Wtf?

[Vanquish502]

K a few days ago i decided to take the battery out to recharge it. Long story short the negative terminal hit the positive terminal thing on the fender behind the fuse box, shorting the battery. Ok so i figured ill replace the battery. Got a new battery...

Now when i try to start it the starter spins for like a 10th of a second and then it seems like the battery is totally dead. Also, when I try to start it sparks fly off the positive terminal on the battery. After i let off the key from the start position it seems like the battery has no power at all. Guages dont do anything, interior lights dont turn on and that annoiyng ding doesnt sound anymore. After i disconnect the battery for a few seconds all the interior stuff works but when i try to start it, the same thing happens.


?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[FexplorerV8]

make sure the battery is making PERFECT contact to the cables, if is a litle loose it won conduct the electricity and dye like is doing, try cleaning the battery ends and the cables...

 

[dreamr]

How did the negative terminal touch the positive cables, and why would it have shorted out if the negative cable was not connected to the positive terminal.

 

[Vanquish502]

The positive was still on and the negative touched the side post thing thats on the inner fender.

Why would the cables not being on and connected totally or whatever make the battery act like its dead and slow regain power?

 

[ExploreMinnesota]

I have seen a number of vehicles that would not start because of a bad battery cable, and your symptoms sound like that could be the problem. When you try to start it, everything goes dead and stays that way. In most cases that I have seen, the posative battery cable is coroded and is not making a very good connection. Your shorting the battery against the starter relay probably put the partially coroded cable over the edge . . . a lot of current would have flowed through it in that short instant. If you have cleaned the connectors and the battery posts (which I am sure you did when you installed the new battery) then the problem is in the cable, usually where the cable connects to the connector at the battery. One short term "trick" that I have used to get you buy for a day or two and to prove that this is indeed the problem is to run a screw in at an angle where the cable meets te connector. You want the screw to contact both the cable and the connector as much as possible. Run the screw right into the cable. Make sure you use a short screw, say 1 inch long max. That will restore the electrical connection and allow you to start the engine. You will want to replace the batter cable, or and least the connector as soon as possible. Just remember, that screw is hot and will arc to any ground that comes close to it . . . hence the short screw driven all the way in so the cover can still go over the connector.

Another way to test for this is to carfully use one cable from a set of jumper cables to go from the positive side of the battery to the stud on the starter relay where the battery cable goes to and then try to start the engine. This will bypass the coroded connector. Be careful not to short the jumper cable ends against any ground or against the negative battery post. With the relay so close to the battery on your explorer, I would opt for using the screw instead. I have used a battery cable on one vehicle (some GM car . . . don't recall the model) to help someone get their car home on a cold winter night when they were stranded in a parking lot. Jumping it did not work (because it still relied on the bad cable in the car). I suspected the cable because the cable connector was warm after attempting to start the car, plus the rest of the electrical went dead then too. I jumpered from the plus side of their battery to their starter relay and it fired right up when we tried it. Once started the jumper cable is removed.

Maybe you have fixed it by now, but if not, good luck!

 

[Eneurb]

Early model year Explorers did have lots of problems with "green death" aka corrosion in the battery cables... especially in our climate. How do the cables look where they attach to the cable ends?? Can you see bare wiring??

 

[Billy177]

if it still started and stuff and was your dialy driver you should not have needed to charge it in the first place. but chances are that the bending of the cables taking it oiut finially killed them

 

[mf94_4x4]

I had a similar problem in my 94,

turning the key would click the solenoid and wouldnt crank or barely would then after turning the key everything had no power, and turning the key wouldnt even click the solenoid anymore or even move the gauges and the lights didnt work either untill i dissconnected and reconnected the battery, even though it had been starting and driving the day before. Some connections must have been corroded and shorting out the system.

I cleaned all the connections on the battery and cabels, and the solenoid relay on the fenderwall, also took out the starter hit it with a hammer incase it was stuck and cleaned the connections on the motor itself. Put it all back together with some silicone grease to protect connections and it hasnt done it ever again.

Just a possiblility