UrQ Fire Warning and Wiring Question

[William Elliott <William.Elliott@mail.mei.com>]

After several months of uneventful UrQ ownership, I had my first encounter with 
the Audi Gods last night.  Luckily, they were fairly lenient....

My wife arrived home about 15 minutes after I did and came inside to tell me 
that a wisp of smoke was coming from the hood of my 85 UrQ.  By the time I got 
to the garage, there was a lot of smoke.  As I popped the hood, flames leapt up 
from underneath the intake manifold, near the turbo.  Recognizing the smell of 
an electrical fire, I immediately disconnected the battery and hit the area 
with a short blast from my halon fire extinguisher (the BEST automotive 
extinguisher banned several years ago by the tree huggers, but that's another 
thread...) and the excitement stopped. I'm certain that my wife's timely 
arrival saved me from a VERY unfortunate event.

After removing the oil cooler ducting, I quickly found the source of the 
incident.  The large electrical cable (16mm?)  running to the starter had 
rubbed thru its insulation at the oil cooler and was grounding against the 
cooler and the braided oil lines.  The oil lines had been replaced about 8k 
miles ago by the PO.  It appears as though the routing of this large cable thru 
the grommet at the oil cooler was incorrect, pulling the cable taunt across the 
cooler, allowing the movement of the engine to abrade it.  You might want to 
check this area on your car, especially if someone else has worked on it.

Now, my question:  the large cable was almost burnt in half and demands 
replacement.  According to Mr. Bentley, the cable runs from the starter to the 
battery.  On the car, it runs from the starter, thru the grommet at the oil 
cooler, and into a grommet in the "frame rail."  Does anyone know where this 
cable terminates?  I want to replace the entire cable without splicing it, but 
is it worth that trouble if it indeed runs all the way back to the battery?  

Your advice would be appreciated.

Bill Elliott
Lake Mills, WI
66 Corsa, 67 Dart GT, 71 TR6, 85 UrQ (lightly toasted)