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  1. #1

    Default Shocking Electrical Problem

    Looking for some help with a electrical problem. Just recently I noticed after turning my car off when getting out I put my hand down on the sill (which has no sill plate) I felt a little shock. This happened a few times over a month or so then my batter was dead. I don't drive it very often. It is a relatively new battery. The car is my 85 SSP. It a 5.0 5spd car that has a very rough under hood wiring harness. Lots of wires with bad insulation and has been cut and pieced together. But with that said it has been like this for a while with no problem. Any ideas where to start looking? Thanks.

  2. #2
    FEP Super Member mustangxtreme's Avatar
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    Default

    The shock is more likely static electricity than a shorted wire. That said, since there is a lot of wiring with bad insulation, I'd address that by replacing the bad wiring. Trucks are a good candidate for factory wiring because the wiring is farther away from the heat of the engine and the wiring tends to be longer than you need so you can cut it down to size.

    Get good at soldering and make sure you use heat shrink to seal things back up. I would try to stagger the splices so once you are done, the new harness can be re-finished to look like factory and no-one will be able to tell it has been repaired.
    Dave

    If common sense was common wouldn't it just be sense?

    1983 Capri L T top 5.0 efi aod
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    93 F-250 351 5sp 4x4

  3. #3

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    mustangxtreme thanks for the input. I actually have a couple of pieces of harness from a truck that I pulled from a local pick & pull. Going to start repairing more of the harness. The shock is not like a typical static shock. It feels like low a voltage shock and last for as long as I hold my hand on the sill. Thanks

  4. #4

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    Disconect the battery and try it for shocks. Still most likely static. I get it every time in my Cougar.
    84 Cougar, 90 HO with 700DP, Edelbrock RPM intake, 1.7 RRs, shorty's and SS exh, T-5, KC clutch, Hurst pro billet, line loc, 8.8, 4.10s, suspension mods....blah, blah,blah.

    71 Comet, 289, Liberty TL, 9", 6.00s, 11.9x @ 112.... blah, blah, blah.

  5. #5

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    Start by measuring how much of a current drain you have. Use your VOM in current mode, disconnect the ground on the battery, use the VOM in current mode to connect the ground wire to the battery, read the current drain on the meter. Most meters can't handle more than 10 amps but are fuse protected. If you can feel an electrical shock then I'm thinking the drain is pretty high, 500mA to a few amps. And your battery wouldn't put up with that long.

    Once you find out how much drain pull fuses one at a time while measuring the drain. When you find the circuit with the short the VOM will show a lower drain when that particular fuse is pulled. Then you can do from there on that circuit to find the short.

  6. #6

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    With 12 volts you get heat not a shock. Most likely static. If the battery keeps going dead I would first suspect the diodes in the alternator and easy to test for

  7. #7
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    Ok - in 86 my parents bought a new Tempo. It had basically the same fabric on the seat surround as the 86 Mustang. It would shock the crap out of you if you drag your butt when getting out of the car.

    A few years later I bought my 1986GT and guess what - same thing.

    Throw in some tweed seats from an 87-93 and it won't do it anymore. My car certainly stopped doing it.

    or leather is nice!

  8. #8

    Default

    So I am not sure what it was but I continued to repair and replace wires and it has been resolved for now. Thanks for the suggestions.

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