1994 Park Ave Jumper Cables Reversed I Think - UGH

[Lonestar]

Working on my grandson's car. Replaced the heater bypass nipple that had cracked off.

Got it all back together. Went to start it and the battery was dead. It wasn't fully charged from previous incident. Got the charging cables, which I had to hold in place on one of his terminals because the jaws are misaligned.

He attempted to start it and the alternator just jiggled like it was crazy. (I thought that it was because of low power.) He tried for about 5 seconds three times, then it make a pop/clink sound and bit of smoke comes up from mid engine area, it seems. (?)

I'm 71 and have have NEVER hooked up cables wrong but I'm pretty sure that's what happened. I didn't even consider it until after I had left and gone home. Should we charge battery and attempt to start again or do some troubleshooting first? Any suggestions on where I should start. I'm devastated! He just got this car with only 47K miles a few weeks ago and has been having to wait to get the other issue resolved. I'm devastated.

Appreciate any help...

 

[HotZ28]

You need to hold an learning class with your grandson to hook up battery cables correctly & a lot more wisdom you may have to share. If he listens, he may learn something, otherwise, it may be a lost cause!! It is no telling what the damage could be without being on site!

 

[DrivenDaily]

+1 on @HotZ28's comment! Teach your grandson while he still knows everything!

Nearly 20 years ago I pulled into a grocery store's parking lot and saw a young man assisting a young lady by providing a jump start. Only it wasn't starting. Instead, the cables were so hot that the insulation was melting off in mid-air!

I asked if I could help, then took MY cables (4-ga copper, 16' long, bought in 1976) and showed them how to hook up my car to her car. It was obvious that he had looked at the color of the battery cables. I taught them that they need to look at the marks on each battery and ignore the colors. Once I hooked it up, her car started right up.

Thankfully there was no apparent damage, but then again, issues could have surfaced later on. I don't recall if his car was running or had any difficulty, but since I didn't help him start his, I can only assume that it was okay.

 

[Lonestar]

UPDATE: I attempted to charge the battery via charger (not jumping). The readings for voltage and % on the charger were very low... like 6v and 2%. OK... so I disconnected the positive battery cable(s). Checked resistance from the positive cable to ground and getting like 95 ohms! This does not look good. I disconnected the alternator connector to see if the alternator was shorted internally, although now that I think about it, it shouldn't be part of the equation unless the key is turned on., right? (I did measure resistance from the positive pin of that alternator to it's ground and it's open.

I guess I'm looking at trying to find a short somewhere. Based on the pop sound mentioned earlier, I'm beginning to think I may have blown the ECM. I'll have to go unplug it and see.

 

[Lonestar]

UPDATE 2:
Okay, I was wrong about that previous alternator statement... the positive wire goes directly to the connection post of the alternator, but as noted here, when disconnected, the post does not show a short to ground or the case of the alternator.... but the positive wire does show the 95 ohms.

So the 95 ohms from the positive cable to ground is persistent. The cable harness appears to split and go to only 3 locations; the alternator, starter and main (large) fuse and relay panel in the engine compartment. With their power wires disconnected, neither the positive terminal of the starter or alternator show a short or 95 ohms to ground. They are open, so it makes me think those devices are not internally shorted.

But the fuse box (PHOTO), where the + power cable connects to it, with that + power cable disconnected, still shows 95 ohms to the negative terminal under where the cable connects... which I don't understand.. unless there is a hidden power connection somewhere that I can't see that is shorting this out. (?)

Another point, measuring either side of each fuse from either/both the positive cable and/or the negative cable of the battery, I get NO resistance! How is that possible? LOL

 

[Lonestar]

Now I'm hearing from a good mechanic that this is 'normal' to have low resistance but he says 'unfortunately, it's much more complicated than that'... he's rebuilds cars from top to bottom but he's also very busy and I can't ask him to come and work on the car. I guess I'll have to have a mobile mechanic come or take it to a shop. I'm lost.

 

[MelsRegal]

Now I'm hearing from a good mechanic that this is 'normal' to have low resistance but he says 'unfortunately, it's much more complicated than that'... he's rebuilds cars from top to bottom but he's also very busy and I can't ask him to come and work on the car. I guess I'll have to have a mobile mechanic come or take it to a shop. I'm lost.

Have you considered removing the alternator and having it bench tested?

 

[Lonestar]

Well, I've had to back up a bit and reconsider my next actions. When I connect the positive harness to the battery, the voltage drops down to 5.8v. I need to disconnect everything on that harness and see what happens. If it still happens, then the problem is... somewhere else. If the voltage stays up, then I can add each component one at a time. What gets me is what my buddy said about that low resistance from positive cable to ground. I had sent him a blurb from Google that said it should be 0 ohms expecting him to ROTFL. I thought that was insane but he seemed to verify that. I then asked Grok and Grok said, it should be infinite resistance. LOL WTH?!

 

[MelsRegal]

Well, I've had to back up a bit and reconsider my next actions. When I connect the positive harness to the battery, the voltage drops down to 5.8v. I need to disconnect everything on that harness and see what happens. If it still happens, then the problem is... somewhere else. If the voltage stays up, then I can add each component one at a time. What gets me is what my buddy said about that low resistance from positive cable to ground. I had sent him a blurb from Google that said it should be 0 ohms expecting him to ROTFL. I thought that was insane but he seemed to verify that. I then asked Grok and Grok said, it should be infinite resistance. LOL WTH?!

What is the voltage of the battery by simply connecting the voltmeter to the battery?

 

[Lonestar]

I don't know at this time. I've been charging it today. The charger showed 12v+ but only 77% after several hours of fast charging. I may take the battery to get tested tomorrow. I think the car came with this new Delco battery, $450 worth. It look new anyway. I hope it's not damated.

 

[02LTD2.0]

This whole debacle is a good argument for using a capacitive discharge jumper pack instead of jumper cables. The jump pack that I keep in my trunk will NOT work if the cables are hooked up incorrectly!!!

 

[Lonestar]

I'll have to look into one of those.

 

[02LTD2.0]

I got mine from Amazon for about 70 bucks.

 

[Lonestar]

FINAL UPDATE for now:
Well... as of this morning, this problem appears to have resolved itself, or been touched by a miracle, or possibly was never as bad as I though. <shrug>

For some reason, I no longer measured the 95 ohms from the positive harness to ground. The battery was charged yesterday to 12.7V, although it was only at 77%. I just decided to go ahead and reconnect it and try to start it up and hope for the best and not damage anything. I got the best! It seems like everything is OK at the moment. Time will tell if any damage was done, I have no idea what that pop/clink and wisp of smoke was at the time of reversing the jumper cables. But apparently, it wasn't serious.

Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[RD_Atlanta]

It probably be a good idea to put a volt meter across the battery while its running, just to ensure the alternator is working.