Budget

I guess I don't understand this post. It sounds like the operator crossed wires and put + to - instead of + to +

But, how could this be? Wern't the booster cables color coded, one red and one black? Did he put the black one on the + terminal or the red one on the - terminal?

If you were watching as he put a black cable on a battery post marked + then my feeling is you are partly responsible. If the operator told you that the cables were supposed to be hooked up this way, you should have booted him.

Ted

You're not supposed to put the negative cable on the negative post of the receiving battery but instead put it on a ground. I think that's what he's saying the Budget guy did.

That's a safety precaution to keep any possible arcing a safe distance from the battery in order to avoid igniting hydrogen and causing an explosion. From an electrical standpoint, the negative post on the battery is the same as "ground" on any other part of the vehicle. Human safety precautions notwithstanding, it makes no difference in what order the cables are connected or where the grounds are connected - as long as ultimately the positive on the dead battery matches the positive on the charged battery and the negative on the dead battery matches the negative on the charged battery. Granted, there is good reason behind connecting cables in a certain order, but connecting the negative cable directly to the battery is no more or less likely to damage sensitve electronics in the vehicle than connecting the negative cable to a remote ground.

Roger

You are right Rog, What more than likely happened is a voltage surge through the affected components. One needs to let a dead battery charge alot before trying to start it with the cable hooked up. Didn't someone on here post about the current going backwards and frying a body ECM? I know it can happen with a bad ground too. Alot of Dodges will forget everything they have learned as far as fuel and spark mapping, when the battery goes dead. PCM has to "relearn" basic parameters for about 10-15 miles/minutes before it will idle correctly.

Actually one day I needed a jump start and someone hooked up the cables and while it was on the negative post I couldn't get the engine to crank. I put the cable onto bare metal somewhere else and it started right up. I think that one of the auto makers said that if you hooked up the cables wrong you're at risk for blowing out some of the computers and stuff (I'm not sure which one though, I want to say it was BMW or Porsche).

I reread the OP and maybe the Budget lot guy left the car running when he tried to jumpstart it?

I appreciated all of the posts. As I see it, there were several problems. First, the guy didn't connect the ground to the engine, but rather to the battery post -- and his cable was arcing internally. His truck engine was running when he boosted (which apparently can lead to a voltage surge when the cables are hooked up and the car started). All three of the mechanics who looked at the car blamed the boost for the problem.

Where I live, in northern Alberta, boosting is a way of life -- and most people are becoming very hesitant about being the "donor" car because of problems like this. The properly set up boosting truck is supposed to avoid the problem.

Dave

Thanks, Phillip

The boosting truck was running. The operator tried a number of different ways to connect the (-) terminal, and finally got a good connection on the battery post. His cables were faulty -- arcing internally.

My main beef is with the fact that the boost wrecked my airbag computer (and another one had to be reflashed to restore it to use) and I'm left holding the bag.

My mother always said "you break it, you fix it." So, why am I getting absolutely no satisfaction at all?

Dave

What do you mean by "arcing internally"?

There's alway a risk when boosting a car with a dead battery, for starters (no pund intended), the battery in a car serve as a "filter"(see note) to temper the various spikes and variation of the electrical system, without that "filter", when a surge arrives in the circuit, you have great chances to frying something, now this being said, the boost "donnor" have a battery too right? So unless the electrical and/or battery of the boosting "donnor" is defective, there should be no spike or surges comming into those cables BUT, since YOUR battery is dead, you dont have any "filter" on your circuit and when connecting the cable from the "donnor", here goest the spike! Also, it is strongly recommended to let the dead battery warm up a bit before atempting to crank the dead car, by doing this you're helping both electrical subsystem, if you dont, you could be ending frying some of your elctrical component like computers and controllers or event worst, fry the "donnor" charging system.

The way I see it, when you let someone boost your car, YOU take the risk, so tough luck my friend. Car electrical systems are not designed to be boosted in such a way, what you are supposed to do it put a charger on your battery, charge it up and THEN, and ONLY THEN, start the car.

Most car owner will let boost their car and dont worry about it because it's a commond practice and there's no problems MOST of the time, but hey, shit happens!

Note: Dont get me wrong, I said "serve AS" not "It IS", the battery is NOT an electrical filter but ACT as one by desing.

"Dave Fairfield" a écrit dans le message de news: HaQtd.5840$U47.2605@clgrps12...

I understand about people being hesitant to be the "donor" of a boost. Several years ago, I gave a boost to an '84 Silverado using my '99 Regal. Just to be kosher, I connected everything in the exact steps demonstrated in the owner's manual. The truck started fine after a few minutes of charging, but two weeks later my Regal failed to start after leaving work one evening. Fast-forwarding to the end of the story, the car received a new PCM and alternator under warranty. I have no idea whether or not the two events were related, but I've been more than hesitant to give someone a jump start since then, fearing that I might be the one paying for repairs since the car is now out of warranty.

Roger

Hi Dave...

I'm in Winnipeg - much the same climate as you :(

If it helps any, what I (and many others) do is carry one of the portable power packs.

A couple of tow truck type boosts saved will pay for it, and it has many other uses as well...

During the summer it's an emergency source of a little bit of power at the lake; the grandkids can use it to watch their dvd's in the car, etc.

During winter, it stays in the car - can give anyone needing one a boost, including ME :)

Take care.

Ken :)

Reasons why damage happens and protection exists is defined by both SAE J1455 and ISO 7637-1. Every vehicle must include protection from load dump; when 12 volt power spikes to as high as 270 volts. Clearly, any voltage transient that caused electronics damage means electronics apparently did not meet industry standards.

You tell me. Was it the jump start or defective electronic design that caused electronics failure?

Notice which vehicle suffered damage. Vehicle that was outputt> I understand about people being hesitant to be the "donor" of a boost.