[ThtDiego]

Have a 98 s10 4.3L, recently replaced the whole sound system and decided to add a 320w amp with a 10’ sub. Everything worked fine and it was very clear and loud, not sure what caused my electrical to fry but i was dropping off a friend at house his until the truck turned made a cracking sound and gave up, when i first noticed it i immediately stop it and turned it off and we both got out because i noticed smoke come out the hood. Opened the hood and there was a small fire in the wiring at the left bottom side of the engine. blew it out and saw there was smoke inside the truck coming from the whole dash, i looked around and saw another small fire at the deep left corner where the hood release and e-brake line were. Luckily managed to get a tow back to my apartment and now im stuck and don’t know what to do or where to look. Do i replace all of the wiring and reground everything?

 

[Rhotpursuit]

Not sure why you put this in Wheels/Tires/Brakes...but I moved it.

 

[Big Buford]

My first thought is why a fuse didn't blow instead? Was the sound system wired with a fuse?

 

[oldeerslayer]

Fuses are for wusses. 😕
Seriously, tho.
If the damage is as severe as it sounds about you only course of action is to find an IDENTICAL S10 and replace everything from and including the dash forward. Might need the steering column too. Lots of wires in that. Major project, but trying to sort out all those burned up wires is next to impossible. There are literally hundreds of them an if you make one mistake you'll be right back where you are now. Take lots of pics of the truck you remove the good stuff from so you don't miss any grounds or other connections.
Then take your sound equipment to a pro to install safely.

 

[Jaboc33]

Can you identify the wire that shorted out?

 

[bk2life]

small fire in the wiring at the left bottom side of the engine.

im guessing you powered the amp from the main power wire coming from the starter. it then goes into the key switch. Over the years someone probably removed the fusible link and hard wired it.
Now you are reaping the benefits from that action.
Are you experienced enough to do this job? if not, youre looking at selling the truck and buying a new one.
Wiring jobs arent easy, nor cheap. Just from what youve stated, id bet its an easy start of $2000, and thats nto even fully fixed.

 

[ThtDiego]

Not sure why you put this in Wheels/Tires/Brakes...but I moved it.

yeah my bad, i didn’t how to remove it to change the thread

My first thought is why a fuse didn't blow instead? Was the sound system wired with a fuse?

None of the fuses were bad, the fuse box line started melting

 

[ThtDiego]

im guessing you powered the amp from the main power wire coming from the starter. it then goes into the key switch. Over the years someone probably removed the fusible link and hard wired it.
Now you are reaping the benefits from that action.
Are you experienced enough to do this job? if not, youre looking at selling the truck and buying a new one.
Wiring jobs arent easy, nor cheap. Just from what youve stated, id bet its an easy start of $2000, and thats nto even fully fixed.

the amp was powered from the battery and i made sure all the connections were good but im starting to think it was just too much power