Other explanation ....


If you powercoat a frame or paint the motor ... the place where the 2 big bolts link the frame to the motor HAS to be bear metal...

Both The motor and the frame have to be bear metal before linking the frame and the motor together

The groud cable alone is not enough....  the motor has to touch the frame

It would explain why you battery cable is smoking ! 

Quote from: ducatigirl100 on December 19, 2014, 07:32:23 PM
Other explanation ....


If you powercoat a frame or paint the motor ... the place where the 2 big bolts link the frame to the motor HAS to be bear metal...

Both The motor and the frame have to be bear metal before linking the frame and the motor together

The groud cable alone is not enough....  the motor has to touch the frame

It would explain why you battery cable is smoking ! 

DING DING DING!

Ding, ding, ding ?

You won the prize    A US expression.

 

Quote from: ducatigirl100 on December 20, 2014, 05:45:22 AM
Ding, ding, ding ?

I'm about ready to push the bloody thing down to the end of the back alley and set fire to the fokker

Maybe try running another wire from the battery to the engine...
I did it on mine, ran it from the negative, across the frame to the spot where the other cable is attached.

All new heavy duty wires installed from Fleabay:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=150518639775


Still no better 

Would a higher CCA battery help?  Failing that, I'll pull the motor out again next week and clean up all contact points between engine and frame!!! Grrrr......

How "big" a battery you running?

Quote from: MonsterMadMarty on December 22, 2014, 11:23:35 PM
All new heavy duty wires installed from Fleabay:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=150518639775


Still no better  

Would a higher CCA battery help?  Failing that, I'll pull the motor out again next week and clean up all contact points between engine and frame!!! Grrrr......

Arrgh, I know this comment is of zero use to you after the fact, but I wish you hadn't dropped $120 of your hard earned cash on those battery cables. Dude is selling snake oil man, that is literally car stereo amplifier wire. I googled the brand name that's printed on em aways back.
It'll work great of course, it's just way over priced.

Quote from: Rudemouthsky on December 23, 2014, 12:13:51 AM
Arrgh, I know this comment is of zero use to you after the fact, but I wish you hadn't dropped $120 of your hard earned cash on those battery cables. Dude is selling snake oil man, that is literally car stereo amplifier wire. I googled the brand name that's printed on em aways back.

you've clearly never seen what they can do for a 996sps.

start looking for voltage drops or resistance.  measure each section, find out where the issue is.  seems like you're not being overly logical due to induced stress.

Quote from: brad black on December 23, 2014, 01:44:10 AM
you've clearly never seen what they can do for a 996sps.

start looking for voltage drops or resistance.  measure each section, find out where the issue is.  seems like you're not being overly logical due to induced stress.

This  

1- the problem is not mecanical because you can turn the engine over... and its normal when you plug the spark plugs in ..the engine is hard to turn. well compression does that

2-if a battry cable is smoking ... this  clearly indicate that you have voltage resistance somewhere...battery wires are usually 6AWG  gauge....  to smoke a wire like that ..you need ALOT of resistance.

Dont be discourage

Did you do the checks I posted?

Quote from: howie on December 18, 2014, 08:06:43 PM
As Brad Black said, battery ground directly to engine.  You should still have a ground path from the frame to the battery to assure the rest of the electrics operate correctly.  Still not good?  Positive lead from your volt meter to the negative post on the battery, negative to clean metal on the starter, like an ear a mounting bolt goes through.  Crank engine.  more than .5 volts?  Bad ground.  Now, positive on the positive terminal negative on the starter lug.  hit the starter button.  More than .5 volts on that side?  High resistance at a connection there.

Oh, don't assume one of those three batteries must be good.  Charge and load test.

As ducatigirl100 said, smoking cable is from high resistance.  Bet you find a huge voltage drop on the negative side of the circuit. Then you trace back in a logical sequence.  When you get to the connection where the large drop reduces you found the big problem.  Assuming you cleaned the powder coatings as suggested by ducatigirl100 I suspect the problem might be paint between the starter motor and case.

This video may help you.  Yes, it for a car.  Same basic circuit.

Do you get sparks? How's the plugs look?