Snap, crackle, pop from battery compartment at startup

[Edis06]

About 2 months ago I went to start the truck at night and there was a pop and smoke from the battery compartment when I went to crank. I tried again and it did it again. When I removed the seat to inspect, I noticed I replaced the plastic cover upside down and it was putting pressure on the ground connection at the body, and there was some black soot around the connection. I turned it around and have driven it daily without incident until today. Did it again, but only once.

It seems like it is arcing right at the ground connection, which is covered in a tar-like putty.

Is this a common issue? Does anyone have a pic of their setup so I can possibly clean this one up to match? Any insight is appreciated.

 

[Milcommoguy]

Common for an old trucks. Best to remove and clean every connection that is nut and bolted, of the electrical system. Follow the leads, break the connection, wire brush, re-torque and seal for waterproofing / corrosion prevention. Note they go thru the battery box via feed-thru's that need attention along with the shunt. Follow down to the starter positive and ground connections. A little work scraping and cleaning.

Check out the other threads about grounds / electrical gremlins.

Clean and tight. Make it right, CAMO

 

[Karl kostman]

Another thing to keep and eye on are your battery connections where the cable goes into the clamps if they are ever getting worn with lots of broken wire in the cable change them and re-solder them back on a new section of cable. Our trucks draw a lot of power when starting a cold engine and if the wire is less than its full capacity you will burn the wire off at the clamps!