I have a short somewhere that causes the smaller red wire coming off my positive battery terminal to melt its insulation, and it also causes the main fuse to blow. I checked the alternator connectors and they looked fine, I've hit a wall here and don't really know what to do next. I'm starting to think I should give in and have a mechanic look at it ...well not yet damn it. What do you think?

 

There is no stock small red wire coming off the battery. It has to be something aftermarket.

Do you have some aftermarket stereo, amps, or other electrical devices?

 

well I just bought the car, and there is no stereo at all, which makes me think that the previous owner probably had a nice stereo he didn't want to sell...I guess that makes sense

 

take some pics if you can...

how fat is it? very?

I would hope the seller wouldn't have just left a live wire in the trunk after removing a stereo....

a wire comming off the battery shouldn't be blowing the main fuse though.

 

Take a pair of dykes and cut that red wire. Problem solved.

Yes, as stated in Scott's post, a wire FROM the battery post should not be blowing the main fuse. It ain't downstream of the fuse.

And: The negative post is fwd and the positive post is aft. Just in case.

 

well I'll see if I can get a digital camera off of someone. Its not a fat wire at all, about the size of...uh...almost the same size as the keyboard wire.

 

Is one of these two wires RED and the other RED with a WHITE stripe???

Do they have a ring terminal on there ends at the battery??? OR are they integrated with the large cable on the positive battery terminal????

If they are on a seperate ring terminal....then take that terminal off the positive post and protect it with some tape. Then see what item in the car does not now function.

The only red wires in that area are the RED and the RED/WHITE wires on the FUSE BOX. Those are headlight related. But again...NOT connected to the positive post of the battery.

Like the man said way earlier.....they sound AFTERMARKET. The 88 FSM shows NO RED WIRES AT THE BATTERY. But then again, your there and we're here.

 

well to be honest most of the insulation has melted away, but I'm 99% sure its a red wire, no white stripe, I'll let you know what I find out next time I'm home.