Dean_Fuller

Not too bad but it has a way of waking you up fast.

Driving with my son today about and hour ago when the car just turns off....NO electrics at all and no warning. Car was running great. I jump out to push the car out of the road when Devon says he smells smoke. Got the car out of traffic and start scrambling to kind where the smoke is coming from. Pop the rear hatch and the tool cover is on fire. I put the flames out with a rag. This is what I find.

The main battery ground wire is fried! Melted off the battery terminal.

I had a external battery shut off switch that melted.

The POSS terminal arced to the battery lid witch also melted on of the lids hinges.

A couple of the rear wiring harness connections also fried that were touching the main ground.

As far as what I worked on last...I did clean some tail light connections yesterday...got them working as they should. I was having brake light, backup light issues which looked to me as ground issues.

I just pulled the battery out and tested it....ITS FINE putting out 12.5 volts.

IDEAS???? Could this happen by just the poss post touching the battery lid?

Did this fry anything else??? ECU? I'm cleaning this all up now.

pcar928fan

OUCH!!! That is not good, but it could have been much worse! I put a battery in my '80 Triumph Spitfire that was supposed to work and when I lowered the bonnet that was the end of that! COMPLETELY burned up the - ground wire! CRAZY STUFF! Scared the carp out of me but didn't hurt the car...

Looks like you got away clean too!

DR

That's nasty looking.

BTW, was your battery hold down bracket installed? If not the battery can flop around and short the Positive terminal against the lid like yours did. There is also supposed to be a black rubber block glued to the lid above the positive terminal as a backup protection.

Incorrect sized (too tall) batteries can also cause this.

Tony

DUDE!! you are lucky!
You MUST...MUST have a plastic cap of sorts over that POS terminal. My Duralast battery has it. Appears to be a VERY direct short!

I also have a HELLA cutoff wired in. Actually a VERY handy thing to have when working ont he car or storing it for periods of time.

Wont fix a short like you had though!!!

utjmac

Wow. Glad it didn't get out of hand Dean. That reminds me, I don't have a hold down either. I'll have to find one around somewhere. I'll be over on Columbus twice in December, let me know if you need me to bring anything west.

Sorry to hear of the trouble, but glad you caught it quickly.

Tony

If not a hold down, just cover the terminal or get some sheet rubber from somewhere and glue it to the inside of the lid over the terminal

Giovanni

Dean, sorry to hear about the incident but I am glad to hear you caught it on time. I have the hold down and the compartment door.

John, I am getting the mirror tomorrow (I promise) so if you still need it we can GTG this Monday. I may have a second battery hold down in the 84.

the flyin' scotsman

Full battery short through the lid to ground.............very very lucky.

Heed Tonys/DRs advice, you need a cover over the POS terminal and the correct sized batt (tall).

mdkelly1

Looks familiar to me. My battery compartment lid has a nice "round" hole in it from a PO installing a "too tall" battery. When I saw that after buying the car eleven years ago, it made me very sensitive to finding the correct size battery when replacement time came around. Installing the battery hold down clamp is also good advice.

docmirror

Also check under the battery and see if there is something stuffed down there. That often happens when the batt box starts to rust or deteriorate. You find bits of wood, or plastic or rubber making the batt stick up higher than normal.

heinrich

Dean ... btdt Brother. I am very happy you and your little guy are well and healthy. Come to Seattle for your free beer
Heinrich

Whitesands

Dean,
When I read your post I said to myself, s**t, Just 2 days a go I fitted a cut off switch and at first I thought it was the switch that had caused the fire.

Glad this wasn’t to serious and you and Devon are fine, hopefully only the wiring by the battery is damaged.

I think I will double check my installation just to be on the safe side.

My switch is bolted to original gorund point via a bracket using the the stock ground strap.

MGW-Fla

Glad it wasn't more serious for you. When I was in college I had a Ford Econoline van. One morning after taking my lil sister to high school, I was driving home. As I came down our street I noticed a burning smell, then see smoke start bellowing out from under the hood. I turn off the ignition as I coast into our drive way. It was scary to do, but I just had to open the small little van hood it had to see if I could tell what was on fire, knowing the risk of more O2 feeding the flames. Well, opening the hood was just the solution I needed cause the fire was the result of your same problem. There was a metal plate inside the hood which was designed to sit over the battery when you shut the hood(why I have no idea). Somehow, the posts of the battery touched the metal plate & shorted out. Opening the hood broke the contact. Needless to say I learned how to replace a wiring harness & an alternator. I also removed that stupid plate in the hood. Hope yours doesn't have anything more serious.

I also had a battery blow up right after I had just moved my head out from over it once. Sounded like a .38 being fired right next to my head. Think it would have looked like the same results as a .38 had I not just incidentally moved my head. Never did find one of the two filler caps. After that, I never have my head over a battery, very serious.

Dean_Fuller

Well...it cleaned up well. The burn spots on the lid and hinges just sanded right off. I primed and painted the bare metal. I will have to order a ground strap Monday. This battery has been in the car for as long as I have owned it...2 years. Odd it would just now arc.

DR....I had no idea a rubber piece is suppose to be glued on the inside of the lid. I will follow up on that. My lid doen not even have any glue readue in that area. Thanks for the note. Also I have no tie down. I will check the PET to see what it even looks like. One of the PO's must of left it off which is probably not rare.

Will not be able to test to see if anything else fried until battery and ground wire is installed. I sure HOPE the alt / starter is okay.

The smell is just awful.

Dean_Fuller

Thanks.