Advance Auto fried my car!
03-31-2015, 08:16 AM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
Advance Auto fried my car!
Yesterday my car was hard to start. The battery is 5 years old so it's time to throw a new one in so I stopped at Advanced Auto Parts and bought one. The kid behind the counter asked me if I wanted him to put it in and I said, "Sure." He was gawking at the car the whole time and asking lots of questions about it, a really nice kid but he put the battery in backwards. When he touched the negative pole the sparks flew. I realized as soon as I fired up the engine that he fried my aftermarket radio. They were very nice about that and agreed to pay for the repair BUT... this morning on the way to work I switched over to tiptronic and nothing happened. It doesn't switch gears and I notice some of the indicator lights are out! WTF!! What else can I expect? Any ideas on the tiptronic?
03-31-2015, 08:27 AM
#2
Burgled
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
sometimes when my battery has gone way down from sitting for a few week my TIP wont work after the first startup. The light will stay on. If I restart it goes back to normal. Try that. Might or might not work but worth a try.
03-31-2015, 08:56 AM
#3
Racer
Thread Starter
Thanks, Jim. You were right. The radio has a direct connection to the battery so I can see how it got fried. Is there anything else I should check? That TIP not working was scary. Now, I must get back to working hard so others don't have to.
Dan
Dan
03-31-2015, 09:24 AM
#4
Was there any smoke at all from anywhere?
1. It could be that some wires were very hot and melted the covering (it will still work!!) and this will be dangerous rather sooner than later.
2. Also check every fuse. (Didnt your radio have one?!?!?!)
3. Check the amperage on the alternator (should be at 14.4 and drop to 13.8v).
1. It could be that some wires were very hot and melted the covering (it will still work!!) and this will be dangerous rather sooner than later.
2. Also check every fuse. (Didnt your radio have one?!?!?!)
3. Check the amperage on the alternator (should be at 14.4 and drop to 13.8v).
03-31-2015, 09:30 AM
#5
Race Car
Was there any smoke at all from anywhere? 1. It could be that some wires were very hot and melted the covering (it will still work!!) and this will be dangerous rather sooner than later. 2. Also check every fuse. (Didnt your radio have one?!?!?!) 3. Check the amperage on the alternator (should be at 14.4 and drop to 13.8v).
Well mine was a reverse pole jump start where my car was jumping the other and running at the time, so I suppose your engine harness may not have been live... Idk
03-31-2015, 09:34 AM
#6
My engine wiring harness melted because of this exact issue once. So maybe get in the engine bay with a scope and look around..
Well mine was a reverse pole jump start where my car was jumping the other and running at the time, so I suppose your engine harness may not have been live... Idk
Well mine was a reverse pole jump start where my car was jumping the other and running at the time, so I suppose your engine harness may not have been live... Idk
You do have to wonder how common this mistake is. Especially common around March/April as everyone is getting the cars ready for spring/summer.
This is now the 3rd 964 in the last 2 weeks that I know has had this occur.
03-31-2015, 09:42 AM
#7
Nordschleife Master
I'm amazed that it can even happen. Fitting one of our batteries the wrong way round would mean the terminals are closer to the fender and it would be a real stretch to get the live cable to fit the negative terminal. Surely a fitter with any common sense would realize something's wrong before carrying on!
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03-31-2015, 10:18 AM
#8
Rennlist Member
Sorry to hear about your troubles Dan.
...and don't let the "quick lube" garages change your oil either!
+1
I'm amazed that it can even happen. Fitting one of our batteries the wrong way round would mean the terminals are closer to the fender and it would be a real stretch to get the live cable to fit the negative terminal. Surely a fitter with any common sense would realize something's wrong before carrying on!
03-31-2015, 11:21 AM
#9
Racer
Thread Starter
Holy crap!!!! My computer doesn't work! I can switch between displays but they read the same as yesterday and it doesn't light up. Also, no speedometer. Just stays flat at zero! I can't find one blown fuse. Oh, no.
03-31-2015, 11:29 AM
#10
Sorry to hear about the terminal mixup, what a pain!
I'd stop powering stuff up until you can get an auto electrician on the case. Just because the polarity is now correct you arent out the woods as you could have all sorts of burnt wires getting warm because they are partially in contact with each other which has the potential to make a bad situation much worse.
Unplug the battery and get a good auto electrician found that is familiar with older cars, they will fairly quickly run through the main stuff and start finding any issues.
I'd stop powering stuff up until you can get an auto electrician on the case. Just because the polarity is now correct you arent out the woods as you could have all sorts of burnt wires getting warm because they are partially in contact with each other which has the potential to make a bad situation much worse.
Unplug the battery and get a good auto electrician found that is familiar with older cars, they will fairly quickly run through the main stuff and start finding any issues.
03-31-2015, 11:38 AM
#11
Racer
Thread Starter
Classic snowball effect. I can't believe this. You're probably right since I didn't notice the speedo being out last night. Granted I only drove a half mile.
03-31-2015, 04:23 PM
#14
Racer
Thread Starter
So far they're being pretty good but we'll see when the bill comes. I dropped it off at Brumos a little while ago and they said it was going to take time to go through everything and check it out.
