Won't Start, Smoke from under dash

[McDude]

Hello everyone,

Pretty new to the forum
I have a 1986 CJ7
All of the wiring is a complete mess

But this morning when I drove to work the car started up fine, suprisingly for the cold weather. But when we came back from lunch the jeep wouldn't start.

I could hear the starter spin but nothing would happen.
After about a second some white smoke started coming in from under the dash.
So I got out, and tried jumping the solenoid with a pair of pliers.
This time it would only sometimes spin but others not turn over.
I ended up pushing it across the parking lot and popping the clutch to get it home. With the ignition on, I could hear my ground on my battery "Sizzle"
I tried jumping it across the solenoid again but nothing happened.

When I got it home and tried to start it again, I could hear the starter "Clunk" once, and nothing would happen and I would lose all power. I would have to turn the ignition all the way off and back on to get power again. The jeep behaved similar to this a few months ago when I wasn't making a solid positive battery connection.


AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l , Tremec T-176


THANKS!

 

[gert]

Ouch, start with clean battery terminals, clean grounds, drop battery off to have it tested at parts store, white smoke from the dash is not a good thing. You might wanna inspect your wiring to ignition switch and fuse panel check for burnt wiring. Let us know how it goes


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lumpy Grits]

STOP driving it and disconnect the battery POS(+)till you find the source of the smoke.
You have a serious car fire potential here.
Good luck,
LG

 

[Posi]

^^^ This

 

[McDude]

Update:

The last owner had some Bolt Down connections to the battery terminal (basic hoop but a bracket that pinches the cable down) I noticed the bracket wasn't flipped upside down and making a solid connection, so i flipped it and it starts perfectly fine.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

What was the source of the smoke?
LG

 

[McDude]

What was the source of the smoke?
LG

There was some oil on my battery that was smoking due to the loose connection hahahah

 

[Hedgehog]

smoking oil = FIRE! Glad everything worked out without .... FIRE!

 

[WillyM]

Burning Jeeps are not fun. Personal experience here. I got the underhood fire out on mine, but not before there was massive damage. I ended up having to replace everything under the hood but the long block and radiator.