CDM10

This morning (4/30/24) I walked out of my house, and the smell of burnt wire instantly hit me. Looked around the house to see if I could pinpoint the smell, couldn't. So I went to my car that was parked in the driveway.

I opened the door, and the door open light on the dash came on but there wasn't any door open alarm. My seat was moved so I tried adjusting it but there was no power. I put the key in the ignition and turned it, not a single light on the dash came on. The car didn't even crank, car made literally no attempt at starting. I toggled the headlights and they worked normally.

I popped the hood and the smell of burnt wire was even stronger. I looked around but nothing immediately popped out to me, I checked fuses they all looked good (but it was dark out,)

I disconnected the battery and called my co worker to see if he could pick me up. Now I'm home and have no idea where to start looking or what even to check.

Besides a slight misfires that it's had for some time, The car was fine yesterday (4/29/24), my mom told me she moved the car last night and smelled the burnt wire smell when she turned it. I asked her why she didn't say anything and she said it's cause we were already asleep

Misfire only happens when I going under 10mph or 38-46 mph its weird, i changed plugs and wires back when the Misfire started, and it got better but never fully went away. Idk if this could be related but I'm just providing info on what's wrong with the car


Thank you in advance to all who read this I really appreciate any help I get

1997Soarer

iTrader: (1)

First thing you should do is check all the fuses. then check all the grounds. After that, its going to be harder but you will need to look over the entire wire harness in the engine bay.

Was this car completely stock? Does it have a sound system in it? Has it been modified in any way? Do you live in a place where animals might want to hide under your hood and chew the wiring?

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

If it's not animal chewings or too much amp draw melting power wires, I would look for anything that might be touching exhaust headers after doing the spark plugs.

CDM10

Car is completely stock, no sound system, no alarm system,
the only thing i ever did to it, back when I first bought it, was add a short ram air intake it was years ago and isn't really anything "electrical". It does have HID headlights though but they've also been fine for years. If it were headlight related I don't see how that would stop my car from turning on but idk

There's many squirrels in the area but in the 11 years ive had this car I've never been unlucky enough to have some animal bite, nor havey parents through out my childhood. I understand it's a possibility and unfortunately I haven't been able to check anything in the car as it's been raining pretty much nonstop since the car broke down


I'll see what I can find when I get chance. Thank you for your reply

CDM10

I'm already overthinking on how tedious this might going to be.
thank you for your comment

Tallyhoe

I would second what @t2d2 stated. Your mom probably caught a rodent mid meal and shocked it away. I would invest in an endoscope camera on Amazon, or harbor freight to check wiring in the tightest spaces.