• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Jump Starting Battery Issues.....

cway77

New CEG'er
Joined
Feb 25, 2003
Messages
12
Hello,

So my dumb ass left my lights on today and killed my battery. Thankfully it wasn't anymore then an hour but still I had a friend with a Jeep Cheroke help try and jump start and the my jumper cables where sparking really bad and actually melted the plastic on the handles. I grounded it to the frame and it was actually reminded me of a welder as it sparted and the frame ended up red hot like a Blacksmith. Anyone know what the heck would cause this. Worried it something else with my car. Hoping to revive the battery but scared to have anyone else jump it as I don't want something bad to happen to anyone else or there car. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

Chad
 
Hello,

So my dumb ass left my lights on today and killed my battery. Thankfully it wasn't anymore then an hour but still I had a friend with a Jeep Cheroke help try and jump start and the my jumper cables where sparking really bad and actually melted the plastic on the handles. I grounded it to the frame and it was actually reminded me of a welder as it sparted and the frame ended up red hot like a Blacksmith. Anyone know what the heck would cause this. Worried it something else with my car. Hoping to revive the battery but scared to have anyone else jump it as I don't want something bad to happen to anyone else or there car. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

Chad

Did you have the + and - crossed between the batteries?
 
your post is confusing. you say the battery was "killed" by leaving the lights on. but you also say it was only for an hour and that you jumped the car anyway.

so did you really kill the battery and jumped it without trying to start the car?
 
Yes I "killed" my battery by leaving my lights on meaning its dead. I figured my lights where on for approx an hour and that is why I am hopping to revive the battery but when I tried to get a jump using cables thats when I had troubles with the battery cables sparking so badly and melting the plastic handles. Not sure how else I can explain it.

I didn't have the cables mixed up either as I checked that a million times and even used a different set of cables and the same thing happened. Its killing me my car is dead outside but scared to have anyone else help me becuase this didn't give me a good feeling.
 
Take OUT the dead battery, test it and/or charge it, or use a known good battery. One hour of headlights shouldn't kill a battery unless it's already old, weak, or damaged.

Seeing the jumper cables get hot enough to melt the plastic sounds like a short somewhere, I've jumped multiple vehicles in my life and never seen that. Some sparking is normal, and is why you make the last connection away from the battery, but melting? Nope.
 
You must have the cables reversed. I did that recently on my 00 SVT giving it a jump. The cables immediately got hot within seconds.
 
Yeah it was weird I fried a couple fuses for the radio, power mirror, and dome lights. Ended up jumping it with our other vehicle which is an Acadia as i was to worried to try someone else's after this incident and she fired right up with no issues of hot handles or anything. Still really confusing but what ever the case I am never turning my lights on during the day again. It was foggy that day but the stupid Detour doesn't warn you when you leave them on. Well actually it does ding but its the same ding as when the keys are in the ignition which does me no good as you are used to that. Thanks!
 
I wouldn't consider this a warning chime as it sounds exactly the same as one already used and does nothing to warn you in my oppinion. Might as well not even be on there cause its a familiar chime that you hear all the time in the car which is why its not an effective warning. Wish is would shoot off a flare or something, thats a warning!
 
It was foggy that day but the stupid Detour doesn't warn you when you leave them on. Well actually it does ding but its the same ding as when the keys are in the ignition which does me no good as you are used to that. Thanks!

You always get out of the car with the keys left in the ignition? :confused:
 
MAN Tough Crowd in here!! Not always do I leave my key in the ignition but what I am saying is its a familar sound and doesnt grab my attention like most other cars that chime much louder and faster. Quite often I do leave my keys in my car at night when its in the garage when I go places obviously not! Does that make any sense? I love my Contour its been a good car just have to make sure I don't do stupid things like I did yesterday. My observations are comments not complaints.....
 
I agree with you. When they started using the same chime for seat belt, key in, and headlight on, I started having trouble too. Specifically, working 12 hr. nightshift then getting home after daylight tired. Car parked on curb so no light bouncing off something to tell you. I went into a run of leaving headlights on. Finally added another buzzer for headlights alone. That different sound stopped the problem. I think mine because you start to tune out the sound of belts not fastened. Chime easier to tune out of your head because it's intermittent, not constant like buzzer.
 
AMC49 Thank You!!!!

Well said. Man everyone else was oblivious to this fact and didn't quite now how else to describe it. Thats an excellent point on the seat belt chime to as that is the same one that you just get accustomed to over time. How did you add a buzzer to your head lights I would be really curious to know if you are willing to share cause this wasn't my first time doing it.
 
How did you add a buzzer to your head lights I would be really curious to know if you are willing to share cause this wasn't my first time doing it.

I added a buzzer to my first car - an '89 Corolla - because it didn't have a warning at all - no chime or anything, just a dead car the next morning.

I found the buzzer completely by accident at Wal-mart in the auto section. I think it was $5-$10ish. It was a smallish black cube - maybe 1.5" on all sides - and had two connections that hooked to two different fuses in the box below the dash. It just hung there, and it was lightweight enough not to put a strain on the fuses. I remember having to try a few fuses to get the buzzer to work, but I did it in less than 5 minutes with my sole "car maintenance" experience being putting gas in the tank.

This was about 15 years ago and not on the same car, so it might be way different, but I remember it being VERY easy.

Good luck!
 
I think mine because you start to tune out the sound of belts not fastened.

Ok I can understand this now for someone that drives without a seatbelt. But really who does that and why not buckle up, it'll save you an expensive ticket and they aren't that uncomfortable anymore. Oh and I forgot, it'll save your life also.


I found the buzzer completely by accident at Wal-mart in the auto section. I think it was $5-$10ish. It was a smallish black cube - maybe 1.5" on all sides - and had two connections that hooked to two different fuses in the box below the dash. It just hung there, and it was lightweight enough not to put a strain on the fuses.

:shrug:how would this device work? Doesn't make sense to me. What would connecting between two different fuses do. Either side of any fuse is constant 12V. How could it sense whether your headlights are on?:shrug:
 
Hello,my jumper cables where sparking really bad and actually melted the plastic on the handles. I grounded it to the frame and it was actually reminded me of a welder as it sparked and the frame ended up red hot like a Blacksmith. Anyone know what the heck would cause this. Chad
Hi Chad, i'm sure you connected the cables correctly... what you seem to have done is connected the ground lead to the framework somewhere. Not sure where you mean, the best place i've found is the throttlebody bolts/flange. When you crank the engine there is high current flowing, maybe the connection to the framework wasn't good enough and it caused high resistance. This would cause lots of heat and sparks as you described. Also, make sure the jumper cables are very tightly crimped where the cable joins the clamp...G.
 
:shrug:how would this device work? Doesn't make sense to me. What would connecting between two different fuses do. Either side of any fuse is constant 12V. How could it sense whether your headlights are on?:shrug:

One possibility - If the headlights are off, no current is flowing, so there's an open voltage across the fuse, device reads 12V. Turn on the headlights, current is flowing, there's no voltage across the fuse, device reads minimal or no voltage, and sounds the buzzer. Power it from a key off source. Same methodology can tell you if the car is running or not.
 
AMC49 Thank You!!!!

Well said. Man everyone else was oblivious to this fact and didn't quite now how else to describe it.

No, everyone understood what you meant. But to most people "chime"="something's wrong," and at that point that "something" gets fixed, whether it's a seat belt, keys in the ignition, or lights on.
 
Hi Chad, i'm sure you connected the cables correctly... what you seem to have done is connected the ground lead to the framework somewhere. Not sure where you mean, the best place i've found is the throttlebody bolts/flange. When you crank the engine there is high current flowing, maybe the connection to the framework wasn't good enough and it caused high resistance. This would cause lots of heat and sparks as you described. Also, make sure the jumper cables are very tightly crimped where the cable joins the clamp...G.
my pick for best anwser if you didn't have a good contact that would have had high resistance and caused the heat ,also shorter cables offer less resistance given the same gauge wire
 
how would this device work? Doesn't make sense to me. What would connecting between two different fuses do. Either side of any fuse is constant 12V. How could it sense whether your headlights are on?:shrug:

One possibility - If the headlights are off, no current is flowing, so there's an open voltage across the fuse, device reads 12V. Turn on the headlights, current is flowing, there's no voltage across the fuse, device reads minimal or no voltage, and sounds the buzzer. Power it from a key off source. Same methodology can tell you if the car is running or not.

I think this is right from what I remember. I was 15 or 16 at the time and didn't really care HOW it worked, I just knew that it was easy to install, and that it worked. I'm pretty sure that you had to hook one side up to a fuse that was powered constantly when the car was running, and the other to the fuse that controlled the lights. When the lights were on and the car was on, the thing was quiet. But if you took the key out and the lights were still on, it buzzed. I don't remember what fuses I hooked it to, but I do remember that I had to try a few different ones before I got the combination right.
 
Back
Top