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HOT positive cable. Car died. Battery good. Engine won't crank.

T

tvissoc

CEG'er
Joined
Jul 13, 2010
Messages
110
Location
Tipp City, Ohio
'98 v6 Contour. Was returning home from a short, in-town trip when I noticed that my idle wanted to dip at a stop. Then it acted like it was stuttering a bit. At next light, it died when I stopped. I tried to start the car, but only got a slight crank and then nothing. The car started normally only moments before that. As I tried to start the car, I noticed the smell of hot electrics. Popped the hood to check the battery connections and burnt my fingers on the positive battery cable/terminal.

I'm not sure what the problem is yet, but I'm looking for advice. The battery is new, and confirmed good. The alternator is new, and was replaced several months ago.

This was a sudden condition. The car was fine on the trip out (2 miles). Started fine, but died within a couple minutes.

I'm thinking that it is a cable issue, but I'd think I would have been seeing issues before this. I'm also wondering if there is a short while the car is running or trying to start it that is drawing extreme current, though the ground side was cool. Could a connection at the alternator be suspect? I don't know if something came loose and could short while running? With the car turned off, the cable cooled down.

Advice? I'm probably going to replace the cables, as they look ratty near the battery anyway.

Tony
 
I'd def. clean all the connections and make sure the grounds are good (clean bare metal). On my tour I made a new harness from the battery to the starter, and then from the starter to the alternator with some high quality 4 gauge car audio wire. Put a nice ANL style fuse inline with a holder and life was good.
 
For sudden problem like that make sure that the cable diddn't rub thru the insulation and short out to frame or engine. I had one start to rub and I caught it in time. Look at the bend of the cable where it goes around the EGR pipe to go to the mega fuse. Mine started to rub thru where it sits under the EGR valve right there.

Remember the positive cable is 3 pieces. battery to starter, starter to megafuse, megafuse to alternator. Megafuse is on back of engine facing firewall. It is on a bracket with a cover.
 
dennyb said:
Megafuse is on back of engine facing firewall. It is on a bracket with a cover.
Click to expand...

Nice of 'em to put the megafuse where it is nice and easy to get to. :) I've not run across it yet, so this will be another adventure.

Now.. how to get the car home. I hate paying for a tow.

Tony
 
vaboom123 said:
I'd def. clean all the connections and make sure the grounds are good (clean bare metal). On my tour I made a new harness from the battery to the starter, and then from the starter to the alternator with some high quality 4 gauge car audio wire. Put a nice ANL style fuse inline with a holder and life was good.
Click to expand...

I have some spare cable to do this with. I'll just need to check what type of terminations I need and get a new battery terminal.

Tony
 
If the positive cable was hot enough were you burned your hand touching it, I am 100% confident you have a short on that cable somewhere. That is the only way that much current would be going through that cable. You most certainly blew the mega fuse on the back too so your alternator would not be charging the battery either. Also since it continued to get that hot I'm fairly certain the short is on the battery to starter cable or the starter to mega fuse cable. So look for your culprit there. Good luck.
 
How about, none of the above. After new cables and checking grounds, etc, I decided to try to turn the crank with a breaker bar. No go. Locked engine. Eventually pulled the oil pan and after loosening several conn rod caps, found one that allowed me to rotate the engine when loose. Pulled the cap, and the bearing fell out in 4 pieces. Time to source another engine.
 
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