Checking lights,gauges first, but constant spark when hooked up

[WH23G3G]

I'm wanting to test the lights and gauges before I install the motor and everything. But I tried it today with what I have already hooked up and when I attempted to install the negative battery cable it was sparking constantly. Doesn't that mean open circuit? I've got new OEM battery cables. I hooked the positive to the starter, the gray lead to the G on the relay and the red to the BAT on the relay. The negative I grounded on the battery tray and the core support. I've got the yellow wire coming out from the forward light harness connector to the I on the starter relay, the brown/yellow wire from the reverse harness connected to the other I terminal. There is another red wire coming out from the forward light bulkhead connector that I also installed with the red battery wire on the starter relay post. The reverse switch isn't hooked up because of no transmission, the rear tail lights/side markers aren't hooked up because bumper isn't on the rear, oil/water/coil/alternator/choke aren't hooked up because of no motor, blower isn't hooked up, washer pump isn't, A/C harness isn't even plugged into the bulkhead. Everything in the interior is put back and installed factory way and hooked up correctly. I put the starter ontop of the fender for this procedure. What do I need to double check? Good thing I didn't have the motor in, I wouldn't have even been able to start it.

[Ghoste]

Not an open, a short someplace.

[tan top]

alternator wires , coil wires , ballest  wires grounding out !  , also make sure the ignition is  off  ... when connecting back up !!  , also / for safety sake ..& what i done when i was testing all the electrics on mine ..after putting it back togeather !!   make up a thin gauge ground wire with a in line fuse in it & a crocodile clip on the other end  .... use that to connect to the battery , if there is a short the fuse will blow !!! plan on using a 25 amp fuse ..as current draw for testing wipers , heater motor ..is a lot

[WH23G3G]

I checked to make sure the alternator wires, ballast resistor, and coil wires were not touching metal. They are not. Should all knobs be off? Like headlight switch, turn signal, map light, wiper switch? Should I hook up the coil, alternator, and ballast resistor and just set the components on the fender somewhere? Could it be because the rear tail light harness isn't plugged in since it was grounded inside the trunk. The trunk is open, but the light switch is not even in the trunk so it couldn't be an open circuit there. The engine harness, reverse harness, wiper harness are all 100% new harnesses from Year One, there shouldn't be a short there. So I could look in the fuse block and see which fuse blew and check that circuit? I had a similar problem on a Datsun but it was running, everytime I hooked up the battery it blew a fuse for the dash. I traced it down to a bad headlight switch. How would I hook up an inline fuse like you were saying to test all this? How do I install the fuse inline to protect everything?

[Ghoste]

I would definitely see what fuse blew first.

[Nacho-RT74]

and the gray lead connected to the G post on the starter relay

gray wire ? you should have there the wire coming from tranny, brown traced yellow.

oil/water/coil/choke/alternator not hooked up

becarefull with big wire of alternator ( black wire ), it could be make contact with chassis and that wire is conected directly to + side batt throught ammeter. However if there is a short with that YOU WILL NOTICE and fuse link will blow

about spark coming from - wire of batt... yes is normal to have a small spark everytime you plug because several stuff is hooked and working without ign key in ON:

-dome light/map light
-trunk light
-glovebox light
-ign courtesy light ( everything above if doors/lids open )
-Clock


Beside that if you have headlight switch in some of the ON position, that would make an increased spark to because that switch works without key too ( parking position, or dome on )

[John_Kunkel]

I hooked the positive to the starter, the gray lead to the G on the relay and the red to the BAT on the relay. The negative I grounded on the battery tray and the core support. I've got the yellow wire coming out from the forward light harness connector to the I on the starter relay, the brown/yellow wire from the reverse harness connected to the other I terminal.

The yellow wire to the I terminal is correct but the brown/yellow should go to the G terminal and the gray is either the tach or oil pressure; it shouldn't be hooked to the starter relay.

[tan top]

How would I hook up an inline fuse like you were saying to test all this? How do I install the fuse inline to protect everything?

this is what i made ...nothing fancy ...  only use this for testing , lights , accessory's .... ... if there is a short , fuse blows straight away .... saves running around pulling off the ground cable .... should anything go wrong !!

[WH23G3G]

Ok I went to the car and checked there was nothing in the interior on. No light switches, wiper motor, map light, or ignition. I checked all the fuses, none of them were blown. Some of the fuses are probably pretty old too and there still weren't any blown. Is that at least good news? I checked how I had things hooked up in the engine compartment and I didn't see anything that was touching metal that shouldn't. I'm definitely not an expert at reading these factory wiring diagrams, but have become a lot better since I started this Charger project. On the Challenger, Coronet, Charger Engine compartment wiring diagram it shows the relay with the letters B, S, G, I. There are three wires connected to the B post. On mine I have connected the red wire coming from the forward light harness bulkhead connector and the red lead from the positive cable. There is a dark blue labeled A18-16DBL on the wiring diagram that I don't seem to see on my harness anywhere. What does it go to? On the S terminal it shows in the wiring diagram to be a S5-12BR brown wire, but the OEM battery cables I got off of EBAY have a gray wire instead. It is the second lead that's on the positive cable so I assume that is where it goes just a different color. On the G I have the reverse switch brown/yellow wire hooked up. On the I terminal I have the yellow wire hooked up. Is this all correct? If no fuse blew and it was pretty good constant spark coming when I tried hooking up the negative cable what does that mean? Does it mean there isn't a short? Or is something hooked up wrong?

[Ghoste]

If there was a spark when you tried to hook up the ground it means there is a completed circuit someplace whether it be a short or a switch closed on some device to complete a normal circuit.

[WH23G3G]

Obviously this is going to be a difficult problem to trace down. But more than likely it will have to be in the interior. I have already finished the interior and don't even know where to start to look for the problem there. I guess I need to make sure I have everything hooked up in the right place, but under the dash the hook ups are pretty fool proof since all the connectors only connect to one place. This will put off my building of the motor because if I can't even hook the battery up there's no use to continue. Where do you'll suggest starting at?

[Ghoste]

Pull one fuse at a time and touch the negative terminal to the battery and see if it sparks.  Once it doesn`t you know which circuit to start going over.