What causes a wire to melt for the most part or smoke for that matter. I have a small guage "secondary" wire commin off of the - terminal on my bat in my 88 stang, wire corroded to ****, and then smoked and melted. Replaced with **** wire, similar guage, smokey melty wire. Any thoughts? Is there too much juice runnin through it?

 

Wire from the - terminal running to what?

 

a possible short or need a thicker wire

 

goes to the chasis, then into the wiring harness, i assume it heads towards the starter.

PS it melts/smokes when i turn the car over, if i push start it it will run fine tho.?

 

What do you mean "goes to the chassis"
Are you talking about a "secondary lead" coming off the batt. pos.(+) terminal?

Is this a stock wire, or something aftermarket, [power wire for an amp maybe]?

If a wire gets hot, then yes, there is too much current "going through it", if it gets hot enough to burn the insulation off it then there is way too much current going through it. 94

 

yeah, wire gets so hot it melts as soon as i turn over the car. It's a stock wire as far as i can tell. It's off of the negative terminal. I'll try to find a pic. car is an 88 5.0 stang wire looked stock , it goes from the batt-chassis, where it has a O ring splitter, then runs from splitter into engine bay somewhere, cant follow where it goes. It's starter related, cuz only when i crang the ignition do i get smoke, it will run no problem if i push start, but the wire must be starter related.
PS where would i get wire that could handle the load?

 

There is a problem with the ground to the motor, [maybe that's what the wire is,

Try this, with a set of jumper cables clamp one end to the batt. neg.(-) terminal and the other end to the motor, alt. bracket will work, if wire no longer gets hot when starting, the problem is improper motor ground. 94

 

i guess, i could always just replace the ground with a serious wire and hope that helps too? The original ground wire for the car doesn't get hot, just the stupid secondary one, i'll take pics when i get home and post, or if anyone has a mustang engine bay pic near the battery i'll point it out.

 

see the second wire commin off the neg terminal? thats the one

ps not my engine bay

 

double post sorry

 

Easy solution would be to replace it with a larger wire, and replace anything corroded. The corrosion doesn't help it at all. Do you have an amplifier/s in the vehicle?

 

no audio of anyt sort, just fried when i tried to start it.

 

Where is the bigger ground lead connected?
Did you try the jumper cable trick yet? 94

 

not yet, with the jumper, i'll try it i guess tonite. The main ground goes about 1 foot and connects to the chasis? frame? whatever the part it normally goes iscalled. I think i may just replace the main ground and the secondary, just to see if that helps.

So the symptoms are, i tried starting the car, clicking noises, charged the batt, same thing, noticed when i cranked it with a full batt that i saw smoke commin from under the hood, pop hood notice smokin wire/melting. Corroded to ****, cut it out replaced with 12 guage "hook up" wire from the source(i know it's probably **** but i had it at hime and figured i'd try.) Try to start, cranks a bit/then clik and smoke out the ***, new wire melted to ****.

Should help a bit. If i not crank it no smoke no problem. i can have the ignition "on" all lights work etc, horn what not, so i think this is directly related to the starter some how?

 

I would yank the starter asap and have it tested. Sounds like its shorting out. I would check all the grounds on the motor and tranny. Replace any correded wires too.

 

You could probably get some real help if you asked at a Mustang forum. I don't understand why people come to Honda Tech asking about their Mustang. I'd lock the post but the damage has already been done. You posted a pic! Oh the blasphemy.

And seriously, I'm not trying to be a dick. But look at these people struggling to help you and they have no idea what that wire is for.

 

If its basic mechanical, I'll solve it. There can only be so many things causing the ground wire on the battery to melt when he goes to start the car. This could happen on any car with a bad starter or grounds.

 

Ditto that, that's why I suggested the jumper cables, if things still get hot, it can only be a problem in the starter itself, the same thing would happen in a Honda/Acura.

I do agree there would be more help at a mustang form, from guys that may have run into the same problem. 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by suspendedHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You could probably get some real help if you asked at a Mustang forum. I don't understand why people come to Honda Tech asking about their Mustang. I'd lock the post but the damage has already been done. You posted a pic! Oh the blasphemy.

And seriously, I'm not trying to be a dick. But look at these people struggling to help you and they have no idea what that wire is for.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You're doin a good job at it. Anyways, it's an electrical problem, and as for why i come here, i owned a civic about 3 years ago and used the site alot, cuz it's helpful and figured the audio guys would know about electrical, in general not just mustangs. Dick

 

Well thanks for the help guys, got it started today, replaced engine ground/secondary cable, actually doubled up the small one, and boom started like a champ. Thanks a tonne.

 

I don't see how you consider that being a dick. I'm not being a dick if I'm trying to direct you toward people that would be able to help you better. Knowing what that wire is for is essential to helping you solve your problem. Sorry if that's not the answer you want to hear.

NO POSTING NON-HONDA/ACURA QUESTIONS IN A HONDA/ACURA FORUM

It's for your own ******* good.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Spicoli v 3.0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well thanks for the help guys, got it started today, replaced engine ground/secondary cable, actually doubled up the small one, and boom started like a champ. Thanks a tonne. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Glad to help, but doubling up the small one is not fixing the problem. owell

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wrx-killer-Sti eater &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Glad to help, but doubling up the small one is not fixing the problem. owell</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree you need to find out why that small cable could not handle the load.

My guess would be there is a larger ground somewhere that is not grounding correctly. Corroded or something. This then switches the load to the smaller wire.

Trace all your grounds and make sure you have a good connection.

 

I changed the main ground and because the wire i have wasnt thick as the original, i used two, to increase the current to see if i could get anything and it worked, i've fixed the "double up" job with a proper wire, and all is well, as long as i can remember to shut the interior light of tonite