the other night, as i was turning a corner, i heard a loud pop as i accelerated. it sounded like something electrical. it was accompanied by a burning smell, also having an electrical quality odor. the car continued to run, i pulled over, checked all areas with a flashlight to see if i could spot the problem.

it was way too dark. so i got back in the car and drove it to my regular parking spot. i left it for a few days as i was out of town. when i got back, i tried to start the car, but no cranking, just a click, which also eventually went away after a couple of tries.

what could it have been that popped. i'm thinking it might be the alternator, but how does that explain the dead battery 3 days later?

any help with this would be greatly appreciated... thanks!

You might have your battery in the wrong direction. As you turned the corner (a left turn?), the battery slid to the right, and the positive terminal hit the fender.

The negative terminal should be near the fender, the positive near the radiator.


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David
Camaro - '68 327 Coupe, '86 Z-28 IROC 305 TPI
Corvette - '73 Mako Shark II replica (http://makoshark2.com/djunod/), '79 L-82, '82 Cross-fire, '01 Coupe

i just checked it and it's in the correct position... anything else it could be?

Well, it's definitely a short... and a big one. It would have to be one of the major positive cables hitting a ground.

One thing would be the fat red cable on the alternator/generator. See if the rubber insulation is melted there and the ceramic insulator completely gone. If so, then you will have to replace the alternator.

If not there, then trace the smaller of the two red wires from the battery along it's route to check for a burn.

If not there, then look down at the starter to see if really fat red wire has shorted.


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David
Camaro - '68 327 Coupe, '86 Z-28 IROC 305 TPI
Corvette - '73 Mako Shark II replica (http://makoshark2.com/djunod/), '79 L-82, '82 Cross-fire, '01 Coupe

If the battery is shorting out, be careful. I saw an exploding car battery pop the hood up on a car once. Anyway, you need to see if there is a parasitic drain on the battery. You need a fully charged battery to do this. Disconnect one of the battery terminals, then connecting one end of a test light to the battery terminal and the other end to the battery itself. If the test light glows, you have something that is constantly draining the battery. If you have a parasitic drain, you need to find out what it is. As mentioned above, it is probably a short somewhere. If it made a loud pop, it could be a major short that needs to found quickly. A short like this could easily burn your car down. Check everything as best you can. The most likely culprit is something that has power even when the key is off like the cigarette lighter and the headlights. I would think that since you heard the pop, that the problem would be inside the car. Good Luck.

what do you mean by burn the car down? i think the short has to be in the engine compartment because i heard the pop from out the window on the right side.

i checked out all the wiring under the hood trying to find the short, but no luck. could it be one of the diodes in the alternator or something?

i started the car last night and the car seems to be performing very sluggish. could this be an indication of anything in particular?

What year is your car?


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David
Camaro - '68 327 Coupe, '86 Z-28 IROC 305 TPI
Corvette - '73 Mako Shark II replica (http://makoshark2.com/djunod/), '79 L-82, '82 Cross-fire, '01 Coupe

81 z28

RobbZ28, I experienced the same exact
pop while taking a corner once. We found that the battery slid enough to ground out on the edge of the fender, making a very loud pop (and left some black marks on the fender). All of the interior lights went off- then back on. I smelled electrical/ wiring meltdown smell (always lovely) Got the car home. Would not start the next morning...Turns out a relay had died/burned up. Replaced it and the battery, and everything worked fine..
Good Luck!

Thanks Dan,
that definitely sounds like the same scenario. i checked out the battery situation and it doesn't seem that the battery can slide, but i'd still like to check out the relay. where is that relay located?

i got the car running again fine and am not having problems, but i am reluctant to keep using it till i find and fix exactly what it was that popped.

i am actually just about to get started working on the car, so i'll do a thorough investigation.

thanks again!

i noticed that the cable connected to the positive terminal on the battery has a smaller wire coming from it also. it seems that the wire used to be attached to something, but not anymore. i can't figure out what its supposed to attach to....

hey robbz28 black wire is a ground to the fender at least it is on my 87 iroc. as for the relay there should be three or so on driver side firewall between brake booster and fender.


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Just T-Z-N, the extra ground wire that comes off the negative terminal is connected to the fender. is the extra wire on the positive terminal supposed to be grounded on the fender also?

sorrey it took so long just checked board. no that should be a black with a red stripe with a rester or fuseable link spliting off to a black wire going to a 20a fuse runing to a orange wire to the ecm(computer),at the link black/red goes to alternator. mine you this is from my 87 TPI 350 but i think yours should be the same.

From way above I mean a bad short does have the possibility of burning the car if the right things happen. It is unlikely though. That extra wire coming off of the positive battery terminal that is loose could cause what you are describing. On my 69 Camaro, that wire goes to a connection block which is mounted to the firewall. THIS WIRE DOES NOT GET GROUNDED! If you were to ground the positive terminal of the battery, that wire would likely melt but it could possibly blow the battery. This connection block is located on the firewall near the right hand fender. It is much easier to see if you take the battery out. The connection block is a piece of plastic with a stud coming out of it. The wire from the battery terminal and I believe that the big wire coming from the alternator connect together here.

it must have been the fusable link coming from the battery terminal that popped. now i can't figure out exactly what it was connected to on my 81 Z28.

the cables look like they are new, is it possible that this fusable link was never connected to anything?

ok here we go .. on mine, positive cable has two wires one about 4# gauge to the starter. the other is smaller black/red goes to link. same side of link it comes back out to altenater. other side of link two wires one black going to 20A fuse the other one is orange going to wiring harness. hope i dont confuse you.

I have seen aftermarket battery cables with an extra wire coming off to hook up to whatever if need be...