Hey guys,

I just bought a 1965 mustang about a week ago and it came with a "new" starter solenoid and cables. I figured i might as well replace them all at once since i had the parts and the old battery cables are crumbling.

I went about replacing everything but when i went to start it it seemed as though my battery were dead. I went to jump it but when i turned the key it still seemed dead so i turned the key back off and took it out yet the starter kept running. It ran for about 5-6 seconds and then the car started with the key out of it. I had a one or two second long oh **** moment before i got it together and stuck the key back in and turned it to start which shut off the motor. Unfortunately even after the motor shut off, something was still going on and then i heard a loud hiss and smelled rotten eggs... fuuuuuh

The battery was smoking a tiny bit and spurted the tiniest amount of 'liquid' out of one of the ridges on top. Does this mean the battery is shot?

I found some info on the forum that said what had happened is the new solenoid i put in was just a bad one and some connector or something essentially welded the connection closed when i tried to start it, resulting in the starter continuing to run. Im fairly certain i replaced the wires right back where they belong and i even double checked on the forums for diagrams and such.

Should i go buy a new battery and solenoid? Is that battery forever unusable? Did i stumble upon the correct info? How should i approach this problem?

 

Well, the solenoid is trashed. If this ever happens again, do NOT wiggle-waggle the key, just open the hood and smack the solenoid.

 

If you hooked the battery cable and the cable that goes to the starter to the correct side of the solenoid, then the solenoid is trash like 2&2 said.