Hey there I just replaced my starter and as I was putting everything back together I realized I did not know where one of the cables went and I can not figure it out for the life of me. I think it may be attached to the starter but I'm really not sure. Any help is much appreciated!



Or if anyone has a diagram from the service manual that'd also be a huge help!

 

Based on the length and where its routing to. I suspect its a power wire for an aftermarket amplifier.

 

The car is bone stock. I imagine it is either supposed to be grounded, or attached to the battery or starter.

Here is a picture I took as I was taking everything apart if that helps.

 

This. That's not an OE cable and I'd be equally as willing to wager that a 4AWG or 8AWG run to the trunk.

 

Odd. When I purchased the car I was told it was bone stock. Where would this cable connect to?

 

An aftermarket amplifier. It's typically routed through a hole in the firewall located above the driver's footwell and then routed beneath the interior sill panels to the trunk. You can just cut it so it's out of the way or do nothing with it - but that is not an OE cable.

 

The cable appears to be coming from the firewall. This is what the cable leads to just before the firewall. I do not have an amp in my trunk so what could it be?

 

Looks like audio wiring to me. Not oem. Probably hidden somewhere and someone had a sub previous to you.

 

Maybe the previous owner had a sub and removed it before selling it to me. So this cable connects to one of the battery terminals?

 

That is the power cord for a aftermarket amplifier. Which hooks up straight to the battery.

 

If you do not have a aftermarket system hooked up you need to leave that cable disconnected from the battery.

There's no telling where the other end is and if it's wrapped up. If you attach that end to the battery, the other end could be bouncing around and grounding out somewhere causing sparks which in worse case scenario can cause a fire

 

You had an amp in the trunk. That's the fuse (probably in the 30 - 60amp range) for the amplifier. I'd wager you have an LoC hiding in the car as well.

 

I reconnected the battery but not the extra cable and it started right up but my sub didn't work. Then I attached the extra cable to the positive terminal on the battery and my sub didn't work so I attached it to the negative terminal and it worked just fine. Thank you everyone I appreciate your help!

 

This post makes no sense. Your car is stock, yet has an aftermarket audio power cable running through it. When you connected everything but the extra cable up your sub did not work? (did it work before?). So you decided to hook it up even though you had no idea where it was going to. Sub still did not work. So you swapped it over to the negative terminal and the sub worked? Is your sub in the trunk or in the rear deck? I recommend tracing that cable out and figure out where it goes. I honestly do not think that the cable has anything to do with the sub working or not.

 

Before I disconnected everything to access the starter, everything worked fine including my sub. When I finished replacing my starter, I reassembled everything and reconnected the battery without the extra audio cable. My car started but the sub did not work. I then connected the extra audio cable to the positive terminal on my battery. The car started but the sub still did not work. I then connected the extra audio cable to the negative terminal and my sub worked fine. All of this leads me to the conclusion that the extra cable must be connected to my sub, and it needs to be connected to the negative terminal to work. In addition, the car is not stock like I had originally thought. This cable was added for an aftermarket sub which has since been removed.

 

Then someone really screwed up your system. You should really trace out that cable to find out what the other end is connected to.

 

You say the aftermarket sub has since been removed, have you actually checked this visually?

If the sub didn't work until you attached an aftermarket wire it sounds like an aftermarket sub is still in there.

 

Car is "bone stock"

Except wait, there's an aftermarket sub in there....

 

Swanny58,

It would be in your best interest to track that cable from beginning to end. It's NOT standard auto installation practice to run a Red fused link cable for Ground. Normally, that red cable would be utilized as a power source for aftermarket equipment (i.e. amplifier) located "somewhere" in the truck area. Also, it is not good to just test fit something not knowing for sure what it's connected to. It will only take a little extra time to track that cable to be 100% sure what's is connected to and for what purpose. A little time in the beginning, saves a lot of headaches in the end. There is a wealth of knowledge on this site, use it to your advantage. Now, go find the end of that cable.

 

This guy said everything I was too lazy to type myself. Even if it's a fused ground, the distance from the power source is of equal concern and an open circuit will certainly cook a lot of territory.

Mr.Bolton, kudos for such a well-formed 19th post.