FirebirdSlayer666

iTrader: (3)

Hey guys. The 7 decided to to be stubborn today. She just wouldn't fire up. Eventually got to the point I knew she was flooded so I popped the hood to start the de-flood when I see the positive battery terminal smoking. It was hot as hell. I waited for it to cool down and moved it around a little bit thinking it was just too close to the plastic tie down aid that came with the battery. I went to try and turn her over again and got nothing. Everything lighted up fine when I turned the ignition on but when I went to start everything just shut off. When I turned the ignition back off my dome light came back on but dimly. When I turned my lights on though everything comes back on like normal. But when I try to crank, same thing happens. My terminals are getting pretty corroded and some of the metal on the positive terminal has actually melted away. I figured these were the problem so I bought new terminals. Tried to buy new radiator hoses too but Autozone only had the top hose and they don't even carry the bottom hose, what gives on that? I have to wait to do the terminals tomorrow. I'm just hoping these are the problem and that she'll fire up after they're replaced and maybe some de-flooding. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

John64

Its not just your terminals. Those things are 20 years old. Replace all the battery cables, positive and negative with new ones. Then take the old ones and cut open the plastic outside coating. I'm almost 90% sure that your cables will be corroded on the inside.

FirebirdSlayer666

iTrader: (3)

Well yeah when I say terminals I mean the whole cable as well

FirebirdSlayer666

iTrader: (3)

Well I got the teminals and cables all on and there seems to be a problem. When I turn the lights on it puts a heavy strain on the elictrical system causing the volts to drop below 12 subsequently causing the temp needle to rise very quickly. Any thoughts? I had to make a new wire to run from the terminal to the fusible links because the wire that was on the terminal was too short to reach the links. I'm not sure if this is my problem or not. They didn't have any 8guage wire so I used 10 but I'm not sure if I may need 8. Any thoughts would be great

Paradox

iTrader: (1)

clean the battery terminals, or replace, they are like $2 each. with a little creative wiring and cleaning of the contacts (on the grounding side aswell) this will help a bunch.

but even then it sounds more like your battery is toast. does your voltage drop right down with the engine off, but stay ok when the engine is running?

vladu13

Oh yeah, I've had the red hot and smoking pos. terminal while trying to deflood the 7. In my case that spelled the end of the battery. Put in a new one and she started right up. 2 things, if you buy aftermarket terminals i've found the bolts holding the wire on work loose after a while, which contributes to hot terminal syndrome. Also if your neg cable is grounded to the strut tower make sure the connection is complete. Sand the crap out of the connection and where it attaches to the tower until they gleam. You will see a drop in flooding problems.

FirebirdSlayer666

iTrader: (3)

The battery is perfectly fine. The NEgative is grounded right where I took it off at on the rear iron or so. When it's running and no lights are on the volts stay at about 13 to 13.5. Old terminals used to read 14 or more. I'm gonna try using a heavier guage wire for the fusible link wire and see how that goes

85 FB

Thicker gauge is always better. Less resistance for the current and with the amount flowing through at the battery, good idea to keep at at least 8 guage. Thankfully the only problem I had with my cables was that the previous owner did a horrible shade-tree mechanic deal on both of them, and the positive one ending up corroding to Hell and back, and inevitably wouldn't let my car crank over. Changed out the entire positive cable (negative is still fine but in the works for a replacement) and have had no problems yet.

13 to 13.5 sounds about right with the lights on, actually. Before I changed out my cable, my power was reading about 14 something, but that ended up being due to the fact that the corrosion on the terminal was so bad, the alternator was working extra hard to try and recharge that battery. New cable with nice form fitted terminal, that 13.2 hasn't dropped yet with the lights on. If you have brand new cables, everything seems fine, battery is good, then you shouldn't worry about it. 13.5 should be normal with the lights on, or around that.

FirebirdSlayer666

iTrader: (3)

It's 13 to 13.5 WITHOUT any lights on. When I hit the brakes or the reverse or the lights are on it drops BELOW 12 which causes the temp needle to rise very quickly. I'm just trying to locate some 8 guage wire

John64

I don't see how the temp niddle has anything to do with your electrical, unless you have a grounding issue. Your tail lights should not have much draw at all (maybe you have some corrosion in the light area causing a short?) Try pulling the fuse for the tail lights and seeing what happens then?

85 FB

For 8 guage wire I know the perfect solution: Car audio/video install shop. That's where I got my 8 guage.