[avlind]

The immediate question is, can a severed plug wire cause an electrical short?

Make & Model info:
94 Chevy S10 V6 4.3 vin Z, 2w, 5 speed manual trans, air-con, with many miles…(too many to recall).

History
-Has always had a problem with fouling out plugs, wires, cap & rotor.
-Several years ago clutch was replaced (shop for got to put trans oil in, so…)
-...Trans leaks
-Few months back got in car and clock reset when started. Only time.
-Changed water pump because it was leaking. And fan clutch just because it was a good idea.


Immediate trouble
-Gas Mileage dropped in half (thought tank was siphoned but it wasn't) (this is not a Vortex, it is the Throttle body- so I don't know if the CPI is valid in my truck).

-Began to have trouble starting (turning over), starter sounds strong and battery seemed strong enough to kick the starter. This happened about 8 times.

-Recently, truck started to cut out and wanted to die as I was driving. At first I suspected plug wires because they often work themselves off. (they seemed fine at the time I checked).

- On an extremely hot day, drove ~2 miles and truck drove the best it had in weeks. When I came back, it would not start. (no dash check engine lights or error codes) Again, starter sounded strong, no clicking. I started to think that it might be the alternator (because of the previous sputtering and wanting to die as I was driving). I checked the battery cables for corrosion, they were fine. Then I decided to check the plug cables again, I discovered that one was completely severed…..yeah….I thought I found the problem and did a MacGyver and spliced the cable together and crossed my fingers and did a jig. No luck!.

-Even though the battery sounded strong, I decided to I checked the voltage on the dash. It was lower than I would like to see (~9v) but not the end since I was trying to start it so much.

-Plugged in solar charger till husband arrived with 2nd car (no luck).

-Tried charging & jumping it with cables but no luck.

-Brought the battery to the dealer, they said the battery was fine, I told them it was not and made them do a full test. Turns out it was bad, we replaced it with a new one and once it was hooked up it started to immediately drain the new battery. I barely was able to get it started (6th try) and quickly made it home with the sputtering of the bad plug cable.

-(side note, the car that tried jumping the truck, the same thing happened with its clock twice a few days later and never again. Some kind of car virus?).

-I have since replaced the plugs, wires, cap and rotor.

-I had the alternator checked twice and they say it passes. (Regulator is in the alt in this model)

-Checked fuse box but all looked good.

-No, I have not tried tested the starter, it is not in the best of locations to be messing with. Besides, I am not exactly convince that it could be this. But then again....

So, at this time, I am worried that I have a short somewhere because the bat was completely dead before I even made it home. I immediately disconnected it for good measure. The question now is…where should I go from here? I am afraid to hook up the battery if it is just going to drain it the moment I hook it up or even worse, ruin it.

I am not sure if I have a fuse for the battery, but I doubt that would be the issue either.

Thanks in advance for any ideas and support ;~)

-Aileen