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02-15-2010, 10:00 AM | #1 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 43198
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Arlington, VA
Vehicle:02 WRX |
Melting Battery Terminals, Smoke Everywhere(!!)
I'm having some big-time battery problems. The Yellow-Top battery I used for a few years got to the point where it couldn't start my car in cold weather. So, I replaced it with an EverStart from Walmart last winter. This past December, my negative terminal shorted out and the battery went down in smoking ruins - outside and inside the cabin. It happened at 8PM on a Sunday while I was out of town, so Walmart was the only thing open and got another Everstart. Needing to get home, I twisted together the remnants of the negative ground, wrapped it in electrical tape and picked up another Everstart. No problems getting home.
The next day I went to Sears and got a new heavy duty negative ground wire. I thought I was set, but unbelievably just yesterday while I was out running errands, my car died again - smoke filled the cabin again. To my amazement, the end of the wire where the screw goes through to connect to the negative terminal snapped off, and thus the ground wire came loose. I had a tool kit in my car and figured I could still get it to reconnect to the negative terminal in order to get me home. So, I pulled off the positive terminal and went to work on the negative, which I was able to get fastened securely enough that I felt comfortable driving the 10 miles back home. But, when I started putting the positive terminal back on, I got some small sparks and the positive terminal started melting!! I called the wife and told her to go pick up a Die Hard from Sears and bring it out to me, which she did. That got me up and running again without any drama, but now I'm left wondering - are these Everstart batteries s*** or is there something else going on here with my car? Is it going to kill my Die Hard now? It's hard for me to believe these batteries are that faulty, but I never had any problems with my Yellow Top (besides the low CCA's toward the end of its life).
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02-15-2010, 10:55 AM | #2 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 43198
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Arlington, VA
Vehicle:02 WRX |
Nevermind, I found the problem - there was a short in the positive cable. Specifically, I used to have an inverter a while back, and the contact going in to the in-line circuit breaker came loose and made contact with the chassis.
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02-15-2010, 12:19 PM | #3 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 141373
Join Date: Feb 2007
Chapter/Region:
E. Canada
Location: Quebec, QC
Vehicle:2022 Crosstrek Sport 6MT |
Glad you didn't fry anything beyond the battery..could have been much more of a disaster!
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02-16-2010, 12:40 AM | #4 |
*** Banned ***
Member#: 16200
Join Date: Mar 2002
Vehicle:OK buy Nates beans westcoastroasting.com |
you REALLY-REALLY N E E D to replace ALL the battery/starter/alternator cables!!!!!!!!!!
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02-16-2010, 02:15 AM | #5 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 186175
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: CA
Vehicle:2009 WRX 5 Door Dark Grey |
You definitely want to check out your wiring before your burn your car to the ground. Fixing the original source of the problem is a start, but you may have melted the insulation on power wire in some other spots and it could be on the verge or shorting out. Next time you might not be so lucky.
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02-16-2010, 03:54 AM | #6 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 73072
Join Date: Oct 2004
Chapter/Region:
NWIC
Location: Eugene/portland
Vehicle:02 wrx, 04sti WRB squared! |
check your charging system, sounds like your voltage regulator could be bad and the alternator is over charging cooking ****. your batteries could be getting majorly overcharged fusing them internally than overheating the wires on the outside!!
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02-16-2010, 10:14 AM | #7 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 146819
Join Date: Apr 2007
Chapter/Region:
NESIC
Location: Boston / Ipswich, MA
Vehicle:'02 WRB VF-39'd WRX W/06 STi Drivetrain swap |
he already found the short...
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