2000 v70XC Power in battery, but car won't start...

[Dashiel]

Hello all, first time posting here.

I've had this car for about a year; it's always had its little quirks, but those didn't keep it from running. A few days ago, I drive it home, parked it, and the next day it wouldn't start. It was trying to turn over; all lights worked, etc, but it was like it wasn't getting any fuel. Then, of course, the battery was wearing down. I tried starter fluid after jumping it-- no success. I changed the spark plugs, because I think that they might have been prototype plugs from the beginning of time. No change. I charged the battery for hours, because it still had that "low draw" sound to it. Tested the battery: Its rated for 615cca; it's testing at 593, so that should be all right. By the way, it's a new-ish battery, installed in Feb of this year. We noticed, however, that the braided copper engine ground cable turned red-hot and smoked as we tried to start it. So I've yanked the battery and checked the cables to it, and they SEEM to be ok-- in one piece, seated well.
Not sure if anyone has any ideas on this. Starter? Fuel pump? Poorly grounded something-or-other? Alternator?
Any advice is appreciated. I am not an experienced mechanic by any means, but I am willing to get my hands dirty and give your suggestions a try. My funds are incredibly limited-- out of work for nearly 2 years, so economical fixes are greatly appreciated as well.

Thank you!

[57gretsch]

Is the car an automatic? Try the quick clean method of shifting the gears from top to bottom a number of times. Wait for a bit. And...try to start. My newly aquired 850 is also an auto. All others of this type were manuals. So I had a bit of a learning curve with this. Worked for me. Still have to pull the PNP switch on the top of the transmission and clean the contacts.

[BEJinFbk]

If you have a ground cable that's glowing red hot, replace it.
A bad cable provides increased resistance to current flow and
that's why it's getting hot.

As for the car not starting, there are many reasons why this
is happening, but start with making sure that all of your major
power and ground cables are in good shape. If you haven't got
a good power supply in a car with the amount of electronics
that your's has, you will have a lot of problems.

Search Voltage Drop, get a meter out and start going through
the car's primary charging system and power distribution cables.
Battery to starter, starter to alternator and all of the grounds, etc.

Another good search term is B+ Cable. If that's going bad, you
won't have enough power getting to the fuse boxes. Same Problems...
Not enough juice to all of the car's systems, stuff stops working.

[tryingbe]

Fuel, spark, and compression.

Test them.

[Dashiel]

Thank you. I'll try your suggestions, and let you know what I find, in case someone else has this issue.