wondering if anybody has had this happen to them . working on a 2003 t&c van and after starting and driving a short way to my shop I checked the pos batt cable and it was so hot you couldn't touch it and started to smoke . I found that there are two cables spliced together one goes to the alt and the other goes to the fuse panel. the one going to the fuse panel is the one that gets hottest.

 

messing with it today . got batt out and if I take my multimeter set for ohms I touch the black to body ground then touch the red to batt then it shows a completed curciut .

 

You'll probably always get a completed circuit because there are things that are always on, such as the clock, the receiver for the remote key, maybe even the light under the hood if the hood is up while you do your test. What is important is the current that would be drawn if the battery is in place. That should be less than 50 milliamps (0.050 amperes).

Check the resistance of that red cable that was so hot. There might be a bad splice or corrosion there that is causing it to heat up.

 

thank you .