today i bought a new battery and new terminals, and installed them now my car won't start. when i put the new terminals on i did them 1 wire at a time so that i didn't lose track of any of the wires (mainly the grounds) then i put the battery in and tightened down the terminals negative first then positive.

i did notce that even with the key off and out of the ignition there is a slight glow from the battery and check engine lights. What could that be from?

at one point i found a wire from my fan that would hook into the battery to bypass the fan relay. i connected it to the positive terminal and got nothing so i just touched it to the negative figuring nothing would happen. but i got gauges and door chimp but no interior lights, no radio no clock and Mainly no fuel pump. the funny thing is that the car would turn over but would not start(NO Fuel Pump) I am so confused someone help me please!!!

 

wow. first thing is stop messing with your wires. and think about what your doing haha.

What do you mean by "new terminals" for your new battery? You literally put new terminals on the NEW battery?

As far as seeing a glow for those two lights... if you are indeed actually seeing a glow from those two lights with no key, that literally means that there is a current flowing through those circuits (being the bulbs behind the dash) making them illuminate (which to me seems like a far more serious problem)

"at one point i found a wire from my fan that would hook into the battery to bypass the fan relay. I connected it to the positive terminal and got nothing, so I just touched it to the negative figuring nothing would happen"

WHAT?? Wtf are you doing things like that for if you have NO IDEA what you are doing??? Do you really understand what you could be doing? Obviously not haha, or you would not just be "touching wires for the hell of it" haha

you "get gauges and door chimp", no radio, no clock,...

Dude I think you f-ed your battery install up hard core (by probably hooking your (-) on the car to the (+) on the battery, and the (+) on the car to the (-) on the battery (giving the current a path, (the car), thus frying some of your electrical ****)

First things first, check ALL your fuses. You might of got lucky and just blew a bunch of fuses.

Sorry I'm not trying to be harsh. That's how your story came across to me. Hope I am wrong.

Haha. reminds me of when My Mom and brother try to jump my bros battery in his car. They were just "touching wires" sort-of-speak and the battery shorts, kinda explodes, and catches the car on fire. lol. so yeah, OP think before you just touch wires.

/RANT
(sorry, EE Major)

 

............................

You might just be better off letting a mechanic look at it..

 

Holy F*ck dude...
OK.
Start over, from the begining. Why did you replace the battery?
What "terminals" are you referring to?
Did everything work properly before you replaced the battery?
Do all of the red wires go toe the + terminal(post) on the battery?
Do all of the black wires go to the - terminal?
DO you have any idea wtf you are doing?


OK the last one was just for giggles, but seriously, take som pictures of what you have wired, then disconnect the battery before you toast the PCM if you haven't already. Post the pictures so we can see what the heck you did.

 

the terminals i am refering to are what connects TO the battery. i put on quick connects.

UPDATE I WENT BACK TO THE AUTO PARTS STORE AND HAD THE BATTERY TESTED AND FOUND OUT THAT THE BATTERY WAS MIS-CHARGED THEY REVERSE CHARGED THE BATTERY. THE AUTO PARTS STORE REPLACED THE BATTERY AND CHECKED IT BEFORE I LEFT TO MAKE SURE EVERTHING WAS CORRECT WITH THAT BATTERY. I TOOK IT HOME AND PUT IT IN AND CONNECTED EVERYTHING, TURNED THE KEY AND BOOM!!! BACK IN BUSINESS EVERYTHING FIRED RIGHT UP ENGINE, RADIO AND EVER OTHER ELECTRONIC COMPONENT. IF IT WASN'T FOR ME TOUCHING THAT WIRE TO THE NEGATIVE AND FINDING THAT SUPRISE I WOULD HAVE NEVER FIGUED OUT THAT I HAD A BAD BATTERY.

OH YEAH! JUST TO LET EVERYONE KNOW THIS ISN'T MY FIRST MUSTANG AND THERE ARE SOME THINGS ON ANY VEHICLE THAT CAN RUN OFF GND SOME DOOR LOCK TRIGGERS, FANS, PANIC AND OTHER THINGS LIKE THAT I HAVE BEEN A MECP MASTER CERTIFIED TECH FOR 5YRS NOW. SO YES IT WAS DUMB LUCK BUT THERE WAS STILL THEORY BEHIND THE MADNESS.

THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS AND THOUGHTS.

 

So who is "they" ? Did you buy a used battery or something? Do you realize what you are saying is theoretically not possible? Batteries are not designed to be discharged, and then recharged in the opposite polarity, its just not how it works.

Now, entertaining the idea that the battery was truly backwards...
You have a slew of other problems to worry about now! There is a myriad of components that you could have damaged, the most simplistic being the voltage regulator on your alternator. I am not sure what the breakover rating is on reverse current flow for the regulator, but if you breached it, your battery will die soon because your alternator will not be charging it.

Not to mention the PCM, crimany that could be a nightmare.

Now for the ball busting-

Why in the sam hell didnt you put a meter on the battery!?!?!

If you are a tech, you should certainly have a meter! That would have saved you confusion and headaches...and reversing the polarity of your entire electrical system...

 

AND, NEVER hook the ground to the battery first!! POSITIVE first, then NEGITIVE last!!

Where did you go to school,, the school/teachers should of learned you that!(hahaha)

 

New (as in right off the assembly line, and never charged) lead-acid batteries can be "reverse charged", as can batteries in the so-called "dry-charge" state as shipped to stores--if someone at the factory, or the FLAPS hooked it up with reversed polarity, on a current controlled low current charger, it could very well have accumulated a partial reverse charge.

I have never experienced a reverse charged battery, however I have heard of people receiving such defective batteries in the past.

Reverse charging is also something we did in the "old days" in generally unsuccessful attempts to recover a heavily hard sulphated battery.

 

why would you screw around with all the wiring? As mentioned above im not trying to be too harsh i just don't get it.

 

Wierd...the chemistry of a battery just doesnt seem to me like it would take a charge in reverse more than just a tiny bit...It's chemical reaction with the lead and sulfuric acid are designed to work properly in one direction, and one would "think" that each battery is tested before leaving the factory...

The only thing that I have ever heard of for curing a sulphated battery is hooking it up to a battery charger in the "start" mode repeatedly. The high current is "supposed" to break down the accumulated blockages enough to make the battery usable again.

But, again, I still stand by the fact that a meter should have been used first before deciding to starting touching wires backwards...