Keep blowing battery fuse

LADIISWAGG

MEMBER
1996 ACURA TL
2.3L
5 CYL
AUTOMATIC
180,000 MILES

My car's alternator went bad. Had it tested while the car was running and they said it needed changing.
I changed the alternator and the battery. But when I went to hook up the battery terminal on negative side it blew the battery fuse twice.
Disconnect everything and searched for bad wires none detected. Repeated the process over and it blew the third fuse.
I do not know what else to do please advise. Thank you

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,873 POSTS

Is that a really large bolted-in fuse? Rather than wasting a lot of expensive fuses, connect a light bulb between the battery post and the negative cable. Instead, if it's easier, connect it to the terminals for the fuse that's blowing, then reconnect the battery. For the generator circuit, a 3057 brake light bulb should work just fine. It has terminals that are easy to connect small jumper wires to, and it will limit current to a safe one-amp. When the short is present, the bulb will be full brightness and hot so be careful where you lay it. Now you can move wire harnesses around and unplug things to see what makes the short go away. When it does, the bulb will go out or get dim.

Please keep me updated on your progress.

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