fusebox trouble

just wondering if anyone can help me out here

89 cabby gti

ive replaced the fuse box as i thought it was faulty,the wipers,heater and fuel pump had all stopped working

everything now working

but,theres a problem with the main feed into the fusebox
the large red main feed is getting hot when i switch on either the heater or the headlanmps
i also noticed that the voltmeter without anything switched on is showing 16 volts!
i thought 14 was about right
is the that the problem?
can the alternator be kicking out to much?

would really appreciate any help with this as i,m worried sick the cars gonna go up in flames :cry:

anyone?

I dont know. But I can suggest some possibilities…

The fat red wires connect to the battery and the ignition switch. Normally a wire gets hot at a connector because the connection isn't very sound at that point. Whats the contact like? Has a new connector been crimped onto the red wires?

When do you get the high voltage reading? With the engine running or not?

Cheers,

Ross

thanks for the reply

all connections are perfect
had a auto sparky on the case today,a very good friend so he wasnt gonna rip me off
he tested the alternator,nothing wrong with it
we did find that the voltmeter was very badly wired in

heres what he found
when the ignition is off we got 5 amp drain with the sidelights on
ignition on and this jumps upto a 30 amp drain!

i,m now starting to think that the fuel pumps faulty
once the ignition is on and the pumps running the drain goes skywards
ignition off and theres no drain at all

could the pump be faulty and pulling in to many amps :dontknow:

grellow said

when the ignition is off we got 5 amp drain with the sidelights on
ignition on and this jumps upto a 30 amp drain!
 :dontknow:

Hi

Take the fuel pump fuse or relay out. Check the drain with ignition on.

I suspect your rear windscreen heater is on.