'90 F250 4x 460ci Thanks for reading my post....

I've been having a just a touch of trouble with my starter for the past couple of months. When I turn the ignition key there is an audible click, but nothing happens. Always on the 2nd turn of the key, the engine fires up.

Today, I went to turn the key and got nothing but a click. I turned it again, expecting the usual start, but got nothing but another click. Several turns and nothing... Then I saw smoke coming from the hood!

Opened the hood and found that the small ground wire that comes off the negative battery cable and connects to the body at the front of the engine compartment was fried and still smoking. Not sure if this was the correct thing to do, but I disconnected it. I tried to start the truck again, and it fired right up without a problem. Tried it several times and it fired right up...

Where do I go from here?

 

Here is my guess. You probably have another braided ground strap between the firewall and the engine block. You also have (had, rather) that ground wire from the negative battery terminal to the sheetmetal. For whatever reason (disconnected, bad connections, etc), the heavy-duty ground cable that bolts to the engine block could not take the current from the starter, and the starter current tried to find a ground path through the ground straps, which cooked them. However, that doesn't explain why it started right up after you removed the smaller ground cable. Perhaps by coincidence the heavy duty ground cable worked again.

If this were me I'd install a new negative battery cable and thuroughly clean the battery terminal and the thread on the block where the cable bolts, as it easily gets soiled with grease and grime. You also might have fried the ground strap between the firewall and the block. If your new battery cable has the small ground wire coming off the battery cable that bolts to the sheetmetal, that should be enough to ground your electrical system, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure you have another ground strap.

Another explanation would be that for some reason, grounding your sheetmetal causes a short. It's possible you have a hot wire loose that is touching somewhere. However, I'd think you'd be experience other problems or blowing fuses. I'd take a look at the wiring coming off the starter solenoid for any obvious signs of insulation failure.

 

I agree, your large ground cable is bad. If it has a bad connection on the end, it can weld itself and be good till it vibrates loose again. Your little ground wires tried to take of the slack when the big wire gave out, and that's what burned them up.

I would replace the large ground wire, and make sure you replace and check all the little ground wires. They are very important for the rest of the truck to work correctly.