Jump-Start Fail

[assagai]

Hi I wonder if anyone can give me any advice.
I have a Nissan X Trail, battery ran dead because a door was left open. I only discovered this in the evening. I tried to jumpstart the car, but in the dark i connected the jumpers the wrong way around! I only realised this after about 5 minutes. Now the car won't start at all, after changing the cables around, the engine turns over but the car won't start. I feel pretty embarrassed about this, but I want to know if i could have done any serious damage (i'm hoping just some fuses blew)

Can anyone in the know give some advice?

 

[thedutchman]

your engine management system, starter motor, god you could have ****ed up so much stuff!!! good luck!

 

[assagai]

your engine management system, starter motor, god you could have ****ed up so much stuff!!! good luck!

damn......

 

[Mars]

Hi I wonder if anyone can give me any advice.
I have a Nissan X Trail, battery ran dead because a door was left open. I only discovered this in the evening. I tried to jumpstart the car, but in the dark i connected the jumpers the wrong way around! I only realised this after about 5 minutes. Now the car won't start at all, after changing the cables around, the engine turns over but the car won't start. I feel pretty embarrassed about this, but I want to know if i could have done any serious damage (i'm hoping just some fuses blew)

Can anyone in the know give some advice?

eish man, where there no sparks? No burning plastic smell? Dude One of my guys accidently connected a battery the wrong way for about 10 seconds and only blew a few fuses and burned the earth wire to crap.
If the engine still turns, you might have only burned out the fuses. Do the dash lights/radio ect come on?

If not then . You need to get it to a auto electrician asap regardless.

 

[UnUnOctium]

Hi I wonder if anyone can give me any advice.
I have a Nissan X Trail, battery ran dead because a door was left open. I only discovered this in the evening. I tried to jumpstart the car, but in the dark i connected the jumpers the wrong way around! I only realised this after about 5 minutes. Now the car won't start at all, after changing the cables around, the engine turns over but the car won't start. I feel pretty embarrassed about this, but I want to know if i could have done any serious damage (i'm hoping just some fuses blew)

Can anyone in the know give some advice?

Google and try to get the service manual for the car. Post us diagram of electrics. You wouldn't have blown a fuse (which is a bad thing) since fuses don't differentiate between current direction. You should hope that the electronics were designed with reverse bias protection in mind, could be REALLY expensive. You also would've knackered the battery (shorted to ground).

 

[assagai]

eish man, where there no sparks? One of my guys accidently connected a battery the wrong way for about 10 seconds and only blew a few fuses and burned the earth wire to crap.
If the engine still turns, you might have only burned out the fuses. Do the dash lights/radio ect come on?

If not then . You need to get it to a auto electrician asap regardless.

As for the sparks thing - every time i've ever jumped a car (which is a lot) there were sparks, i didn't know that was indicative of anything wrong??
Engine turns, headlights come on, dash lights also working, but the radio/aircon/elec windows don't work... guess i fried the thing. What a stupid thing to do...

 

[Mars]

As for the sparks thing - every time i've ever jumped a car (which is a lot) there were sparks, i didn't know that was indicative of anything wrong??
Engine turns, headlights come on, dash lights also working, but the radio/aircon/elec windows don't work... guess i fried the thing. What a stupid thing to do...

I been thinking about it. Your flat battery might have saved you a bit, It would have drawn the major charge from the other car. But there will still be some damage.
Do you smell a burnt plastic smell under the bonnet? Then also in the car itself. Inside the car = $$$.

For the record, the car should no spark when you connect the jumper cables.
The correct procedure is as follows.

Make sure everything is off in the car to be started. EVERYTHING! Radio, aircon, Garimin, lights. The works.
Start the car to do the jump, connect the positive of the jumping car to the positive of the car to be jumped. Then connect the negative in the same order.
Then while the jumping car (also with all non essential stuff off) revs, you try and start the car.
If the car to be jumped's battery is too flat, you can jump untill you are blue in the face, it will not start.

Note!! Driving a car with a flat battery will NOT charge the battery. It needs to be put on a charger. The alternator can only put back what has been taken out by starting the vehicle. It cannot charge a flat battery.

 

[assagai]

I been thinking about it. Your flat battery might have saved you a bit, It would have drawn the major charge from the other car. But there will still be some damage.
Do you smell a burnt plastic smell under the bonnet? Then also in the car itself. Inside the car = $$$.

For the record, the car should no spark when you connect the jumper cables.
The correct procedure is as follows.

Make sure everything is off in the car to be started. EVERYTHING! Radio, aircon, Garimin, lights. The works.
Start the car to do the jump, connect the positive of the jumping car to the positive of the car to be jumped. Then connect the negative in the same order.
Then while the jumping car (also with all non essential stuff off) revs, you try and start the car.
If the car to be jumped's battery is too flat, you can jump untill you are blue in the face, it will not start.

Note!! Driving a car with a flat battery will NOT charge the battery. It needs to be put on a charger. The alternator can only put back what has been taken out by starting the vehicle. It cannot charge a flat battery.

cool, thanks for the replies.
No burning plastic smell in the car or under the bonnet that I can detect, just the symptoms i mentioned.
Engine turns but won't start, radio, aircon etc not switching on. I hope my insurance covers owner stupidity!

 

[Gnome]

Just check the fuses before you start worrying too much.

Don't tell the insurance what you did, just tell them you aren't sure what happened. They definitely won't cover it if you admit what happened. Essentially worst case scenario you've fried every single piece of semi-conductor based electronics in the car (engine control unit, radio, abs control unit, airbag control unit, amplifiers, etc.). The fact that nothing turns on makes me think it's the fuses. The starter motor turning is normal, most cars wire the starter directly because of the amount of current involved (about 1kW for a small car starter).

Depending on how technically advanced the car is the bill can be quite excessive. For example worst case: on a Corsa Lite that mistake will cost you R3K if you buy 2nd hand (about R10k new), on a Mercedes on the other hand you'd probably be better of scrapping the car because the amount of circuitry and labor is just too expensive.

Please keep in mind that your car probably has a fuse-box inside the car and outside the car. At the very least there will be fuses or fuse-able links inline the wires in the engine bay (both the alternator and battery should have a fuse, at least that is the case with all cars I've worked on).

 

[assagai]

Just check the fuses before you start worrying too much.

Don't tell the insurance what you did, just tell them you aren't sure what happened. They definitely won't cover it if you admit what happened. Essentially worst case scenario you've fried every single piece of semi-conductor based electronics in the car (engine control unit, radio, abs control unit, airbag control unit, amplifiers, etc.). The fact that nothing turns on makes me think it's the fuses. The starter motor turning is normal, most cars wire the starter directly because of the amount of current involved (about 1kW for a small car starter).

Depending on how technically advanced the car is the bill can be quite excessive. For example worst case: on a Corsa Lite that mistake will cost you R3K if you buy 2nd hand (about R10k new), on a Mercedes on the other hand you'd probably be better of scrapping the car because the amount of circuitry and labor is just too expensive.

Please keep in mind that your car probably has a fuse-box inside the car and outside the car. At the very least there will be fuses or fuse-able links inline the wires in the engine bay (both the alternator and battery should have a fuse, at least that is the case with all cars I've worked on).

ok - just checked the fuse box which is situated next to the battery. The biggest fuse is labelled 001 - BATTERY and it is blown, the other fuses look ok. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing!

 

[Gnome]

ok - just checked the fuse box which is situated next to the battery. The biggest fuse is labelled 001 - BATTERY and it is blown, the other fuses look ok. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing!

That's fine, just replace it, should be 100's, don't think anything will be messed up. You might have to buy the fuse from the dealers tho, those fuses are high current and usually quite specific to car models (in my experience at least).

Give the dealer a call ask for parts, then get the price. You can also try Midas, Autozone, Goldwagen and Toolman (check yellow pages for closest branch. www.yellowpages.co.za )

 

[assagai]

That's fine, just replace it, should be 100's, don't think anything will be messed up. You might have to buy the fuse from the dealers tho, those fuses are high current and usually quite specific to car models (in my experience at least).

Give the dealer a call ask for parts, then get the price. You can also try Midas, Autozone, Goldwagen and Toolman (check yellow pages for closest branch. www.yellowpages.co.za )

I really, really hope you're right Gnome! Thanks for the info.

 

[Gnome]

I really, really hope you're right Gnome! Thanks for the info.

Haha, don't worry too much, most modern semi-conductor electronics have diodes inline (I've opened a Siemens and Bosch Motronic ECU both had them), if you go higher than normal battery voltage then I'd be worried, otherwise it's much less probable. A diode is kinda like a one way, doesn't allow current to pass unless it is in the right direction and it doesn't get damaged unless you apply excessive voltage, which you didn't

 

[assagai]

Haha, don't worry too much, most modern semi-conductor electronics have diodes inline (I've opened a Siemens and Bosch Motronic ECU both had them), if you go higher than normal battery voltage then I'd be worried, otherwise it's much less probable. A diode is kinda like a one way, doesn't allow current to pass unless it is in the right direction and it doesn't get damaged unless you apply excessive voltage, which you didn't

At this point that's very reassuring to hear
I'll try and organise the spare fuse tomorrow and replace it. Will let you know how that works out.
Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Gnome]

np

 

[K T]

Also keep in mind that if your battery is very flat, you need to rev the jumper car at 2000-3000 rpm for a few minutes. It's worked for me in the past. Rev the jumper for a few minutes then try start, you will probably find it either starts or turns a little better. Repeat, if necessary or buy a charger.

 

[kronoSX]

Just check your fuse box again for blown fuses.Also disconnect power to the car for 15 minutes.Please take key out of ignition before doing this,very important.

try again with the jump start.Please also check the fuse under the engine hood,these are massive fuses with high amperage ratings

 

[assagai]

I had AA come around - we tried a different battery with the same results.
The fuse that is blown is under the bonnet, a very large square fuse in a fusebox next to the battery, so I hope that Gnome is correct and it's just this fuse that needs replacing!

 

[kronoSX]

I had AA come around - we tried a different battery with the same results.
The fuse that is blown is under the bonnet, a very large square fuse in a fusebox next to the battery, so I hope that Gnome is correct and it's just this fuse that needs replacing!

I am clever hey.I know these things cause i me us are electronic engineers

 

[Hogrod]

I been thinking about it. Your flat battery might have saved you a bit, It would have drawn the major charge from the other car. But there will still be some damage.
Do you smell a burnt plastic smell under the bonnet? Then also in the car itself. Inside the car = $$$.

For the record, the car should no spark when you connect the jumper cables.
The correct procedure is as follows.

Make sure everything is off in the car to be started. EVERYTHING! Radio, aircon, Garimin, lights. The works.
Start the car to do the jump, connect the positive of the jumping car to the positive of the car to be jumped. Then connect the negative in the same order.
Then while the jumping car (also with all non essential stuff off) revs, you try and start the car.
If the car to be jumped's battery is too flat, you can jump untill you are blue in the face, it will not start.

Note!! Driving a car with a flat battery will NOT charge the battery. It needs to be put on a charger. The alternator can only put back what has been taken out by starting the vehicle. It cannot charge a flat battery.

May I stick my 2 cents in, I don't believe turning everything off is good practice, I think that something should be on like the radio in order to consume power from a slight surge? Surely by having everything off the chances of blowing something are higher? The radio would act as a release to the 'pressure' of a boost in power to the car?