Mystery Wire??? And ignition cable issue

[tpginmaine]

Hey all,

I've had my new-to-me truck about a month now. There's this really big stranded wire that starts near the battery's neg terminal, goes down past the wheel well, inside the rocker panel & terminates tied up near the end of the rocker panel. It's taped up in the engine compartment, and open-ended at the other end. From the look of it, I can't imagine it was ever anything Ford related. Any guess if it may have replaced a connection I ought to have? Looks like someone probably just used it for a personal project.

I thought maybe towing related, but it has a standard towing connection already. Plus it's maybe 2 to 3 times the diameter of any lighting wires, so it could probably carry a significant current. As far as I know, everything in/on the truck works except the ABS.

Also, I noticed today that at least one ignition cable is sitting directly on the intake manifold. I wiggled it a bit & it seems to be fairly taught with no excess to really pull it off there. Does that seem normal? Is it even OK? I know it's the intake manifold, but it's pretty close to the engine, so it must get pretty hot there. Plus there's got to be friction on the jacket from the metal manifold.

 

[adsm08]

That wire is nothing factory. What the PO used it for is anyone's guess. I'd ask him if you have that option.

As for the plug wire, it probably isn't hurting anything right now, but I would try to reroute it so that it doesn't end up chafing through.

 

[Mazda]

Most likely the PO's very poorly routed amp wire. Get rid of it.!!!!

 

[tpginmaine]

About what I thought on both counts. Thanks guys!