kicker wire killing my mustang brakes?

[drwang 10+ year member]

I was driving to San Francisco today listening to music in the car not all that loud and about 3/4 of the trip I noticed that the brakes started to respond slower. For example, I'd press down the brakes 1/3 of the way down and it won't respond until I press halfway down until the brakes even start working. By the time I arrived in the city, I popped the hood and I noticed that the wires were coming loose from the fuse holder. What's even worse was that the wire was in contact with something metal and I saw some burn marks with something black that melted as well, probably plastic. Anyways, I made it safely, but it turns out I didn't do a great job with the wiring. Although it's weird, because whenever I screw in the 1/0gauge into the anl fuse holder with a hex screwdriver, it always seems to be a bit loose because the hex screwdriver tends to loose grip when the screw gets tighter. All that bass shaking my car didn't help either. Anyways, I'm going to get the car serviced and hope that there hasn't been too much damage done.

Ps. I'd appreciate tips on getting the wire and fuse holder fastened on more safely. Thanks.

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[mjf 10+ year member]

bolt the fuse holder down.

 

[CRAZYCORNUTS18 10+ year member]

and if the allen wrench loses grip thats means it not the right size for that screw

 

[drwang 10+ year member]

Where can I bolt down the fuse holder? I usually have it laying on top of something.

I'll go out to Home depot and see if I can fit the correct allen wrench size. Thanks.

 

[Nate_100 10+ year member]

Get a couple short self-taping screws and mount the fuse holder anywhere. A quick and sure bet would be somewhere on the firewall up high. There were burn marks where live power was coming in contact with metal??? The fuse didnt pop either?? Thats what the fuses are for. You must have it too far away from the battery. I would say your luck you didnt melt some more and maybe even have an electrical fire. I would get that fixed asap!

 

[drwang 10+ year member]

I dropped off the mustang at a ford service department today to have it fixed. When I get it back, I'll post some pics of the damage(burn marks) if they are still there and some pics of the engine bay so I can get some tips/advice from you guys on how to properly secure the power wire and fuseholder. Thanks.

 

[goodstuff 10+ year member]

x2...sounds like your very lucky to not have had a fire...you can use zip ties to secure the wire if it's just flopping around...make sure you use the right size fuse...sounds like yours didnt pop when it should have...

 

[lilmaniac2 5,000+ posts]

kicker wire isntkilling your brakes, the shoddy install is killing the brakes

 

[audiobahnuser18 5,000+ posts]

get some self tapping screws and screw down the fuse holder usually to the side of the fender well inside the engine bay. or if not there somewhere stable metal .

 

[Krown 10+ year member]

You're lucky.

(This is coming from someone who was stupid enough to do the same thing as you, only my setup must've been even worse because mine actually did cause an electrical fire which resulted in me losing my brakes entirely.)

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

kicker wire isntkilling your brakes, the shoddy install is killing the brakes

Yup, kid must be a fukwad.

nG

 

[drwang 10+ year member]

I finally got my car back. Here is the before the horrible incident pic:All i did last time was ziptie it down,...

This is the part that the loose pos wire came into contact with: Note this is the new replacement part;

This is what I have to work with. Any ideas on where to mount? I had a tough time finding a place to bolt the fuse holder down with nut and bolt.

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

what prolly happend, is your ****in battery was dying and you have an electric pump to control some sort of hydrolics for the break lines. or some other sort of voltage issue. when your voltage gets ****ed up, things stop working.

all you need to do, is trim back that wire so its not all shaped like a carrot on the end, you want the bare wire a uniform thickness into the holder. get the right sized allen wrench to tighten it down, and ziptie the wires to anything thats in the engine.

i would mount the fuse block to the fender wall right there in this picture;

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s295/drwang84/car%20audio/DSC00559.jpg

just turn it on its side, and get a pair of self tapping screws and just screw it to the sheetmetal. the wires can go down the side just like they do, and then plug into the terminal on the block. ziptie or whatever your wires down as they go.

honestly, if you cant figure out how to solve this problem by logical deduction you must be handicapped.

 

[punch 10+ year member]

yeah that wiring job is ......

looks like you got the wrong quage size fuse holder.

also buy a proper battery terminal, your current set up is poor.