Today my friend asks me to help him with his 65 falcon coupe.He simply want to put my old battery on his car cause he left door open and his new one went dead .So I brought my old battery from same year same motor falcon i have .So we disconnect new battery and put on old one.Its sparks like crazy and the terminal get glowing hot in like 2 seconds .So we were like oh %#@* and disconnect it fast.So i thought maybe cause he had these dumb quick disconnect battery clamps .So we put standard old standard ones back and its still sparks and I could even see smoke down by alt where wires p*** by it. So problem is now we put new bat back on and there is no power at all going to car and the same battery was not completly dead before .So my friend is freaking saying I fried his whole electrical system and he need all new stuff and is another words mad.I told him maybe no big deal and it might just be a fuse or something .If anyone can help us ,we love our falcons but we are not experrt by any means .What or where should we start .
Sounds like maybe you connected it backwards and fried the alternator? Positive terminal is a bit bigger diameter than negative. Also 1960s Ford batteries are size 24F, while 1960s Chevy batteries are size 24. Difference is the + and - posts are reversed. But there could be some other problem....
yeah we maybe did hook up backwards(feel like a idiot).Its hard cause we have to learn on our own .I just gave it to him he put it in and I hooked up wires.So if we hooked up backwards how bad could it be .If alt is bad would that make no power go to the car ?
have you had a chance to recharge the original battery and and fired it up to see if the alt. is putting out? (huh huh, i said puttin out).you might have just cooked the external regulator if it has one, and then again maybe not.
The wiring to the alternator probably got damaged, as well as the alternator itself. You need to find all the wiring that got hot and replace it, and make sure nothing else is shorted out. And most likely replace the alternator and possibly the regulator.
Ok so change the batt wires .alt and regulator .My friend is most concerned that he will have to take all wires from under dash and check each one and he said it might have blown out all bulbs and everything that has power going to it .Is this a possibility?
You should be seeing from the answers here that without getting a firsthand look no one can be absolutely sure what fried. You need to check the wires out on the ignition system and replace all cooked wires and components. Not trying to scare you here but if you aren't well schooled in this and he really loves that car you should get someone who is decent at this to help. An electrical short can turn a hotrod into a HOT rod and then a pile of blackened steel. Not to mention any p***engers. Lucky the battery didn't have a meltdown if that terminal got that hot.
Ok I understand .I just want to help him out and learn from or %@&^ up and i think we can fix those few things suggested .We are on limited budget and I will help him fix it .None of the wires melted that I can see but .I would rather do what we can like change wires ,alt and regulator ourselves since we can do those things.If those do not solve problem then move on to next things .Does this make sense ?Or am i being dumb.I just kinda i guess want to know if its worth us doing those things or is it most likley worse then those few things suggested.
did you look for the positive and negative symbols that are next to the terminals on the battery? like others have said, charge up the new battery and hook it back up, be ready to unhook it if you see smoke, maybe you got lucky and there no damage. also for safety reasons maybe you should reinstall the new battery and charge it up while its in the car, if you charge the battery up away from the car and then install it and create sparks there is a chance the battery could explode.
I hooked old battery up again and there is nothing cause it was not fully dead when I got to his house .It would light interior and all just would not turn car over.Now there is no lights at all so there is some short someplace.I figured he put it in right cause he just put in so i did not even look .I just touched terminals for a second .
Well thanks for the advice was hoping it did not end up with the answers I got but who knows .Maybe we will get lucky.
It only takes a second to fry stuff. If you just touched the terminals you could fry ecectronics in alternators and regulators. Wires take a little bit longer. I think the reason we are all so concerned is that you stated that the battery terminal got "glowing hot in like 2 seconds". If the battery terminal got that hot.. MUCH smaller wires got really hot too. You might be lucky. Stranger things have happened. As for doing it yourself.. if you are carefull and do a thorough job.. do it and learn. Look for melted, cracked and hardened wire coating. If the wire is too stiff it may have heated enough to melt the covering. Change those wires to be sure. Best of luck. Please let us know how it turns out. P.S. A fire extinguisher wouldn't be a bad thing to have around, just in case.
2 things I'd do if I were in your situation. 1. Ask for some help from some local HAMBers in Cali,to actually come over and see the problem. 2. Buy a book and read up on automotive electrical systems. None of us were born with the knowledge to fix cars(well maybe Squirrel) but for me, and most people I know, the easiest way is hands on.
I have a scar on my finger from when I was 10 years old, and learning to solder, I dropped a glob of hot solder on myself. Ouch! I wasn't born with the knowledge to fix cars, I just started making mistakes earlier than most guys.
I call BS! We all know you used a boring bar to bust outta the womb a month early, told your mother she's straight and true within 5 tenths then looked over at the doc and asked him if you set quick time for the day
Check your fuseable link wires if you pull on them & they stretch they are bad.These are located at different places in the harness. Made for protection for shorts
You've gotten mostly good advice to this point. However, check the fuses first. It's the reason they are in the car. Replace the bad ones (really cheap). this should let then see what still works or not after hooking up the charged battery correctly. Non-fused wires are going to be your problem as the others have already mentioned but it's unlikely the fused wires burned up.
. and you didnt fry anything thats not polarity sensitive. No bulbs, motors, switches, etc. Probably just the alternator and the regulator, maybe a bit-O-wiring in between. I would bet underdash is fine as well.
And please do yourselves a favor...... HOOK UP THE POSITIVE FIRST AND THE NEGATIVE LAST........................
well today we will see .First we will get battery charged and go from there.Change wires and regulator and last alt and see what actually fixes it .Yeah there is so no fuses under car just small fuse box.We will be more carefull for sure so lesson learned.
If you could get someone with a little experience to help would be good,charge battrey and make sure to install right watch for smoke or anything not right when you put it in.If you think alt. is bad take it to parts store they can check it for you.Look for burnt wires, check fuses but don't start tearing wires out just look,it's probabaly not as bad as you think.
I checked and there are no burnt wires .So next we will check fuses .I asked mechanic and they said most likley its the starter solenoiddoes this sound like something it could be ?Since nobody really mentioned that .
Yes i have had low voltage to cause a solenoid to stick closed.Remove the cable going to the starter see if problem goes away
Well made a little progress .We hooked all stuff up and and all lights inside work fine and car turns over .There is one more thing though ,the alt and oil lights flicker iradically .Any falcon ownders or others why it would do this ?Is because alt is blown ?Thanks again
The Jalopy Journal
