Stupid Stupid Stupid!!!!!
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Stupid Stupid Stupid!!!!! OK so here is how dumb one person can be at any given moment. Last night while drinking (suprise, dumb things happen while drinking 
) I was playing my stereo in access mode. I drained my battery and became impatient when trying to jump the proper way, so I hooked up directly to my cables. Boy was there a smoke show there, cables got real warm real fast and it looked like David Copperfield was about to take the stage. I have since today checked my battery which is showing a charge of about 12. however when i hook the negative into it my volts drop down to 1.7, I'm thinking three things 1. stop drinking and making rash decisions, 2. my wife is going to kill me if it is the whole wiring harness ($1K +) and 3. I melted my ground down to the starter and that's what's screwing the whole thing up. Power to the ECM is also at 1.7 so I know at least that's not the problem too. I also replaced the 2 blown fuses a 15 and 10...HELP!!!!! 
) I was playing my stereo in access mode. I drained my battery and became impatient when trying to jump the proper way, so I hooked up directly to my cables. Boy was there a smoke show there, cables got real warm real fast and it looked like David Copperfield was about to take the stage. I have since today checked my battery which is showing a charge of about 12. however when i hook the negative into it my volts drop down to 1.7, I'm thinking three things 1. stop drinking and making rash decisions, 2. my wife is going to kill me if it is the whole wiring harness ($1K +) and 3. I melted my ground down to the starter and that's what's screwing the whole thing up. Power to the ECM is also at 1.7 so I know at least that's not the problem too. I also replaced the 2 blown fuses a 15 and 10...HELP!!!!! 
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From: Eastern MA
Originally Posted by mySStery_machine
Last night while drinking (suprise, dumb things happen while drinking )
)
Originally Posted by mySStery_machine
I was playing my stereo in access mode. I drained my battery
Originally Posted by mySStery_machine
became impatient when trying to jump the proper way, so I hooked up directly to my cables. Boy was there a smoke show there, cables got real warm real fast and it looked like David Copperfield was about to take the stage.
Originally Posted by mySStery_machine
I have since today checked my battery which is showing a charge of about 12. however when i hook the negative into it my volts drop down to 1.7, I'm thinking three things 1. stop drinking and making rash decisions, 2. my wife is going to kill me if it is the whole wiring harness ($1K +) and 3. I melted my ground down to the starter and that's what's screwing the whole thing up. Power to the ECM is also at 1.7 so I know at least that's not the problem too. I also replaced the 2 blown fuses a 15 and 10...HELP!!!!!
Last edited by VIP1; May 23, 2004 at 02:24 PM.
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Nope I wasn't driving, and the reason the battery was allowed to drain was the key was turned to the rear making the DRLs stay on as well and therefore foregoing the run-down protect. I used a top post battery and held the cables directly to it by hand. I am really thinking the wire to the starter IS the prob, but would that change the voltage so drastically once connected to the neg terminal?
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From: Eastern MA
Originally Posted by mySStery_machine
Nope I wasn't driving
Originally Posted by mySStery_machine
the reason the battery was allowed to drain was the key was turned to the rear making the DRLs stay on as well and therefore foregoing the run-down protect.
Originally Posted by mySStery_machine
I used a top post battery and held the cables directly to it by hand.
Originally Posted by mySStery_machine
I am really thinking the wire to the starter IS the prob, but would that change the voltage so drastically once connected to the neg terminal?
Its possible, but that may not be the only issue. ITs a good place to start.
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From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
The BCM shuts down most accessory circuits after a period of time (I think 10-15 minutes) without the engine running. This prevents such things as the interior lights running down the battery if a door is left open.
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I think that the run-down protection only works when the key is in the off position(example you shut off your car and don't open the doors, your radio and windows will work for a few minutes then stop) when the key is in the back position then you accessories will work till the battery dies.
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From: Tri-Cities, WA
I understand all of that with the run-down protection, I lived through it one evening when my EX-wife decided that she didn't want to close the doors and instead just went to bed. But in the meantime, my main concern is the fact that everything smoked out and now I get no power. How does a fried out starter that is creating an open circuit sound? I have a feeling that this may be it, anyone else?
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From: Eastern MA
This isnt my area of expertise, but I dont think a burnt starter would cause the electrical problems unless the wires going to it are burnt/shorted (the engine just wouldnt start). I could be wrong though.
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Originally Posted by mySStery_machine
OK so here is how dumb one person can be at any given moment. Last night while drinking (suprise, dumb things happen while drinking ) I was playing my stereo in access mode. I drained my battery and became impatient when trying to jump the proper way, so I hooked up directly to my cables. Boy was there a smoke show there, cables got real warm real fast and it looked like David Copperfield was about to take the stage. I have since today checked my battery which is showing a charge of about 12. however when i hook the negative into it my volts drop down to 1.7, I'm thinking three things 1. stop drinking and making rash decisions, 2. my wife is going to kill me if it is the whole wiring harness ($1K +) and 3. I melted my ground down to the starter and that's what's screwing the whole thing up. Power to the ECM is also at 1.7 so I know at least that's not the problem too. I also replaced the 2 blown fuses a 15 and 10...HELP!!!!!
) I was playing my stereo in access mode. I drained my battery and became impatient when trying to jump the proper way, so I hooked up directly to my cables. Boy was there a smoke show there, cables got real warm real fast and it looked like David Copperfield was about to take the stage. I have since today checked my battery which is showing a charge of about 12. however when i hook the negative into it my volts drop down to 1.7, I'm thinking three things 1. stop drinking and making rash decisions, 2. my wife is going to kill me if it is the whole wiring harness ($1K +) and 3. I melted my ground down to the starter and that's what's screwing the whole thing up. Power to the ECM is also at 1.7 so I know at least that's not the problem too. I also replaced the 2 blown fuses a 15 and 10...HELP!!!!! Alan
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Because its shot. they usally show a surface charge but when put under any load whats so ever just fall flat on there face when they are toast like that.(which is why the only way u can test a battery is with a load test....VAT-40 anybody )
Originally Posted by mySStery_machine
But the weird part of it is, why can it show that it has 12V without the negative screwed down but as soon as it is hooked up it drops so drastically?
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OK that was pretty much what I came up with as an answer, figuring that the load of actually doing any work ie. powering a starter was just too much to bear. However I will not rule out the fact that I may have smoked a few ground cables underside which I can't really get a good view of until I get it on a rack. This all sounds better since my original thought was to find another in my work section that might have a Camaro willing to loan me the battery for a test run and then go buy an Optima if indeed it is the problem. For the life of me I want to say that even drunk I would know red from black, but then again I'm also on my second marriage... 
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OK battery was the right answer, after starting it the smell of electrical burn was wafting through the car, idle was real rough and all internals stayed on for a bit but then soon blinked out. Alternator is the next on my list I believe, no fuses blew this time around. Only check gauges was on and it was showing about 8 amps on the dash. What do you all think now?
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I went ahead and bought the alternator for all of 50 bucks already. It will be in tomorrow, I can't really feel that bad if it isn't the full problem since the investment is low. However the cross action may have happened when I was using a spare battery someone had. I dropped it in and now that I think about it maybe I wasn't paying much attn while holding the cables directly to the terminals by HAND.
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From: Thousand Oaks, Ca
well if you did hook the battery up backwads before it would have a good chance off smoking the diodes in the alt. so u probably will have to change that. also check ur alt harness for power, could of blown an inline fuse to that causeing it not to want to charge when ur car is running.
Originally Posted by mySStery_machine
Anyone else have any great ideas about this stuff?