Car is shorted - question about starter

[martini]

so my car was dead as a doornail the other day, and after I jumped it it was running poorly - my battery light was flashing, but i was able to get home. I figured my battery was dead

i went to jump the car, and it wouldnt take a jump - in fact, there seemed to be a puff of smoke which came off the battery terminal connection.

i brought the battery in, and they said it was dead/shorted, so they replaced it

i now just put in the new battery, connected it up, and immediately noticed somethng was wrong - the cables started to heat up, etc.

i disconnected it.

The only thing I have touched recently is the starter to remove the trans. I only disconnected the bracket in the back of the starter, and nothing else.

The bracket looks like this:



so the first question... does this bracket serve as the ground for the starter? I'm wondering if the starter is somehow shorted


how can i test the starter for a short

[martini]

anyone?

[martini]

it looks like the cable from the starter that runs over the trans to the alternator is pinched between the trans and the engine... must have gotten caught when i re-installed the trans. I'm assuming that is the problem... this is so fucking annoying because I don't know how im going to free it up without disconnecting the whole trans again..

I don't know how i fucked this up

and even if I get it out, I'll probably have to replace it anyway

[martini]

back up and running... harness was pinched between the trans and engine... im shocked i actually was able to get it home yesterday.. it must have been a small short which gradually got worse... check out this picture



It looks worse that it was.. i pulled back the insulation and the wires weren't really damaged, they were just squished... I recovered them all really well with some electrical tape and I was back in buisness.

pain in the ass was backing the trans off the engine and snaking out this harness... not the way I wanted to spend my day!

[Hamotee]

Wow. Did you have to unhook the trans, or did you find another way to get it out?

[martini]

Wow. Did you have to unhook the trans, or did you find another way to get it out?

unhooked the trans.... i just had to drop the rear support, the CV boot shield on the passenger side and the and the 6 or 7 bolts around the trans... it gave me enough slack to get a pry bar over there and push the trans back about a 1/2 inch... that was enough room to get the cable out

[Hamotee]

That sucks. Good call on the fix though.