Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Wiring problem under hood

My wiring under the hood that goes to the battery on the left side keeps getting to hot and fusing together and causing problems ranging from making my starter keep going to stalling the car and it won't start. To making the light fluctuate and my radio will start whinning real bad as if i had a bad ground. I"ll wiggle the wiring on that side of the batter and it will stop for awhile? I have taken the wiring apart and retaped each wire with heat treated tape but it still keeps doing the same thing? anyone have this problem before or know what might be causing it?

you mean the main battery cables comming from the battery are fusing together. Or are they other wires not associated with the batttery? When you say fusing together, do mean the insulation is fusing together, or the actual metal conductor in the wires is fusing together?

are these cables the positive (red) or the negative (black) wires?

I know that on some model years of Contours there is a recall for a replacement of some of the underhood wiring harness. I suggest you try to deterimine if this recall applies to your car.

If the wire insulation is melting and fusing together, this sounds like a serious problem because the melting insulation can expose bare wire and casue a major short and lead to a car fire.

Under the hood i have 2 sets of wires going to my positive battery post, 1 set seems to run some of the misc. things like clock radio, interior lights etc. the other set seems to be for the a/c, engine, lights, etc. all major things. Its the set that goes to all of the major things. the wires get so hot that the jacket melts off and the bare wires fuse together. It all started about 6months ago when i was at a carshow and sat their all day with my a/c on and my tv on and my starter started going with my car already on. Thats when i noticed those wires were melted together. I think its 4wires.

OH forgot its a 98 contour svt

Noone has had this problem? Hmmmmm.....this sucks

Does it make any difference if the a/c is on?

If one wire is too small, or seriously corroded, or partially broken, or has some of the strands broken, or poorly connected, or anything else that might impede the current flow, it can cause the wire to overheat. The overheating then can melt the insulation, allowing the current to go in places it is not supposed to go..... Might want to check this out as a possibility.

Thank you for the responses. The A/C has only affected it one time. I was leaving the parking lot and all of a sudden my car just died. When i tried to restart it it just cranked but didnt' start and i heard this weird sound going off and on from behind the steering wheel. and my battery light was on. I opened the hood and wiggled the wires and then it started up and ran just fine. I'm thinking of taking out the battery and jacking up the car and just tracing all the wires back to their original source and rewiring them. But I wouldn't think that since all of the wires are going to the positive battery that if they touch they would cause all sorts of electrical problems? but i don't know.