No start...fuseable link HOT?

[ChevyCobb]

This whole issue started with a misfire that I could not track down. gave up and bough a new opti...seemed to have helped. Drove it a few times with no issues. Then it started to get that strange misfire that would clear itself up after just a few minutes. Was told that the coil could be the issue this time. Replaced coil...went for test drive. still had slight misfire at low RPMs...then cleared up.

Parked it for a few hours and then went back down to crank it because I had to go somewhere...nothing happens. No clicks, no clunks...nothing. Have electrical power, but when the key is turned all lights go dim, and thats about it. Then I noticed a burning smell. Ran over and one of the fuesable links is smoking, but only one bundle(two wires with same terminal). As far as I can tell all grounds are tight, battery is showing power, but I have no idea where else to look. Obviously i'll have to now fix the hole in the link insulation(guess it just got too hot), but what else can I suspect??

[Spartan7]

It's not just a hole, that link is toast. You have to replace it. It did it's job and burned up before you caught something on fire. Now you have to look for the short in your wiring.

[ChevyCobb]

hmmm...where would it possibly be shorting out to cause the link to be fried? How can I trace down where this link goes?

[Spartan7]

You are going to need the wiring diagrams at the very least. Shoebox might have some of them on his site. Then check the fuse that is inline with that link, and see if it popped. It probably has, but chances are the short is between the link and the fuse. Start looking for some melted or sliced wires somewhere.

[ChevyCobb]

well looking around I saw some of that black plastic that holds wires together melted from header heat. Its the wires for the lead to starter, knock sensor, and PCM ground. So I thought that maybe the PCM ground wire has shorted out. I disconnected it and turned the key to see what happened and the motor turned(only held it briefly, didn't want that link to get hot or anything again.) problem is I dont see any openings in any of those wires that were bundled or any burn/melting points.

[ChevyCobb]

well, I re-rapped the wires with some of that plastic tubing and some heat tape. then tried to move them as far away from the headers as I could. There is just no good way to do that with the headers it seems. Hooked everything up, and it fired right up.
Not sure what to make of it and cant guarantee it wont happen again.

[lt1truck]

I had something similar happen on my old toyota pickup. I blew up the old v6 that was in it and replaced it with a low mile junkyard unit, got everything buttoned up ready to go, took it on a test drive and it started shitting all over the place and the lights would dim and such.

I then took it home and found that the porcelin on one of the spark plugs was cracked and replaced all of them and still had the problem intermittently.

i later foung that when i turned the steering wheel, it would have the problem. The main harness was pinched between the steering shaft and drivers exhause manifold which melted many of the wires and grounded them on the header.

to fix it i just pulled the harness apart and taped up the wires that were exposed. i also got some header wrap and covered the harness with that to prevent any more burning through because like your situation there wasnt a very good place for that section of the harness to stay out of heats way!!

Hope this helps

[ChevyCobb]

I think i'm going to re-wrap everything in that heat tape again....just for more protection.