Car won't start

**01ws6er** · 05-18-2008, 07:28 PM

Went to start my car yesterday to go for a drive, and the starter just clicked, but would not crank the motor...

So I let it go, then tried again and saw smoke pouring out from under my hood, so I immediately thought that my starter fried. Well, it was actually the negative terminal on my battery had melted completely off!!!! It's an Optima red top that I bought abut 6 months ago, and I have nothing else hooked up to the car (electrical). I was like WTF!!! So I took it back and got a new one for free.

Then, my car still won't start!!! So I waited again and still no go. Finally I thought I'd give it a go like you sometimes have to do on a carb vehicle, and pushed in the gas a little and she fired right up, drove fine, and hasn't given me a problem since.

My ??? is should I be looking into this further...maybe a VATS issue...?

**Orcus79** · 05-18-2008, 08:53 PM

umm no, its not vats. The neg terminal actually melting off is a dead give away that something is not right some where. The entire primary side of the electrical system should be checked for damage. If it happened one it will happen again and from the sounds of it you may not be so lucky next time.

Pull all your relays and check them for heat damage as well any fuses related to the ignition and starting, including any breakers, If it happens again do not try to start the car and fell around for any hot parts.

**01ws6er** · 05-19-2008, 06:05 AM

Originally Posted by Orcus79

umm no, its not vats. The neg terminal actually melting off is a dead give away that something is not right some where. The entire primary side of the electrical system should be checked for damage. If it happened one it will happen again and from the sounds of it you may not be so lucky next time.

Pull all your relays and check them for heat damage as well any fuses related to the ignition and starting, including any breakers, If it happens again do not try to start the car and fell around for any hot parts.

Yea, I checked all fuses and relays right afterward, but there was no heat damage and no broken fuses....

**matthewaqui** · 05-19-2008, 07:17 AM

Purchase a good/clear CD manual wiring diagram, follow the leads and check the electrical parts. Melting or fusing together is from a short between the two sides somewhere where the electricity is reacting. It's easier to ignore but may cause you big bucks to replace other parts down the road, for instance, the vehicle's computer.

Matt

**stangslayer98** · 05-19-2008, 07:24 AM

damn hope you get it fixed before it turns catastrophic like the brains of the car frying

**01ws6er** · 05-19-2008, 08:27 PM

I hope it blows up

J/K, but I dunno if I feel like going through all that shit, I know a pretty good mechanic who can hook me up for cheap, so maybe I'll just have him look into it.

**stangslayer98** · 05-19-2008, 09:11 PM

he is gonna tell you that your flux capacitor is broken and that the only way to fix it is to call batman

**LS2Tuner** · 05-19-2008, 10:45 PM

Well you could of had some major electrical spikes go through the ECU so there are many possibility's.

I would also check out the cable very well by doing a voltage drop.
Measuring applied voltage is 1980's now you need to do a voltage drop to get accurate measurements.

If the cables don't shoe excessive resistance I wouldn't worry.

.