problems with a damaged battery terminal? almost fried my car!

ADRENLN · Mar 10, 2006

i was just wondering if there risk of somthing happening if i drive my car with a damaged battery terminal? will the battery blow, or catch fire or anything?

heres the story. connecting the cables back to the battery today. i put on the positive cableand was tightening it up with the wrench. by accident i lost grip of the wrench and of courst it had to be at the perfect angle and perfect length to hit the negitive terminal directly.

the thing was sparkin and smokin like crazy. like an idiot my reaction was to grab the wrench. i didnt get hurt thank god. i didnt even think about it till abter i did it. however im a little worried about the car. the terminal was cooked a bit. blacl and alittle metal wear. the wrench was a little melted on the handle.

i was also thinking about the computer in the car and other things. guys what do you think i need to know about this situation. im a bit in shock from it so not sure if im thinking clearly. is there anything i should check or do?

i didnt try to start the car up yet.

exindust · Mar 10, 2006

I damn near melted a set of jumper cables when i jumped my grandmas dodge with my car. Her battery was located on the bottom of the car and the negative jumper was not clearly marked.

Anyways i was jumping her car and im like WTF its not working i hop outta the car to find my cables just about ready to melt, and this had been going on for about 15 seconds, pulled both off with gloves bcause the rubber was melting, retried after researching the negative terminal and boht cars started and ran fine.

ADRENLN · Mar 10, 2006

ok car started and i dont see any sparks or anything so i guess it ok.

however i am having som other concerned.

this is the first time i started the car in 5 months. there was some smoke from the engine smelled like somthin was burning. i just figured because the car has been sitting.

car sounded fine, but then i went to check the gagues inside the car. the gass needle is all the way on empty. it has a full tank for storage.

and the service engine soon light is on and wont go off. i started and shut the car off a couple of times but it is still this way.

the gas needle went to full for a min. then i got out to listen to car and when i got back in the needle is back on empty.???? anyone have any idea what could be going on? did i fry the computer of somthing? the smoking engine had me a bit worried also.

DropTopPony · Mar 10, 2006

Did you remove the cable again to reset everything? Give it a try and start it. One of the lot boys did that with a srewdriver when he was jumping a car and it started up after. Maybe Mike will chime in with official ford procedures

ADRENLN · Mar 10, 2006

droptop that is a good idea, ill give that a try.

i just hope i didnt fry the diablo chip that will be expensive to replace.

DTNODYA · Mar 10, 2006

My recommendation would be to check all the fuses. I have done the same thing except mine was a ratchet .. the sparks were insanely scary but luckily it did not stay arching because I hit it off the terminals. I will never do that again. In the process, I fried about six fuses and the power wire running from my battery was peeling back because of how bad I scorched it. So I would check the fuses, if they are fine then go from there. Always thoroughly, visually inspect everything before looking further into any problem. IMHO.

As for the smoking .. My car stays parked for long periods of time without me driving it and every now and then if it has been sitting for months, it smokes when I start it up. It does not smoke the second time or third time I start it after that though.

Also, as someone already mentioned, reset the battery by disconnecting the negative for a few minutes. Hell, disconnect both terminals and then clean them because I'm sure they look like crap. Assuming that you still have two decent posts (somewhat fried of course), after you clean them as well as the wire connectors, put some vaseline on them, then reconnect the two. I'd check the voltage of your battery with a voltmeter just to be sure it is 12.58 or whatever. Good luck.

ADRENLN · Mar 10, 2006

thanks guys you were both right. disconnecting and reconnecting the battery again did the trick. the car seems fine now, and no engine light.

i tried to due the thing where you crank the engine without starting it right away to get some of the oil through the engine. it didnt seem to work. someone told me full throttle and the engine would not start. however mine stuttered and then started. maybe thats why everything got messed up. oh well all seems well now.

i would like to konw how to get the oil through without just firing it right back up after storage for next time.

thanks alot guys.

problems with a damaged battery terminal? almost fried my car!

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problems with a damaged battery terminal? almost fried my car!

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