Ground wire burned up on start.

[darmentle]

on my way home in 73 i stopped to get gas shut the truck went to start again and it was having hard time turning over so i opened the hood noticed i had burnt the insulation off the small ground wire going from the battery to the front of the truck. so i got new wire and ends for it sand paper clean up the contact point. Also removed the big ground going to the alt bracket and cleaned its contact as well started up after that. Is there anything i should look for that would cause that or is that just something that happens every once in awhile?

[bd]

on my way home in 73 i stopped to get gas shut the truck went to start again and it was having hard time turning over so i opened the hood noticed i had burnt the insulation off the small ground wire going from the battery to the front of the truck. so i got new wire and ends for it sand paper clean up the contact point. Also removed the big ground going to the alt bracket and cleaned its contact as well started up after that. Is there anything i should look for that would cause that or is that just something that happens every once in awhile?

That was 40 years ago, and you're just asking the question now?   

J/K - 



The square bodies use multiple primary grounds, all of which are important and need to function correctly:  battery-to-engine (2-gauge or the same gauge as battery-to-starter), battery-to-passenger side frame (10-gauge), battery-to-radiator support (10- or 12-gauge), engine-to-driver side frame (10-gauge), engine-to-firewall (usually a 5/16" braided, uninsulated flat cable, although a 10-gauge insulated cable will substitute nicely), rear lamp harness-to-frame (16-gauge). 

Under the circumstances you've described, all of the major grounds mentioned should be disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled with some anti-oxidant.  If any grounds are missing, add them!  If there are any star washers used in the ground connections, discard them!

[VileZambonie]

on my way home in 73 i stopped to get gas shut the truck went to start again and it was having hard time turning over so i opened the hood noticed i had burnt the insulation off the small ground wire going from the battery to the front of the truck. so i got new wire and ends for it sand paper clean up the contact point. Also removed the big ground going to the alt bracket and cleaned its contact as well started up after that. Is there anything i should look for that would cause that or is that just something that happens every once in awhile?

That was 40 years ago, and you're just asking the question now?   

That's what I was thinkin

[darmentle]

yea no living 1973 for me thanks    any way i noticed that the braided ground strap is missing so i fix that today thanks again

[VileZambonie]

Check for voltage drop across the negative battery cable. Sounds like high resistance to me