electrical problem PLEASE HELP, no fuel no starter no acc

We were going wheeling and my friends jeep all of a sudden died and wouldnt starter, we popped the hood and noticed a melted wire off the main positive post of the starter relay. its green then turns to red after a boot. we traced it back to the steering column to the ignition switch where when turned on it crosses to a yellow wire. according to Chilton the yellow wire leads to the fuel pump and the alternator. When he turns it to "run" the fuel pump doesnt kick on and the radio doesnt work. when he tries to start it the starter does nothing, not even click. while the whole time the green/red wire and the yellow wire off the column heat up. We have tried bypassing the ignition switch, disconnecting the fuel pump at the tank, and disconnecting the alternator and the wires still heat up. The starter still cranks over if i cross the posts but there isnt any fuel in the fuel rail and most likely no spark since the acc isnt working. PLEASE SHARE ANY IDEAS. Thanks

If the wire is getting hot it is shorted to ground some where find a wiring diagram and see what it goes to and start unhooking it one at a time then which ever componet when it is unhooked and dosen't heat the wire you found the prolbem

Well we pulled all the fuses out of the panel under the dash and disconnected the fuel pump at the plug before the tank and disconected the alternator at the plug off the bottom. I just dont get how the lights and everything will work except the gauges, stereo, and it wont even try to turn over.

Circuits, many separate circuits. You have fusible links and fuses. Wwildman is right, start chasing the harness and locate the component that is bad or the bad spot in your wiring harness.

redrider2911 said:

..., we popped the hood and noticed a melted wire off the main positive post of the starter relay. its green then turns to red after a boot.

Click to expand...

That would be a fuseable link burned out. A fuseable link is a fancy term for a smaller gauge length of wire spliced into a run. It's there to protect the rest of the harness/components/etc. by burning out before anything else dies.
Your headlights still work because they draw power from a different lead, and the starter works when you "cross the leads" on the solenoid because there's nothing wrong with the starter.

There's either a dead short or an intermittent short in the start/ignition/fuel system wiring. You could try replacing the melted wire with a piece of 18-20ga wire and see if it melts.(think telephone/thermostat wire, don't use full size wire to test) If the wire holds with the ignition on, it's either an intermittent or the short is in the start circuit.

k thanks guys ill try to track that yellow wire to wherever it goes since its somewhere between the ignition switch and one of the components. its going to be a pain to follow that yellow wire through all those harnesses under the dash though.

Find a wiring diagram so you can locate all the componets on that circut .
give me the year make a nd model andd I can tell you what that wire goes to .

88 jeep cherokee limited i looked at a general wiring diagram and all i saw was the alternator and the fuel pump. let me know if you see anything else.

The wire that burned up powers the Ignition switch. the yellow wire goes to the trans controll unit and ecm

You may as well break down and buy a multimeter for under $10. You have a big enough problem that you need one. Disconnect the ECM and the TCM. Then set your multimeter to ohms and check if the yellow wire is shorted to ground. If you touch the yellow wire with one meter lead, and the other to a ground (or the negative battery terminal) and you have no resistance, you have a short to ground in that wire. Do this with the fusible link disconnected (or positive battery connection discsonnected) that you won't burn out your meter. Ohm setting is for use on circuts with power disconnected.

I traced the yellow wire under the hood where it splits on the drivers side, we tested to see which side go hot when we tried to turn the car over and then we disconnected that side. still havent figured out where that other wire leads to that we disconnected but now everything inside the jeep seems to turn on when we turn the key but i dont hear the fuel pump, when we try to start it the starter relay clicks but the starter doesnt. Got to finish tracing that other wire when i get off work. Where can I disconnect the ecm and tcm at? could those be bad? I hate electrical problems, im more of a mechanical or fabricating guy...

Don't forget to remove the battery cables and make sure you have a full charge on the battery and clean cable ends, good time to renew all of your grounds, too.

I recommend this so you will know the "heart" of your electrical system is good and it is not causing you to go down the wrong paths.

Ok i have a similar problem. I am doing an automatic transmission swap from a manual and have pulled out all of the old wiring harnesses. I swaped them in from an automatic both the behind the dash and the wiring harness on the back side of the engine compartment. I didnt swap the one that connects to the fuse box and goes behind the grill and connects to the other harness by the battery.

Ok now that you know what i have swapped.

I have a relay that is clicking when ever i turn the key to start the jeep. It wont click if i have just the acc on but as soon as i try to start the jeep it will click untill i take it out or turn the jeep off completly. I can hear my fuel pump clicking on and off with it too. I have all my lights, radio, cig lighter, clock all of that works. the only thing that doesnt work is my gauge light. The wire on my solenoid also is not getting power. If i take it off of the silver relay and touch the battery is will turn over.

I am guessing there are a few things i am missing but not sure. I have been debating about just re wiring the starter solenoid onto a push button and wiring the fuel pump to an acc wire also. The only thing is i am not sure if there is something that will not work if those dont work.