30amp ignition fuse blown

[Griffin5505]

I don't post much on the forum, most of the info I find through searches.

Background story...
Drove the car about an hour away to pick up rims and tires, it ran great the entire way. I turn it off, my turbo timer runs for 30 secs. Go to start the car and it blows the fuse. I did not do any work to it and have been driving daily with no issues.

Get the car home (thanks AAA) and start to trouble shoot. I unplug all the fuses, hook a test light to the fuse location and begin plugging them back in and testing one at a time. Everything works. Plug a new 30amp in and turn the key to the on position all works like it should. Turn the key to the start and fuse blows.

According to the wiring diagram the only thing that gets power in the start position is the starter solenoid. Ok, I pull the positive and the solenoid wires off the starter, plug a new fuse in and give it another turn. This time the fuse is not "completely" blown but it is scorched (not enough power to blow the 30 amp but I can guess a smaller fuse would pop).

Need some ideas, do you guys think it could be the ignition itself or the wire going to solenoid? Any other guesses or possible causes? The car has been siting for 3 months since it first happened and the battery still has power. So there is no draw or short unless the key is in the start position.

Thanks in advance. If there's any other thing I should check let me know.

Sorry for such a long post, lol.

 

[Griffin5505]

Just went to pull the starter relay to check it, the manual says it should be a 4 prong connector but on my car the relay in the position is a six prong. I can't find anything on the web about this. Just wanted to rule out another component.

 

[Kibby]

Strange thing happened to me in my 1g years ago. Wire came loose on the fuel pump. Kept blowing the 30amp.

 

[iceman69510]

Starter circuits do draw a lot of current, perhaps as Kibby says you have another energized circuit with a short that is causing the over current situation. Fuel pump might be a good place to start since it needs power also when cranking.

 

[Griffin5505]

Thanks, it seems very plausible that could be the issue, I loaded the rims in the back and it might have knocked something loose. I'll pull the liner and get a good look at the wiring. I'll post up what I find.

 

[rgeier11]

That also goes to the alternator.

I bet your alternator has a bad diode or the red wire is shorting out. I ran into a similar issue and a new alternator solved it.

This happened to me when I accidentally grounded out the alternator while wrenching with the battery connected. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif