Battery replacement issue (big one)

Are you sure you hooked it back up correctly? What you describe sounds like a battery that was hooked up backwards. If it isn't backwards then the positive cable is shorted on something.

Steve B.

Thats exactly what I thought it sounded like, but the thing is I put the battery cables on just like the old battery had them on, the weird thing I was thinking of was the negative cable connected to the left side of that red post that the positive connects to the other side, is that correctly done? Maybe the old battery just didnt have enough juice to give this reaction?

And would you know why the windshield wipers wont turn off? is that because the auxiliary wire was severed? Thanks for the help!

Hi afx...

Not a mechanic, an old retired electrical guy...

You are aware that batteries are available with the positive and negative posts in the opposite physical positions, aren't you?

Didn't say that at all well, so.... put the postive cable on the positive post, and the neg on neg, even if the battery posts aren't in the same positions on the battery.

I'm willing to bet you a dollar against a stale donut that you've reversed them.

Take care.

Ken

Haha, Thanks for the reply Ken, Im a computer tech, not a car guy :) I can just usually plug the two together for answers. I took some pictures. Lemme upload em.

Negative = black; positive = red (the opposite of the convention used in economics).

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

here are the pics.

of the cables in general including the thick black one I replacedthat I connected to negative. cable that got severed of the positive battery terminal on the positive side of thebattery.

Hope this helps!

pic of the cables in general including the thick black one I replaced> that I connected to negative. As Bill said, black is negative, red is positive. That's the positive side; on my wife's '00 Intrepid, there's a black cover over it labelled "BATTERY + JUMP START" in bright yellow. Didn't yours have that cover?

Auxiliary cable that got severed Looks like a fusible link that failed due to high current. A moment of silence, please: that fusible link gave its life to try to save the car's electronics.

Picture of the positive battery terminal on the positive side of the> battery.

I can't make out any markings that help me to guess what's going on here. I see you put red felt under the cable; I can't see any markings telling that that that's really the positive side. Your camera seems to have decided the battery strap and something in a sheath were more interesting than the battery, and focussed on them.

So... if I'm reading what you've said correctly, and I'm looking at the photos correctly, you hooked up the battery backwards. There is at least one toasted fusible link, and that positive battery lead in the first picture doesn't look good either.

I don't even want to think about what might have happened to the various computers, radios, etc wandering around the vehicle. Good luck...

Well the markings on the first picture have a negative on it so im sure thats the negative side, if that black cable connected to the red post is a negative cable then I did it right.

Here is whats confusing me, I just put in a new battery, I didnt change anything else out, the car started fine before I put the new batt in.

So is it still a consensus that I put it on backwards? The cable on the last picture is red so I figure it to be a positive.

To answer your cap question, about 5 years ago she took it to Sams to have a new batt put in. They didnt know how to do it so they butchered the hell out of the whole area braking caps and whatnot so I dont have any caps left :(

That's just it, that is NOT the negative cable, it's the positive cable. You connected the battery backwards, and like Joe said, one can only wonder how much damage was caused.

Uh, yeah, because you hooked it (the new battery) up backwards.

I guarantee that you hooked it up backwards.

Cables come in all sorts of colors. You may notice that the fuse link that failed is connected to a red wire. hmmm...

Thank Chrysler for putting safe guards on their vehicles, otherwise you'd be posting with a face full of battery acid.

gocha, going to check on what I did manana.

Anyway, sorry that this is likely going to cost you hundreds if not thousands of dollars. On the bright side, you've convinced me to up my labor charge for installing batteries. What ever you do, DON'T buy a Mercedes!

That red post is to put a positive cable on.

I appreciate that. /sarcasm

Umm, generally red is the positive terminal and black is the negative, regardless of where they are on the battery. No matter what, every auto battery has a "+" and "-" marked next to the relevant terminals. Forget about "doing like it used to look" -- just do it right.

If you did connect it backwards, there's a chance you've fried the electronic brain (which would explain the weird behavior)....

Hee hee! I did this once (and only once!). It was on my 56 Chevy. Dang thing started up and the only clue it was backwards was the 8 track chewed the sh*t out of my Arlo Guthrie tape from Columbia House!

Daddy always said, if you don't know how......PAY the man!