Now what have we done?

[Kali]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9305407

95 escort 1.9
battery just kaput? it is pretty old, reciept's out in the glove box but I'm sure it is several years old and was in the heat of Phx AZ until this past August.

[Gold Metal Flake]

1. So you tried to start it and you noticed smoke coming from neg terminal?

Izzat right? Did the engine turn over OK or was it turning slow?

[Kali]

2. it was slow, raining, and scared us so didn't continue to try

today it is dead - no lights, no radio, nada
had other stuff going on so no chance to play with it other than a quick try to start

any ideas? will probably pull battery from van and see if that works, get a new one on Friday (sigh)
just hope it didn't fry something else and then potentially ruin van battery? can that happen? (I hate electricity and I'm scared of it so not always rational about the subject)

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. Well, if there was smoke and the starter turned slow I assume an improper connection.

If the cable clamp were nor sufficiently tightened to the battery post (or if the clamps were the type you add to an existing cable and they were not properly attached) your starter motor will be trying to pull a few hundred amps through a very small area and that area will get very hot very quick. Having no connection today would be consistent with such a condition.

I would go over the clamps, cables and terminals. Clean everything (get a battery terminal cleaner tool from the auto parts, just cleaning the corrosion off the outside of the clamps does nothing)and carefully reattach. If the clamps are loose in any way, replace them. If there are signs of burning or scoring, examine for the reason why. The battery might be OK, but the clamps or cables are not. Somewhere there is a bad connection. Of this I am pretty sure.

[Kali]

4. thanks!

he cleaned everything up pretty good yesterday, but maybe the clamp he "ranch-rigged" onto there is the wrong size - that I can check in the morning.

[Gold Metal Flake]

5. Remember to wear eye protection.

This sort of work is usually easy to do and uneventful, but batteries do have varying amounts of hydrogen gas inside, so be careful.

[Kali]

6. update

it was the charger, not the battery

Jumped it the next day and drove it a while - it was fine. Between the corrosion and a POSSIBLE map light getting left on, that was all that was wrong. Got me out of a semi-boring meeting.


ps
when did cheap plastic replacement parts get so expensive? http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9312671