start. If I put one of those big battery chargers on it and set the charger on start the jeep will fire up but the speedo and tach are going all over the place. I tested the starter, alt, and batt. and all are fine. I checked all the grounds and they seem to be fine and i say i checked the grounds because when trying to start it, sparks are coming out from the side of the frame and the corner top of the grill starts to glow cherry red. I checked all the fuses and they are fine but the starer relay seems to just keep making a clicking noise. I took it out and put a new one in but still the same. Is there any wiring on the tranny that could be causing this if they didn't put them on right or tight enough. Any suggestions?


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

JohnnyWalker;506079 said:


> I tested the starter, alt, and batt. and all are fine. I checked all the grounds and they seem to be fine and i say i checked the grounds because when trying to start it, sparks are coming out from the side of the frame and the corner top of the grill starts to glow cherry red. Is there any wiring on the tranny that could be causing this if they didn't put them on right or tight enough. Any suggestions?


Classic symptoms of a poor ground path. The starter/engine is searching for ground back to the battery. I realize you said that you checked them but either one is completely off or the connection is there but it's loose. Take a set of jumper cables and connect one clamp to the neg side of the battery and the other end to a good clean spot on the engine. See if it starts right up without the batt charger...or the sparking.


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## snowcub (Feb 8, 2008)

cjshloman;499198 said:


> Well I bought a snowbear winterwolf, hooked it all up was moving up and down and then I noticed smoke coming out from nothing I just hooked up.....I checked all the connections, all ok. Then I noticed a wire on my '98 tj that was black, screwed to the frame and it goes to the side of the engine......the wire was peeling and had melted. Why could this be? Could it have just been bad before? Why have I had no probs with this before I hooked the plow up??? Any help would be sweet. THanks. Jon


Did you make sure that you had your circuit breaker hooked up. I needed some tech type info before, and I just contacted them at their toll free number. You should give them a call if your having problems, they have very helpful agents.


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