Amp shorting out battery?

[JRVR4]

So the other day i'm driving along and the car just completely turns itself off, and then straight back on again. It did this a few times on that trip, which got me worried. Thought there could be a problem with the airflow meter, so checked that and it looked fine. Oh and another question while i'm still here...are they supposed to be able to idle with the airflow meter disconnected coz mine did lol. But yeah the next time i drove it a weird smell was coming from the engine and the car shut down completely. One of the rods holding the battery had heated to the point where it was red hot and broke. Thought there was a major problem so i called the tow truck etc...but then i disconnected my amp wiring from my battery and it ran absoluetly fine since. Now i am missing the doof doof of the sub, but to scared to re-connected the wiring in case it starts shorting out again. Anyone know what could have caused it to do this and how i can hook my amp back up safely?

 

[Guest]

sounds like you got a short somewhere in your wiring. Check your positive wires running to your amp (the red one). If it's exposed somewhere and touching any metal parts of the car then that's your problem. The smell would have been the melting of the wire insulation.

Do you have a fuse near the positive wire? If the fuse is not blown then the short is most likely somewhere between the fuse and the battery.

Hope this helps

 

[SiliconAngel]

David's suggestion is sound - I'm concerned you don't have a fuse in there at all after that description...

 

[snickells]

OMG?!?! Is this question serious??? Your battery terminal was "red hot"???

Please for the love of legnums, don't hook that amp up again and get an auto elec to check out wtf is going on before you cook your car once and for all!!!

 

[JRVR4]

hahaha yeah dont worry i wont be. Think i'm just going to buy a whole new wiring kit and start over again just to be safe. Anyone know if they are supposed to run without the airflow meter connected?

 

[Chris Rogers]

David's suggestion is sound - I'm concerned you don't have a fuse in there at all after that description...

me too. by description there wasn't one. surprised the car didnt burn down - seen that before.

 

[Guest]

hahaha yeah dont worry i wont be. Think i'm just going to buy a whole new wiring kit and start over again just to be safe. Anyone know if they are supposed to run without the airflow meter connected?

I highly suggest you save your money and let a professional look at it.

a new kit will cost around $100 and you'll be making the same mistake as last time.

it will cost you like $50-100 to have a car audio shop check the wiring and install a fuse ($10-20) if needed.

 

[Peter_D]

One of the rods holding the battery had heated to the point where it was red hot and broke.

I'd like to see a picture so I know exactly what you mean. The battery should be isolated from the car and only connected to the battery by the leads connected to the terminals.

Those rods shouldn't be conducting any voltage. Amplifiers draw a shit load of power and amps and if you had a earth leak your whole car would be live. Strange. Take it to a Auto Electrician.

 

[JRVR4]

No, there was a fuse in there. Mmm it is strange indeed, i thought the car would be cactus but everything is running fine now. Picture isnt going to help you much...unless you just want to look at the broken rod.