90 Accord keeps Blowing 80 Amp Fuse

OK, I've finally had it!!!
At first, when I applied the brakes hard enough, the 80 amp main fuse would blow. This only happened when I braked hard such as to avoid rear-ending another car whoo just slammed the brakes ahead of me. I thought there was a short that was related to the ABS, since it only happened when slamming my brakes.
Then my brakes began to wear out. You could hear the metal grinding against metal. My problem then became worse: with just a slight application of the brakes, the fuse would blow out. I would have to connect a wire in its place to return home. I have now gotten a complete brake job and the problem persists.
I have looked eveywhere for an answer to this problem (my mechanic can't find the short). My question is this: WTF should I be looking for?
HAS ANYBODY ENCOUNTERED THIS PROBLEM BEFORE, OR AM I THE FIRST???
PLEASE HELP!!!!

Huh. Usually when you have an 80 amp short and defeat the fuse with a wire, whatever was causing the problem will catch fire and then you know what you're dealing with..:icon16:

That's an interesting one....i've gotta let it roll around in my head for a bit...it sounds vaguely familar...can't remember though...

Hah! I remember...battery's not loose and sliding forward and touching the positive post to the body when you hit the brakes, is it?

lol, I have no idea. I will definately look into it. I have no time with school and all so I sent my car to an electrical shop (again) to see if this guy can solve the problem. I'm not sure that would be the problem since the fuse sometimes blows out even with a slight application of the brakes. (I now drive with a glove-box full of fuses to get to and from work :grinyes: )
I heard it might be a short in the alternator diodes or the ABS
Any input on this?
THANK YOU

It has to be something that is moving when you put the breakes on. So it would not be in the alternator. It could be a wire that shorts when something pushes against it.

I'm tending to agree with concept that the root cause of the problem is not the braking system, but something physically moving and shorting out when you brake. The battery suggestion is a good one. Maybe take a look at the battery cables. Is the positive cable itself shorting to ground, when you brake. Good luck with this one.

Look up under the dash and see if something is shorting against or pinched by the brake pedal when you push it...should flash pretty good and be easy to see...

I guess the unasked question is will it blow the fuse if you apply the brake with the car not moving? How about with the motor off? Ignition off?

Does it have to have movement of the car to occur, or is just the act of activating the brakes that seems to do it?

ABS systems usually have a dedicated fuse on the cars I'm used to working on, but I can't say with certainty how Honda does it. Alternator diodes are known for causing large parasitic loads that drain the battery with the car off when they go bad, but you'd need a short in the windings to cause a fuse that large to blow...and your alternator would not be charging either, most likely. Most alternators with shorted windings catch fire as well...or at least set the wiring harness ablaze...

If it were mine, I guess I'd find out exactly what all is governed by that fuse, then see if I could systematically disable each system until I found the one causing it...I know that's kind of a master fuse, so that might be difficult, but you might have to resort to that.

The other thought I had was water trapped in something...rolling around and causing a short when the car slows...but seems you'd be able to make it happen with an abrupt downshift, and prove or disprove that theory...

I've noticed all the older ones around that age are having big problems with electrics....most of the wiring insulators are brittle and flaky, especially in the underhood environment...

The fuse only blows when the brake is applied while the car is in motion. Ive tried slamming the brakes while the car is parked and nothing happens, which now leads me to believe that in fact something is shifting and causing the short.

The fuse only blows when the brake is applied while the car is in motion. Ive tried slamming the brakes while the car is parked and nothing happens, which now leads me to believe that in fact something is shifting and causing the short.

I'm beginning to think that...If the battery is secure, try grabbing every wiring harness you can see and give it a shake with the engine running, see if you can get a reaction from it.

The torque on the driveline shifts when you brake also. Put it in park or in gear if manual trans, key on, and rock the car back and forth so the motor rocks around on the mounts, see if you get a zap there too...if you have a broken mount or roll restrictor it could be tugging on part of a harness and may have worn through the insulation if it's been going on for some time...

Any of this stuff you will try, if you can do it in a dark place you are more likely to see where the arc came from if you can duplicate it...

What's got me thinking about this, is that only braking causes the problem. Slamming the gas pedal to the floor and quickly accelerating would make the motor jump about if a motor mount was weak. The short however only occurs when braking which means something sliding forward not backwards as you would get in sudden acceleration. I'd almost think if something was moving around you would possibly get the short condition in either braking or sudden acceleration.

You'd also think that something significant enough to blow the 80 amp fuse would leave some tell tale sign behind. Some partially burned or melted wire, some kind of a burn mark somewhere, unless it's internal to some device.

Could possibly some device designed to work in sudden deceleration be shorting when it activates. Seat belt restraint, some airbag device or other device with some accelerometer in it be bad?

Would running a diagnostic on the car perhaps tell something even though CEl is not on?

Thanks to everyone who has replied. It seems the short was caused by an exposed wire connecting the radiator, which had been replaced a few weeks ago. It has since been corrected. I APPRECIATE ALL THE HELP.