The car is a 1980 245DL. It wouldn't start, cranked fine though - I didn't hear the fuel pump running with the key "on", so I took a paper clip and touched one end to fuse 5 and one end to fuse 7 (the main fuel pump and in-tank pump fuses) - got sparks and heard the pumps run briefly. The car then started and ran fine, drove it home. The next attempt to start didn't work, so I bought a used fuel pump relay - not 100% certain it's good, and I still don't hear the pump run with the key "on". Still no start, even after briefly jumping fuses 5 and 7 (but didn't try to continuously jump the fuses due to the sparks) and managed to run the very old battery down by cranking, and saw smoke coming from the ground strap bolt at the firewall. Tried to jump start - the car still barely cranked (as if the battery was dead) and there was more smoke coming from the ground strap at the firewall. The wire to the wiper motor (grounded at the same location) looked melted.

I guess I need to get a known good fuel pump relay and a new battery, but I'm concerned about the smoke at the ground strap bolt - does this indicate a grounding problem in the electrical system - where would I look? The main engine harness has been updated to the non-crumbling version.

Zack
1980 245DL M46 286k
1988 745T+ M46 223k