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Car Battery Issues... need someone who knows about cars and batteries
Librarian
The face of liberal fascismRegistered User regular
The face of liberal fascismRegistered User regular
I have not used the car in a while and the battery was drained, looks like the radio was sucking voltage, it began playing when I tried to start the car but nothing else happened.
I removed the battery and used a charger to load it overnight. The charger
When I placed it back in the car, a friend that was trying to help connected the negative pole before I could stop her, so the poles were connected in the wrong order, there was a tiny spark when the positive pole was connected.
After that I tried to start again and now nothing happens, not even getting enough voltage for the radio or lights.
I removed the battery once more and put it back on the charger, charger idicates that it is pretty much empty, but not as much as it was the last time.
Is it possible that the wrong installation instantly drained the battery? Or is the battery itself broken and should I just get a new one?
I had to tilt the battery to get it out, somewhere on the net I found that this can lead to some "mud" that forms on the bottom of the battery to slosh into a different position and thus harm the battery or stop it from functioning? Is that even a thing?
I think I can perform most maintainance stuff with a good step by step guide, but I have no idea how this works, so any advice would be great.
I removed the battery and used a charger to load it overnight. The charger
When I placed it back in the car, a friend that was trying to help connected the negative pole before I could stop her, so the poles were connected in the wrong order, there was a tiny spark when the positive pole was connected.
After that I tried to start again and now nothing happens, not even getting enough voltage for the radio or lights.
I removed the battery once more and put it back on the charger, charger idicates that it is pretty much empty, but not as much as it was the last time.
Is it possible that the wrong installation instantly drained the battery? Or is the battery itself broken and should I just get a new one?
I had to tilt the battery to get it out, somewhere on the net I found that this can lead to some "mud" that forms on the bottom of the battery to slosh into a different position and thus harm the battery or stop it from functioning? Is that even a thing?
I think I can perform most maintainance stuff with a good step by step guide, but I have no idea how this works, so any advice would be great.
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Your battery might be crap - more because you deep cycled it than hooking it in backwards. The battery doesn't really care which way it's pushing current. It might matter if you hooked the charger or jumper cables up backwards for an extended amount of time, but a few seconds wouldn't really hurt anything.
Take your battery into Autozone or somewhere and they can test it. Keep in mind that a lot of battery chargers are 'float' chargers and only intended to keep a battery charged up while it's in storage - not charge a dead battery. While you usually can charge up a dead battery this way...it's not recommended and can take quite a while (few days) to get it back up to full charge.
When you do figure out what's wrong with your car, make sure you let it run for a while to charge your battery back up...and turn it off and make sure your car starts again before you drive anywhere. Keep your cables handy for a little while too - last thing you want to do is get it started, drive to the store, and not be able to start it again.
The thing about mud in the battery doesn't make any sense to me.
Check your owner's manual, but under the hood there is usually a main fuse box. You normally have a smaller fuse box in the car for accessories and such too. The main will usually have fuses that are about a half inch to inch cubeish.
The manual or the top of the fuse box should have some kind of a map of which fuses are which. Look for a blown fuse (usually mains have a clear top and are pretty clear when the fuse is blown). If that doesn't work, swap your main with a new fuse (or, for a quick test, another same sized fuse for something like your rear defogger) and see if it does anything.
EDIT - also, sometimes mains are bolted in. Check for that before you go crazy trying to pull it out. Also, make sure your battery is disconnected when you're playing with fuses. It's always good practice.
Batteries will slowly discharge over time (normal operation of the alternator, which only runs when the engine is running, will charge up the battery); and you need the most juice from a battery when starting the engine, so a partially discharged battery may not have the juice to start an engine eventhough it might have enough to power accessories. Under normal operating conditions car batteries usually last about 4 years (though I've found batteries that ship with the vehicle from the factory tend to last a bit longer). If you think it's the battery take it to a local auto parts store and they can check it out for you. I wouldn't worry too much about having tilted the battery during removal or installation, so long as it rests in an upright position.
Under the hood there should be a small box or enclosure clipped in near the battery. If you open it there should be some fuses in it that would be what regulates the power flow to components. Normally they will be marked or have a diagram on the cover to illustrate what fuse is for where so you can start checking.
Like Zagdrop said though the battery may be toast. Definitely see if you can get it tested. If the battery is good and once charged (or if you get a new battery) and hook up it still won't start then you're looking at something probably getting fried from when it got hooked in backwards.
Are fuses standard size for all cars? Or will I need to look for a specific one if I need to make a switch. I also hope they are not very expensive.
AFAIK there would be specific ones to the car. Most places that sell car parts though should sell them. As far as price though I'm really not sure unfortunately.
Yeah, it's a GM so the main fuse box should be under the hood. Black plastic, push a tab and it'll open without needing tools.
There are standard sizes of fuses - mini and regular blade fuses, and most of the bigger fuses I think are standardized. There are some funky sizes, but any auto parts store should have something to replace this fuse. Should be less than $5.
Take your old one in with you and compare to find the same size / socket and amperage.
EDIT - standardized in that there's a half dozen different standards, but your car should use relatively common fuses.
$10 can get you something like this.
I will get out the manual and check tomorrow if it is a burned fuse.
Just figured I'd throw in my two cents, when you do find the main fuse it'll likely be a pretty big one. Most accessories are covered by 5-30A fuses, the main fuse is likely to be a larger 50-100A fuse. Should be fairly easy to pick out of a crowd, if you know what I mean.
Connecting the battery leads in reverse polarity has almost certainly blown the main fuse, and maybe some others. It will be a big one, like Bouws T said, and likely under the bonnet in the relay box, not in the passenger compartment fuse compartment.
But I have absolutely no idea where the main fuse is located and I was not able to find a diagram or foto with proper descriptions on the net so far.
Any idea?
This is probably going to be super tedious replacing all these fuses.
I've seen some images that show it behind the steering wheel... let's hope not.
I've seen one that shows behind the wheel and in the glove compartment too.
I can't remember for sure, but I don't think relays are usually a problem for reverse polarity, it's mainly the various modules. Still, step one is locating and checking that main fuse. No reason to speculate on other damage until we can confirm the main fuse is good.
edit: sorry, just saw that you said you had to check the papers for it. I would think it might say what model year it is on the edge of the driver's door, but maybe not.
Edit: Added Spoiler
The year 1980 was encoded by some manufacturers, especially General Motors and Chrysler, as "A" (since the 17-digit VIN wasn't mandatory until 1981, and the "A" or zero was in the manufacturer's pre-1981 placement in the VIN), yet Ford and AMC still used a zero for 1980. Subsequent years increment through the allowed letters, so that "Y" represents the year 2000. 2001 to 2009 are encoded as the digits 1 to 9, and subsequent years are encoded as "A", "B", "C", etc.
Code Year Code Year Code Year Code Year Code Year Code Year
A = 1980 L = 1990 Y = 2000 A = 2010 L = 2020 Y = 2030
B = 1981 M = 1991 1 = 2001 B = 2011 M = 2021 1 = 2031
C = 1982 N = 1992 2 = 2002 C = 2012 N = 2022 2 = 2032
D = 1983 P = 1993 3 = 2003 D = 2013 P = 2023 3 = 2033
E = 1984 R = 1994 4 = 2004 E = 2014 R = 2024 4 = 2034
F = 1985 S = 1995 5 = 2005 F = 2015 S = 2025 5 = 2035
G = 1986 T = 1996 6 = 2006 G = 2016 T = 2026 6 = 2036
H = 1987 V = 1997 7 = 2007 H = 2017 V = 2027 7 = 2037
J = 1988 W = 1998 8 = 2008 J = 2018 W = 2028 8 = 2038
K = 1989 X = 1999 9 = 2009 K = 2019 X = 2029 9 = 2039
That's the wrong one, though. The main fuse is much bigger than the little blade fuses in those things. It is also almost always fitted very close to the battery.
It's the model from before the Chevy Sonic. It is this vehicle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Corsa#Corsa_B_.281993.E2.80.932000.29
That is NOT a 2.2 motor, more likely a 1.2 or 1.4.
I will soon replace the battery for a new one, but now at least it's clear what the problem was and I learned how to clean the filter and replace fuses.
Thanks for all the advice guys, thread can be closed.
Forgot to ask, though, how long did you let the car sit that it got like that? If we're talking like six to eight weeks or less, it should have still been ready to start. If so, you should figure out what was drawing current while it sat, so you don't have this problem again. I learned the hard way that some cars (like my old Chevy) will still provide power to the 12V outlets when the car is off...handy when you want to recharge your iPod out in your car while it's not running. Inconvenient when you leave the charge hooked up and go on a three week trip, come back, and the charger (with nothing hooked up) has drained the battery.