Short circuit 63 Dodge Dart

[Martin Gendron]

Hello fellow A body friends.

I am seeking help with a problem with which I have very little understanding.

April 1rst (Some April fool's day) I crank my Dart and pull it out of the garage.

Sometime later, I roll it back and shut the garage.
Last week, I came to use but the battery was dead. I recharged it with the negative post detached. When it came to reconnect it, it sparked. I check to see if any accessories were on.

I tested with the horns disconnected (the only accessory I used that day). I would still spark.

Disconnected the alternator (which indicated charging the last time): still sparked at the battery terminal.

I unscrewed that red wire that attaches to the multi connector on the firewall: no more sparking.

Need to specify: I placed a 20 amps fuse between the battery terminal and the connector: it would fizzle and pop. There is that much sparking.

It is a restored car. The dashboard was disassembled and all the wiring verified.

Can it be the ignition switch, broken and shorting?
The red wire that enters the cabin, does it have any functions that distributes returns to the engine compartment?

Say the short is on the convertible top wiring, when I put the connector to the battery terminal I wouldn't necessarily hear the motor whiring (bear in mind that it has an integral circuit breaker) ?

Say the short is on an accessory connected from the fuse box, wouldn't the specific fuse blow?

Back the horns, could it be a wire inside the steering column shaft?

 

[shittyslant6]

start pulling fuses until that 20 amp fuse stops blowing. but i'm pretty sure that wire is main power that goes through the ammeter to fusebox? im sure @Mattax will correct me and provide more insight into possible issues

 

[Syleng1]

“Restored” and “verified” has a large swing of meaning dependent on who you are.
As for the spark- not normal. Try pulling the fuses as suggested. Also, it is possible the voltage regulator is stuck “closed” inside the black box on the driver side of the firewall. You may have a mouse who liked the wires more than you do. Until you find this short- leave the negative terminal disconnected when you’re not around. Fire prevention.

 

[Mattax]

start pulling fuses until that 20 amp fuse stops blowing. but i'm pretty sure that wire is main power that goes through the ammeter to fusebox? im sure @Mattax will correct me and provide more insight into possible issues

Yes. It is the battery feed to the main circuits. Removing fuses could help narrow it down but since all of the fuses are 20 amps or less, they would have blown.

It seems the situation is thus.
There is a short in one of the power feeds or main circuits. It drained the battery but did not melt a wire or connection, yet.
If you look at the ammeter and saw no discharge, then the short was before the meter.
At this point, I think the safer method to narrow down the location is to leave teh battery disconnected and use a multimeter (resistance or continuity) or self powered test light.
Disconnect the alternator feed at the bulkead. Test that. Then confirm its inside by testing the terminal.

 

[Mattax]

In the shop manual is a wiring diagram.
The spark indicates electrons are moving, since it sparked and melted the fuse you tried between the bulkhead connections and the feed wire, the short is downstream from that. This assumes everything was turned off.

The battery power is always available in the wires connected to the battery positive.
So a short to ground can occur if any of them get pinched or have the insulation chafed off.
Also inside the alternator or touching an ammeter post.

The ammeter shows electrons moving in or out of the battery. Think of it as current just like a stream or river. It will show discharge when a circuit is completed and current is flowing out of the battery.