Saw Clamp

6
Jul/090

Would loose wires from either the negative or positive terminals on a batter cause the wire to short?

and burn the insulation off of it??

that is what happened to me today when I was at a red light and when I started to go again, the truck jolted and died and I noticed smoke coming from underneath the hood and when I lifted it, I saw the smoke coming from the battery cable going to the negative.

IT burned the insulation right off of it practically, but the truck started back up again and I drove it to a parts store and we changed the clamp around the terminal and re clamped the wires and put electrical tape around the wires.

With any electrical system, if the conductor is to small or has corrosion on it, it creates resistance. With higher amperage, this creates heat. Because cars use lower voltages, to avoid personal injury, the amperage has to be increased to supply the same wattage that all systems require. Remember, all current coming from the battery has to go back to it so it doesn't matter if the positive or negative side is corroded, one of them will overheat.
P.S. The current moves from the negative to the positive.