And I cant get it to connect. Every time I try to connect it back up, it just sparks and cooks the connectors. I hook up the Positive and when I go to hook up the negitive, as soon as it makes contact, it sparks, and wont let me connect it up.

Any sugestions on what I can do to get my battery back in?

 

Obviously make sure your not crossing the wires to the correct terminal. Some batteries have the posts switched....

Then, your supposed to always connect the negative first, then the positive...Give that a try.

And what do you mean by cooking the connectors?

 

/\ you got it backwards connect the positive first then the neg. think about it if you have a wrench in your hand and you touch the frame or another ground when you are utting the postive on with the neg already hooked up you will fry your wrench/hand

neg is first one off last one on.

obviously if you drop something across the terminals you are screwed. this is just the safest.

 

You will typically get a small spark when hooking up the negative. You might get more sparking if there is a load turned on in the car - headlights on, key in the On position with stereo, AC etc. switched on.

Biggie is to make sure you're not hooking the terminals up backwards, as stated. Double-check the marks on the battery that show which post is which. Hooking up a battery backwards can do all KINDS of bad electrical voodoo.

Dale

Dale

 

Hmm...Never thought about it that way I guess. Ill definetly start doing it the other way around. You learn something new everyday I guess. But then again, I havent been shocked when installing/uninstalling a car battery yet...

 

Dapdas!

 

Yeah, I dont have it crossed or anything. I ran into my machanic today and he seems to think I have something drawing from the battery which would cause the problem Im having. And when I say cooking the connectors, If i try connecting them and leave the connectors on the terminals, the metal on the terminals will litterly melt. Im guessing thats not something I want to happen.

I was told to get a voltage checker and check all of my positive connections, among other things.

Any one have any quick things to try? Its just odd that it worked before I took the old battery out, and now it doesnt...

 

did u leave anything on inside? lights? or anything of that style which would immediately try to power themselves when u connect the battery?

 

Leaving things on will not melt the connectors,Trace the battery cables down to see if they are cut or burned and shorting out,start with the pos cable.Disconnect the main wire from the alternator to see if it is shorted .In order to lessen damage to the car ,use a volt-ohm meter for testing or find a weak battery for testing so you will not fry anything .Useing a weak battery is not the best idea but better then a new hot one .

 

You can always try adding a ground wire direct from negative on the batt to the car. That might work. Have you tried putting a different battery in there? Maybe its the battery itself, cause Ive never heard of that happening, and it doesnt really make sense if it wasnt happening before you changed batts. Check your fuses and make sure none of them are melted also.

 

is the battery in the rear bin by chance?

 

If the connector is getting as hot as you indicate, there is a very serious current draw in your system that would drain the battery, even if you were succesful hooking it up.

The indicated heat suggests a short circuit and a current draw in excess of 25-50 Amps. A voltmeter really will not help you much, what you need is an Ammeter to measure the current that is being drawn from the battery. The problem is that most hand-held multimeters are limited to a 10 Amp range and you seem to have a greater draw.

I'd suggest to pull as many main fuses as you can and see if you can eliminate the current flow. A small spark on the battery terminal is OK but, not heavy sparking and hot terminals.

On top of all, be careful because short circuits can cause such high currents that the heat created by them will produce gasses inside the battery very rapidly and actually blow up the battery into your face. There is sulfuric acid in the battery which can permenantly disfigure your skin. In view of that threat you probably should ask an electrical person to help you out with the troubleshooting.

Albert

 

Ditto Albert. You have a serious load on your battery. Don't reconnect until you know what it is and resolve it.

 

dude, i installed everything today on fd, and the same thing happens, it sparks when i put on the positive or the negative first... sucks should i go to an electrician...

 

It is normal for the battery terminals to spark when you put either the positive or negative lead on. There is a NORMAL leakage current that usually flows when the battery connected and is enough to create a small spark. This current is OK if it is in the 10-40 milliamp range. With this amount of leakage even a small battery, like the PC680 will hold its charge to start the car for a good couple of weeks. If there is more leakage, the battery will drain too quickly and the drain should be investigated.

In case of the poster who started this thread he complained about apparently large amounts of current that would intensely heat up the battery terminals. That is NOT normal. A minor spark when connecting leads is normal.

Albert

 

well it was a BIG spark.. but i jusst found what it was... when i was rebuilding i didnt put the ground where it supposed to go... i put it on the body instead it was supposed to go on the fuse box near the front strut nuts... problema solved... my car started after like four tries...