hi guys,
just wanted to share a lesson i learned the hard way today.i was leaving work and remembered something inside building so i reparked, turned off car, ran inside.
when i came out(maybe 10 minutes later), i opened the door and it looked like a cheech and chong movie.
smoke everywhere..oooh crap. i reached inside hit the trunk button,reached under vent and started to unbolt battery wire.
opened up both doors and sunroof and started to feel the carpets and seats for warm. nothing.
next i followed the burning smell and even though it started to fade, i tracked it under the dash to the fuse box. got my flash light and there was the
smoking gun err fuse. it was the bottom right which i would later find out on an 85 is trunk popper, light and something else.
pulled out the melted piece of fuse (which was the correct size) and cut the one wire from behind because they had melted together inside the box.
i carefully connected the battery and felt all for any heat or smoke or sizzling. i felt safe to drive home.
after searching archives i found the fuse diagrams and the only option i had on that circuit was trunk popper and light. now i did some work on the popper as the previous
owner for some reason deleted the wiring to it.so i traced all my wires and connections and they were solid. then i remembered i removed my trunk light bulb
so as to not drain the battery everytime i was working on the engine(which has been a lot) and i park in garage and leave trunk lid popped to disipate heat faster after driving.
i pulled out the lens cap and there was the melted wire and plastic! it seems the metal prong for bulb made and kept contact with metal bracket and arced and stayed that way.
i'm glad it didnt happen after arriving to work or worse home in garage.
so if you have done this, wrap the empty bulb socket with tape, or leave it pulled out of trunk liner.
saved one from fiery death. whew!

I thought for sure this would be another heater resistor fire....but NO!. You have come up with something new!...

thats how i roll

Damn, it really doesn't take much with a car's electrical system to cause a fire...

yeah, its a little scary. i dont know if the wiring was played with, but that area looks stock. why the fuse didnt just pop i dont know. it was a melted piece of yellow plastic. and there is also on that circuit the power door and mirrors(which i dont have) you would think a relay or something else inline would pop first. also the carpet in the trunk area could have lit up.
any thing like that makes you take extra precautions in the future instead of the attitude of it cant happen to me or whats the worst that could happen.
be safe out there.
plus you dont want to propagate the stereotype of these cars as always catching on fire.