Noticed that the wire on the positive side of my battery is looking like ****e. I know about the bad wire to starter problem with these cars and plan on fixing that. Currently there are 3 separate wires connected to my battery. The big one to starter. The bundle of 3 or 4 into 1, and the 1 single small red wire. My immediate concern is the single small red wire outside of the big bundle. It has started to melt the jacketing and melted a hole through the plastic battery cap that covers the positive terminal post. What does this wire go to? Could the other poor connections be the problem or something down the line of the small wire be the problem? Thanks

 

Melting insulation means there's resistance in the wire which creates the heat. this can come from oxidation - even within the insulated length. Time to replace the cable and terminals and clean all the contacts. If you need a wiring diagram on which lead goes where, check out volvotips.com - there's also a diagram on the alternator and regulator service page which shows the 3 wire bundle going to the overload relay, the single wire to the ignition switch and the fat cable going to the starter.