grounding / electrical issue

[towmater]

well for a little bit now my 88 K5 blazer has had a slow battery drain. I went and put quick disconnects on the battery terminals to prevent the battery from draining when it wasnt in use for long periods.

at work today i went ahead and did this and disconnected the battery, well when i got out of work i went and connected it back and nothing happened. No cranking, not a sound...just dead.

I started looking in the engine bay and it smelt like something was burning. I took notice at an orange wire coming from a ground block (im assuming) on the firewall that was touching the firewall. The wire insulation was melting off on the firewall itself and looking like it was about to catch on fire. First thing i did was disconnect the battery and the wire cooled down, but before that the wire was smoking hot to the touch.

Here is a picture of the wire i was referring too...the orange one connected grounded to the firewall.

Anybody have an idea of what could be wrong? I am assuming it's a bad ground issue, but im not the best at electrical. Hopefully it's something quick and easy to repair.

Also this is a 350 small block with TBI.

 

[4X4HIGH]

That is a HOT junction terminal. There is a wire that comes from the starter lug (big lug with battery cable also) to the terminal block then from the other side of the block it goes into the cab for ignition switch HOT. The lower pic is of a fusible link wire and if that wire melts you lose all "juice". There should be another fusible link wire down near the starter (the one that attaches to the left side of the junction block).

 

[towmater]

so do i need to replace that fusable link wire that is in the picture???

Any idea why this would be happening all of a sudden?

 

[4X4HIGH]

Fusible link wires melt if they are overheated. You need to trace that wire and see where it goes and see if it has "juice" at the other end. Basically, you need to find out where the wire has melted (assuming it has melted) which is usually where that large black piece is located in the wire. You need to buy a new piece of fusible link wire and solder it in place of the bad piece. I have seen them melt just from years of use so that's possible.

 

[GNERGY]

That other wire in your picture that is red and blue together looped around is for I think an electric brake setup. I have the same thing on my 91 burb and runs to the hitch. It could be touching and grounding out back there. If you are not using it disconnect it from the post there and tape it up or get rid of it. I did that to mine.
Tarey

 

[4X4HIGH]

That blue/red wiring is for electric trailer brake controller and it is just wrapped up from the factory and stuffed into that plastic wire loom holder. Unless someone else has hooked it up on either end to something it's doing nothing and goes nowhere on either end.

 

[GNERGY]

Mine ran all the way to the trailer hitch and had a shoddy tape job back there. Just thought his might be touching something it shouldn't.
Tarey

 

[4X4HIGH]

Same as mine, but the under hood side doesn't connect to anything either.

 

[GNERGY]

The red on mine was connected to the right side of the terminal block so 12 volts was running to my hitch with a little piece of tape on it.
Tarey