2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel. Truck was idling and a check gage light came on. Shutdown engine and opened the hood. Found wires burnt off of the positive post of the battery on the passenger side. There are the main cable and three wires that attach to the positive post. The three wires that attach to the main cable to positive post were burnt off where they overheated. Has anyone experienced this problem and what was the fix for it?

 

What do those three wire power?

 

You'll need to trace those wires. Sounds like one or more shorted out against something.

 

Thanks, I will do that today. I appreciate your response.

 

I am going to check that today. I added pictures of what happened. Thank you for your response.

 

I added pictures this morning.

 

Reading the code would be a good first step, that will tell you which systems are no longer getting power.
Do you have an aftermarket stereo or sub?
Pictures are sometime deceiving, but looks like a lot of black wires near the battery's positive terminal.

 

The three shown burned / overheated pretty much.
My son has a code checker and I will get him to check it. Thanks fer the info.

 

I suspect those wires may include aftermarket add-ons that were not properly fused. Check fuse boxes for fuse taps and unusual hook ups.

 

That wire doesn't look like stock wiring. Were there any fuses used when they were added? Looking at the battery, you nearly lost your truck. You had a very high heat near hydrosulphuric acid which can explode.

You don't need a code scanner as Chrysler still uses the key dance. Don't hit the start position, but turn the ignition key or, off, on, off, then on and leave it on the third time. Any codes will appear in your odometer on most years.

In the future, if there is a junction away from the battery, connect into the wiring there. If you're powering an audio system, there are a lot of wiring solutions out there for that. Use a heavy wire (thin ones get hot and melt, like you found out) and a fuse with enough capacity for the power but not so much it won't blow when overheated. If you have an aftermarket radio, I hope you used the proper adapter and didn't butcher the wiring. I dread working on vehicles with the cut wires from taking those out.