I dodged a bullet and solved a mystery today.
Last night while I was wheeling my M1009 with the new 3.73 gear ratio, I noticed the headlights flicker at random times.
I got out and began to check grounds and connections.
Still, a flicker every once in a while.
"I'll have to check that out tomorrow in daylight" I thought and continued on my way back to the lodge.
This afternoon, after I got the Thiokol snowcat rewire project done, I finally had time to dig into my m1009.
I cleaned all the grounds.
Replaced the ones that were sheet metal screws with bolts and lock washers, taking my time..
Then I saw this!
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I know for a fact, that those terminals were pristine recently.
I looked up at the hood above and saw this;
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Yea, those are holes in the inside metal of the hood.. burnt holes!
The previous owner had relocated the batteries and he mentioned that he had to replace a brand new one under warranty, right before he sold me the truck.
I suspect he was getting an intermittent short across the #1 battery positive but when i bought the truck the damage was invisible behind the hood insulation blanket he had added.
I have no doubt he had no knowledge of the problem.
When I went wheeling around bald mountain, the flex between body panels and my hood caused the positive terminal to make occasional contact with the hood.. effectively arc welding, and that was the cause of the strange dimming flicker of the headlights.
A cautionary tale for anyone buying a modified rig or modifying their own.
That was probably the reason those GM engineers oriented the batteries the way they did in the first place.
I am just glad I found it before my rig burned to the ground.
By clearancing the metal in the area it was burnt and re-orienting the battery terminals, I have corrected the problem.
I used a blob of plumbers putty; a clay like substance, on top of the terminals to see if the hood comes close enough to squash the putty and therefore potentially cause a short.
Additionally I added a thick piece of rubber insulation over the positive terminal just in case.
Whew!
That was lucky.