DravisAR

Ive been having horrid starter issues lately, and have been running through every possibility. I just got done redoing my contacts, which were shot, and it still wasnt starting....well, my step dad decided maybe I just had a dying battery...and went to give me a jump...he goes to hook up the cables as im climbing in the truck...I look over my should... and start screaming "OH GOD NO YOU GOT THEM BACKWARDS!" The cable color on my battery is backwards...previous owner...just got it and havent been able to change them yet.

I tore it off before the battery blew up...but it blew a fuse somewhere and now im not even getting ignition lights when I turn the key..yet the headlights still work so the battery aint 100% dead....so now I get to put up a new post asking what fuse it blew...I checked the fuses to the bottom left of the dash, and all looks well...

Help?

Thanks guys

Alex

2ToyGuy

Did you check the fuses under the hood? The fusible links?

DravisAR

Good call, the big 80A blew, and its fused in there....im worried it fried my starter too....ugh....guess ill have to get a new fuse and hope for the best...

2ToyGuy

"If it weren't for bad luck you'd have no luck at all..."

94x4

Look at your original post on this topic.

DravisAR

Yeah...I hadnt noticed it blew...weird thing is, the only 2 fuses I lost was the big 80A under the hood...and the little dinky 7.5 for the dome light

Really strange.

Hopefully it didnt send current to my starter and blow anything in there...I have little to no understanding of how current works...but he had his side connected properly, and not mine....

The big 80A just wont come out...is there a trick or is it supposed to pop right out like the others?

Thanks again...man...unlucky today!

Alex

2ToyGuy

I think it has some clips, either under or on the sides someplace. Worst case, just start tearing it apart. It's bad anyway

The dome lamp fuse failed because the dome lamp was on when the current surge came through. You said you were getting in, so the door was open...

DravisAR

Good point

Whew...I think its about time for a beer...Ill pickup a few fuses and spares tommorow...thanks again...that makes sense about the dome light, I hadnt considered that.

2ToyGuy

I manage to make sense at least once, on a good day

Radar techie all my working life. This tron stuff is pretty much second nature by now, and the dome light thing just sort of popped into my skull.

Enjoy your beer. Have one for me, I don't drink any more

DravisAR

Oh and thanks for your service, and your daughters kick ass SIR!

Radar tech in the Marines too? Ive talked on an off with recruiters from the Navy and Marine Corps, but always wanted into the Navy...I couldnt get an option for either BUD/s or SWCC without some college under my belt, so thats what im currently pursuing.

2ToyGuy

Thanks, for my daughters too. Remember that since the Marines, though we hate to admit it, are a part of the Navy, you can apply to the SEALs any time after boot camp. And after Marine boot camp, you'll be a LOT better prepared for BUD/S than after the Navy boot camp. Kind of like a pretraining program
And let's face it, being a Marine is a point of pride that not many people in this world can lay claim to.
Employers look VERY favorably on Marines as potential employees, too. They tend, over all, to have the self discipline to make a very reliable, dependable, hard working, etc , employees, and they like that. I'm not trying to blow my own horn, I've been told this time and again by people trying to hire me away from my former job.
And yes, a fair percentage of my time in the Marines was as a radar tech on F-4 Phantom jets.
I sometimes wonder if that was my best choice, as my dad was willing to put me through medical school at Stanford, but it's the coice I made and never regret being able to say "I am a U.S. Marine! "
BTW: I was a SGT for the last 7 years of my service (long story, not my fault, just a quirk of the promotional system at the time). DON'T call me "sir". That's for officers, who are generally considered somewhat braindead and confused...

DravisAR

haha yeah I was wondering about that officer thing afterwards...

Thats right, you actually worked for a living!

2ToyGuy

Yup. Sgt.'s are the glue that holds everything together. We try and decipher what the officers REALLY meant, and then make sure the troopies get it done. And when the troopies have problems, it's our job to get things cleared up. So we're really the center of the whole affair.

Not only did I actually work for a living, I knew who my parents were...

Ironmike4x4

For your starter issue, make sure the ground is going to the engine block instead of the frame. The block has a much more solid path for the ground wire to return to the battery with. It took me several starter rebuilds, 2 brand new starters, and a new battery before I came to that conclusion after I finally sucked up my pride and asked the shop foreman at my work about it.

DravisAR

It starts right up when the batteries hooked up to jumper cables,so im going to blame the battery for it not starting now. It was definitely the contacts before (it started maybe 20% of the time.)

Once I got the new contacts in, it never started.

Just a little heads up: If your starter clicks once and dies, see rogers writeup. If it clicks like a machine gun, try jumper cables on the battery. If that doesnt work, its something in Rogers write up...

I cant see how it could be anything else but a dead battery if it works when the batteries running off jumper cables.

2ToyGuy

Can still be a bad connetction or dirty ground. When you jump, if your battery is still good, you've merely added current to the circuit, which can then push through dirt and corrosion, where the current from a single battery is inadequate.

DravisAR

Well ill tell you one thing, the headlights dim quite a bit just looking at them without the car running, and that weird high pitch squeel from something in the engine compartment after I drive it a bit I cant figure out...

Any ideas?

If I test the battery and it comes up good, something else is wrong...a ground, or a connection, or might even want to put in a relay...

But I really suspect the battery....the brake light and battery light coming on when I brake going down a hill...man I hope my stepdad didnt fry the alternator too...

2ToyGuy

He may have smoked the battery and the alternator both. Not hard when you do something like that. The diodes in the alt can't really stand that much reverse current...Squeeling?? Brake and batt lights? Souonds like an alternator to me. But if the battery has a shorted cell, it may give those symptoms. Yank the alt and battery and take them in to get tested.Most repair shops will test things like that for free.
Then get an Optima!