reversed battery wires

[nonglossjason]

last night i couldnt really see and mixed up the wires on the battery. which fuses did i blow so i can fix them and drive my car thanks

 

[DeVus1]

Have you tried starting the car since you mixed up the wires? Only two ways to tell if a fuse may be blown:

If a certain accessory isnt working or visually check the fuse.

 

[nonglossjason]

checked all the fuses nothing blown. No power at all to the car. I know this is stupid but what could it be?

 

[DeVus1]

Might have ruined the battery. Have you checked it with a multimeter? Either that or switch our for another battery?

 

[nonglossjason]

i tried, the battery is still good.

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

Reversing the polarity, there's a good chance you fried several electrical components, including the ECM. DeVus1 is on the right track with the multimeter, but I suspect you need to use it on a lot more than just the battery. Are there any bad fusible links? Anything smell burnt? Any evidence of burned components anywhere? I wouldn't know where to begin other than checking some basic things, so I have a bad feeling that you're in for countless hours with a multimeter and jrichker's wiring diagrams.

 

[jrichker]

Check the fuseable links: they all live in a bundle up next to the starter solenoid.

Diagram courtesy of Tmoss & Stang&2birds

See the following website for some help from Tmoss (diagram designer) & Stang&2Birds (website host) for help on 88-95 wiring http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/

http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/IgnitionSwitchWiring.gif

http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/fuel-alt-links-ign-ac.gif

http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/88-91_5.0_EEC_Wiring_Diagram.gif

 

[nonglossjason]

**** i would not know where to start

 

[RoadKill96]

oh you mite have fried your alt also

 

[dec322]

Back in the day my first car was an 84 ltd. I put the battery in and my boss stopped me and reversed what I was about to do....he hooked it up backwards. It caused a small fire but the only thing I had to replace was the soleniod on the fenderwell wall. I hope this is all you have to do (I guess its highly unlikely but good luck).

 

[jrichker]

**** i would not know where to start

In that case, either plan to spend a bunch of $$$ to have someone else fix it, or sell the car as a rolling chassis.

Back to the diagram I posted:
The yellow wire on the starter solenoid is the feed to several of the fuse links. Split the wiring harness open and follow it until it branches off into several wires. That's the first fuse links. The fuse links will be a different color from the wire they connect to. There is also a separate fuse link for the computer in the same area. Use a test light with one side grounded to any bare spot on the chassis. If you test lamp has a pointed end, use it to probe through the insulation. If not, then use a safety pin. Check the fuse links on both sides, where it connects to the feed from the battery and on the other side where it goes off into the harness. If the light does not light up on both sides of the fuse link, it is bad. Fuse link wire is available at most auto parts stores. The color tells you what the fuse rating is.

It will take you about 30 minutes to split the harness open to expose the fuse links, about 3 minutes to test each link and about 15 minutes each to repair any bad ones you find. When you are done, it will take another 30 minutes to wrap the harness back up nice and neat.


See http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=7 for some help soldering so that you will do it right the first time.

 

[DMAN302]

Been there done that..in my case the victims of the experience were:fried alternator, fried headlight switch, fried TFI....you're going to have to do some checking now but the ECU likely survived the incident.