Leaderboard

understood on the fuseable links. But those are typically designed to protect circuits with high transient inrush currents. There's something that's pulling a significant enough current to brightly light the bulb and even generate sparks when I go to connect the cable back up. Put an ammeter on it and it's pulling 600 mA. That's a lot of current drain...

Not everything goes through those fuses. There are certain wires called, "fusible links" that are designed to melt like fuses, but look just like regular wires. These vehicles have numerous computers and receivers that need to stay powered in standby mode. Otherwise, when you went to start your car and turned the key, you would have to wait for the engine computer to boot up so it would know how to run. Also, there are antenna receivers that are always in standby just waiting for you to hit the unlock button on your key fob.