hey everybody,

so here is the story, i have a 97 2.2 5speed sunfire that i put away in my garage for the winter while i am away at school. the battery has had a bad drain on it and has died past the point of saving. could switching the battery cause these things when i re connect it? my dad has a 97 trans am and i used that battery because mine is dead. it melted the positive terminal right out of the battery. WTF??

p.s. side mount battery terminals

-the starter lurched and tried to start the car, it was in gear so it just jumped a little
- the negative was connected first, then the positive, when i connected the positive side it immediately began to heat up very quickly
and kept heating up. then smoke started to come off the terminal. and it melted right out of the battery.
-as soon as i saw the smoke i tried to remove the cable off the terminal, but it was sparking like mad and i was trying to get the cable off and didnt really want to get hurt.

can anybody tell me what the heck happened?

[the negative was connected first,]---- Always, Always connect the Negative Meaning Earth/Ground cable LAST


Seems as though the Starter solenoid has stuck in the CLOSED position-----normally the Clutch switch (Clutch pedal fully depressed) and ignition switch (In START position) would prevent the Starter engaging.

When you connected the Positive cable,the Starter tried to move the car(It was in gear).

Starters draw lots of Amperes when starting an engine normally, and, as you have discovered, even more when you try (Inadvertently) to move the whole car.

[immediately began to heat up very quickly
and kept heating up. then smoke started to come off the terminal. and it melted right out of the battery.] ---This was a good thing to happen, the alternative was the battery exploding and spraying Sulphuric/Sulfuric Acid everywhere.(You had your safety glasses on,right?)

There is a short circuit across the battery terminals---either the starter solenoid is defective, the wiring or the starter itself. When you connected the battery, the excessive current draw blew the weakest link in the circuit which(Luckily) was the positive terminal.

Can you get someone to check the starter/wiring before installing another battery, connecting the negative last.---or post back here

Whatever you decide to do, be careful, make sure you know what you are doing BEFORE you do it


Alont

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Saturday, December 29, 2007 4:31 AM

so the terminal heated up so quickly because the starter was drawing power but couldn't start the car because it was in gear?

i leave the key in the ignition when i store it but the key was in my brothers hand when i connected the battery. (to turn off the alarm)

i have had this car for 4 years and i have been putting it away in the winter and bringing it back out in the spring myself and working on it so i have had the battery disconnected countless times, this was just really a shock. ive never heard of anything like this happening before.

i will have the starter checked, and all the wiring too. and i will connect the negative terminal last.

thank you for your help.

Just a add on u could simply hit the starter with a hammer to get the solenoid to release and if u reconnect the batt cables and no issue replace the starter.A stuck solenoid will burn up the wiring and yes fry ur battery.I had this occur with a faulty solenoid on the starter on my tractor trlr.I just simply did the above and had starter changed.Granted u may have a issue with the solenoid and the armetuer gets stuck in the start position and will not release and it may happen alot or once in a blue moon.Getting the starter checked DOES not always find this issue u could fire it up alot no prob then later much later do it again.Just my info to share.

Ron Love wrote:Just a add on u could simply hit the starter with a hammer to get the solenoid to release and if u reconnect the batt cables and no issue replace the starter.A stuck solenoid will burn up the wiring and yes fry ur battery.I had this occur with a faulty solenoid on the starter on my tractor trlr.I just simply did the above and had starter changed.Granted u may have a issue with the solenoid and the armetuer gets stuck in the start position and will not release and it may happen alot or once in a blue moon.Getting the starter checked DOES not always find this issue u could fire it up alot no prob then later much later do it again.Just my info to share.

Yep, just the motions of removing the starter could be enough to release the bendix and retract the starter gear, hence when tested it could test good, but later get stuck again. This issue sounds to me like not only was the bendix engaged, but the starter relay was closed. Definitely get the starter tested/replaced. And I 2nd the negative cable being installed last. should always be removed first, and installed last. Very lucky as said before that the battery didn't explode, or the cable melt through your hand.