Hi all, new here and hoping I don't **** anyone off by asking a dumb question but I am at a loss. Just got my 1st K5 after wanting one for a billion years and getting tired of trucks for a number of reasons. Shortly after I paid the man for the rig I took it down the road to top off the radiator which was low. Turned out it was empty and upon filling it she started rolling whote smoke everywhere. Well a new head, head gasket and exhaust manifold later I am tring to get it running again. Here is where I stand:

When it was running I set about trying to time it. I bumped the dizzie a bit too far and she wouldn't trun over anymore, and I had to stop the motor, make an adjustment, and then try again since I kept getting whacked whenever I touched the distibutor. Odd, but I attributed it to the lead coming off the coil that is supposed to go to a tach (judging by some shoddy wiring diagrams) that was not hooked up to anything. I nany event after a period of time I doing this the starter would no longer engage the flexplate. I could hear it getting juice and spinning, but the solenoid wasn't actuating. IN the process of chasing down this new problem, I welded a wrench to the radiator support while disconnecting the battery. SO...I start chasing shorts. Replaced the hot wire from the batt to the alternator and the main lead to the starter, fixed a few breaks in the wires going into the harness on the firewall, but I'm still getting an 8V draw whenever it's all hooked up. I have chased every wire I can find in the battery/alt/starter part of the ignition circuit and can't figure out where the short is. I'm suspecting my problem is somewhere in the dash side of the harness since I also gota spark out of my cigarette lighter at one point. I haven't messed around in the dizzie/cap/coil and have sort of ruled out the pickup coil/ICM since I was getting fuel and spark when I started out. However the shock I got off of the dizzie makes me wonder whats going on there. All the plug wires appear undamaged and are connected correctly. All this extra computer crap is adding wires and connectors that I haven't really dealt with before (my other trucks were all carbed/pre ECM vehicles). What am I missing here?

Sorry for the wordy post, but I wanted to give as much background as I could. I have searched and searched on this all over the internet and I think I just have too many questions to answer that way and need to talk to a person, prefereably one who knos electrical systems better than me.

 

very strange.... if worst comes to worst maybe just say screw it and start over. get a new wiring harness from a junkyard or online and install it.

i did one in my truck and only took a few hours after the dash is out. insanely easy. i cant think of any reason why something would draw that much.... maybe your ignition switch is messed up. starter maybe? hard to tell without actually seeing it

 

Yeah, the starter is growing on my list of suspects since I just braved the sparks and fireworks to hook it up and see if it would crank. No dice, not even a clicking or buzzing. Still have a shade over 12V in the battery (on a multimeter and the gage in the truck) and everything seems to be working. That sounds like starter.What I can't figure is disconnecting the lead to the alternator brings the draw back down to pretty much nothing, even with the starter still hooked up. Not only that, but I can achieve quite a little light show by bridging the wire from the battery to the back of the alternator body with the multimeter probes or a screwdriver, but only when all the wires are connected. If I disconnect the wire that runs form the same post to the firewall, nothing. Perhaps I have 2 different problems? Assuming the starter is somehow broken, could it explain a draw at the alternator?

 

Well, I think it's safe to move this one to the electrical forum. After another check of the starter wiring and looking over the dist/coil wires, I hooked everything back up. Same 8.15V draw, but no fireworks at the battery. I go hit the key and zilch. Last time I tried this everything worked but the starter wouldn't get any juice, but the windows, heater, seatbelt light and buzzer etc all worked. Now nothing at all.

Oh, and since I have had it I've blown 3 horn fuses right after changing them, and I noticed in the wirign diagram I got from a chevy guy on another forum that the horn is always hot. Could there be something to this? Since I have more or less eliminated mechanical issues and really can't check at this point anyway, is it possible I am looking at an ingnition switch issue? COuld making my own ignition circuit with a push button and a some wires potentially bypass the problem? I'm pretty handy with trucks, but we are reaching the bottom of my idea pile.