When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
ehh. Im no battery scientist but I might bet say 10 bucks that it could happen IF..the battery were totally discharged and then recharged backwards or during assembly when it had no charge state it could be charged backwards... Im about 10 bucks sure this could happen...do I think its the issue? ehhh welll.... considering the danger here of catching molten lead to the eye or burns why not check? its easy. A reversed label is more likley
Im on board with the stuck solenoid too but that theory has a few holes punched in it because right after it threw sparks with the wally battery it acted just fine with an older battery he had...It ran good. He tried the wally battery again and yeah sparks...That Theory holds water but its leaking out quickly if its correct you'll have to find the patch for that hole.
I am WAY on board with as much testing as possible before smacking that battery cable across that terminal again.
Yes, it is possible to discharge an automotive battery to the point where some of the cells reverse polarity, it's one of the reasons a dead auto battery is usually a dead auto battery. I've seen it happen when I worked in auto parts stores many years ago for about six years. Never the entire battery though.
Yeah, easiest way is with a VOHM meter. Test the polarity. It's possible it was charged incorrectly from the manufacturer. The only other thing that could cause sparks and lurching like that is a direct short in the starting system (i.e. starter solenoid/relay circuit) as some have already theorized.
update. Picked up a voltage meter tonight. Ran it across BOTH battery's and its 12.1 v then switched -12.1 so that rules the voltage part out for the actual terminals being backwards.
Gun Jam. So to test the syniniod, just want to make sure I have this correct. I ran the leads to each side of the syliniod, and got the same thing 12.1 and -12.1 just not sure if this is what you meant by running this test. I'm not an expert on these volt meters.
I wanna run this test properly regardless but tomorrow night gonna go back to the ol Wally World to switch this cursed battery out
Okay the wally battery was returned and this is a new one right?
I run a different style solenoid than you probably have because mine is on the starter. I suspect you have the fender mounted one?...Either way the test is really the same.
The idea is:
1) we have a heavy - cable running from the battery to probably engine block ground or some type of solid ground point
2) We have a heavy + cable that runs from the battery right to the solenoid on one side then a 2nd heavy cable connects and runs to the starter
3) that solenoid is a big switch that connects the two cable halves attached to it together by physically linking them internally.
4) Unless the key is turned the solenoid must NOT link those two halves together so we are suspecting that for some reason the solenoid is stuck in the "on" position regardless of key position this causes the starter motor to engage the instant the circuit is completed when you touch the battery cables to the post...It demands a high amp draw and its making poor connection so it blows the connecting piece apart as all the current tries to run through the section that first touches (a small area).
5) We simply need to see if the solenoid is open or closed. We have no battery so we cant check volts across it. BUT we can check resistance. IF current can flow through the solenoid easily like it would if the solenoid was stuck on you would see very LOW resistance maybe between 0 and 2 ohms. IF the solenoid was open (off) as it SHOULD BE in this condition with the key off or not pointed to "start" you would see very HIGH resistance as that current tries to jump an air gap. Say "limit" or "10M" it would read the same as not touching anything with the probes.
6) to check resistance set the meter to Ohm (the horse shoe symbol) and touch it across the two heavy leads on the solenoid. Color (polarity) doesn't matter
Ok so when I have it on the horseshoe symbol on 200 it reads 37-39 , on 20m ( don't have a 10) it is reading .2 ish. .3 so pretty low , when I put it on 200m under DCV it's reading low also .2 .3
did is not get new battery by the way. Will try again tonight
Okay so its not an auto scale meter. By setting it to 200 you can read between 0 and 200 ohms any thing over 200 would be out of limit. The M is mega so thats the 1,000,000 scale so most of the small stuff is going to be barely visible on that scale. There should be one for 1,000 ohm scale as well??? the 200 scale is good for what we are doing.... So it sounds like you've got 37 ohms which is very low. Really it should read zero BUTTT there could be some oxidation on the terminals that is creating resistance or the internals are like somewhat connecting maybe there is a slight oxide on them as well.
Whateves.... Im pretty sure that its a stuck solenoid as suspected by that dude on the first page.
Try smacking the solenoid with a screwdriver handle or something and set the meter back to the 200 setting and see how many horse shoes are in it after you hit it. Does it still read 30ish? Or does it read the same as air (not touching anything with the probes)
I gather if you read 30 ohms across that solenoid you'll get sparks when you reconnect that battery cable.
If Hitting the solenoid gets you the same reading as air then you can be quite certain the solenoid was stuck closed and you should replace it directly.
If hitting still gets you 30 ohms then its probably stuck shut for good you should replace it directly.
07-17-2017, 01:42 PM
