The invention discloses an inter-turn short circuit fault locating system and method. The system comprises a pulse generating unit, a data acquisition unit, a protection unit, a fault judgment and positioning unit, a data storage unit, and a display unit. The output end of the pulse generating unit is connected with both ends of a rotor coil; the input end of the data acquisition unit is connectedwith both ends of the rotor coil through the protection unit; the output end of the data acquisition unit is connected with the input end of the fault judgment and positioning unit, and the data storage unit and the display unit are connected with the fault judgment and positioning unit. The invention has the advantages of simple structure, reliability, small size and light weight, and protects the data acquisition unit through the protection unit, so as to prevent damage to the system caused by overvoltage or overcurrent; fault judgment and fault location of the tested coil are realized by similarity calculation; the coil fault location efficiency is improved and the diagnosis result is more reliable.