Hood Release Cable Hot?

[Spykce]

Alright, so my alternator went out I am guessing at the moment because I have been having some symptoms and I had a dead battery this morning. I got the usual radio turning on and off, headlights dimming and the volt gauge was reading low. This was all on my drive home last night from work. I'd be fixing this myself but I have had a lot of issues since I bought this car and I am getting this car lot to pay for it to be fixed. However I noticed something today.

I was just screwing around this morning cleaning things under the hood and I set my hand on the piece above the driver side light and it was hot, not warm but quite hot. The car has not been run since last night.

I did some investigating and noticed only the area's around the hood release cable or hot, including the handle inside the car. The metal latch is quite warm up at the front as well.

Is this normal? I knew the door locks were "heated". Just a little curious and concerned.

[MattzWarsteiner]

That is weird. I would start looking for a bad ground or bond between the engine, battery and chassis.

Amazing find Spykce.

[Spykce]

Thanks, that was my first thought that something is grounding out wrong and perhaps drained my battery? I did end up getting the alternator tested and it tested bad. It's putting out a whole 6.8 amps...

I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to electrical issues. I'm doing some checking but not seeing a whole lot.

9:53 - I just went out to check the battery since it was charged this morning and the battery is nearly dead and the cable is hot. The hood was closed and latched, I removed the battery and hooked the charger up. Cleaned some more things and the cable was cool in about a half hour after I opened the hood. I am going to try leaving the hood open and see if the cable heats up or not with a full battery.

[big_greasy_taco]

Thats gotta be something electrical. As mentioned above, something is probably getting grounded out. Might wanna have a shop do the alternator fix, they may find your related problem. Just a thought.

[Spykce]

Alright, alternator checked out fine at the shop. So my issue is electrical, problem is where to start. From some searching I have seen that you can check fuses to see if the components are drawing on the battery when the car is off. Does this seem like a good place to start? The shop is doing some searching for me right now but if they don't find anything I'm curious what I should do.

Symptoms are:
Dead battery from a full charge if left overnight
Dead battery in about a half an hour after a jump
Hot Hood release cable after battery has been charged
Radio would randomly turn on and off (when gauge was reading around 10-8 volts)

Tested the battery and it was fine, I bought it when I bought the car so if this issue kills it I can swap it out with my warranty. However I am a little stumped. Any specific ground points to check?

Any advice is appreciated

[MattzWarsteiner]

Alright, alternator checked out fine at the shop. So my issue is electrical, problem is where to start. From some searching I have seen that you can check fuses to see if the components are drawing on the battery when the car is off. Does this seem like a good place to start?

Excellent way to start. Put a bulb like an 1157 or whatever in a socket with wires between 1 battery cable end & the battery. Use some clip leads to make it easy or wrap the wire around the cable end and tape while using vise grips to lightly clamp the other end. Turn off your interior lights and keep the key off. Pull fuses until the light goes dim or out.

Open grounds are hard to troubleshoot. To confirm this is a problem, disconnect the hood release cable << latch & all if its easier..... and see what stops working on the car. Put the light bulb rig between the disconnected hood cable and the chassis and see if it lights.

[Spykce]

Alright, took my car in to the shop today to get my alternator swapped out. The shop tested it and it tested fine. So they dug deeper and found a loose ground wire, as well as discovering the car lot had installed the wrong battery in my car. I now have a nice new Bosch battery, all grounds were checked, cleaned and tightened I am told, and all issues appear to be gone. Hood release cable was not getting hot at all today. Best of all the car lot covered all of my costs for this since I have been having so many issues.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this was the issue.

Thanks for all of the advice and help!

[JaVa]

good to hear. loose grounds can do weird things