Grounding wire on negative battery terminal

[Mattmobile1993]

Hey all,

Was about to finish up my car and went to start it, and the negatives wire started to heat up like crazy. It actually melted the insulation off and smoked from the amount of heat hitting the wire. I checked out the wire and it looks a bit small, so I'm going to get new wire and run a new line, but I'm curious if anyone has a theory as to why the grounding wire is getting so much heat.

Thanks

 

[Grog6]

If it's burning the small one to the chassis, I'd look at where the big wire grounds on the engine.

 

[Grog6]

Both big wires carry the same current, so the smoking one is bad. probably green rot at the bottom end.