and while you were poking around under there you moved something so there's a short? particularly likely if it's old brittle wiring .... putting dielectric grease on the pins before plugging connectors together is a definite problem, it's an
insulator, NOT a conductor, it's meant to be applied after connections are made to prevent corrosion ... if disconnecting the one side stops the thermal breaker cycling, most likely the problem is on that side, check there while you're cleaning off the grease
Bill
