Would a shorted starter cable take out this fusible link?
Not a short to ground. Current would flow down the big cable and you'ld see an arc welding show!
Thanks Mattax, gives me a place to start. And I do have a amp/volt ohm meter.
OK.
You can use the ohm meter to check for continuity to ground. One probe to the circuit and the other to a good ground. Its not directional. it has its own small power source. The car battery must be disconnected when using the ohm meter.
The ammeter portion of most multimeters can only handle very small currents. Typically miliamps. Some can handle up to15 amps for very short periods of time (less than minute). Check the instructions but this function will probably not be useful for diagnosing your short. If you had been in the drivers seat and glanced at the car's ammeter you would know whether the short was before or after the meter. Either current was flowing through it or not. I don't think we don't want to recreate that scenario again!
Voltmeter can be useful when its safe to reconnect the battery.
When the battery is hooked up, and all all switches are off, circuits are then open. Picture a knife switch.
Voltage will be present in all wires connected to the battery with no switch. These are always hot and always should be at system voltage.
Voltage only drops when current is flowing through resistance. Resistance could be a a bad connection but normally its a light bulb or motor.
All the wires attached to the main splice are always hot.
