Basically the dealership sold me the the right battery, but the poles were switched on it. So my dumb ass didn't notice this and I went ahead and hooked up the battery. Of course, the horn started honking nonstop and no power went to the car. Once I figured out what occurred, I went back to the dealership and complained...blah blah blah, I got the correct battery this time. Hooked it up and got no power. Tested the battery and it showed proper volatge. Found that the battery fuse blew. I replaced it and everything works now. However, the box to the right of the battery fuse (the one that has wires going into a clip) has goo or something all over it. Is this some kind of protectant goo or did something happen when I reversed the battery connections? The car runs fine, but I just wanted to know if I may have caused other hidden problems.

Thanks,
Navid

 

anything before the fuse would have gotten very hot and maybe started to melt. ask me what happens when you hook a battery up backwards on a car without a fuse.. hint: lots of smoke without looking at my own car, I couldn't tell you what might have been damaged, but the fuse definitely saved your but.

 

Ouch! That sucks. Hopefully, the Battery fuse blew before anything downstream was affected.

I don't have any experience with switching polarity on a battery, but I do know that diodes could get burned out from this. That means that your alternator may have been affected. You should check to make sure your alternator is charging properly, and putting out the correct voltage. If your stereo was on and received this power, it could be fried as well.

Make sure you check everything electrical in your car just to be sure. Check all of your idiot lights at startup to make sure they all come on before you press the start button.

I'm sure you will never do this again, but for others reading this thread: Always connect positive (red or +) to positive, and negative (black or -) to negative. Never assume anything.

 

You need to have it dragged back to the dealer who sold you the WRONG battery and get them to repair it. If the poles were switched it's not the right battery is it?

You should have noticed but, still they share some responsibility for it.

The goo is probably melted plastic. You've cranked the car up and it runs? Maybe they built some reverse polarity thing into it and that popped and popped the fuse.

 

Is this sorta like an OXYMORON or something?

 

They probably gave you a group 51 instead of a 51R or vice versa The main battery fuse blowing protected the rest of the circuits. Unfortunately this is more common than you'd think.

 

[QUOTE]QUOTE (LubedKoala @ Aug 25 2006, 12:16 PM)
the right battery, but the poles were switched on it

 

Voltmeter. Run the engine. You should be seeing about 14 volts at the battery. Turn on the headlights, high beams and run the ac and fan full blast. Voltage shouldn't drop much below 13.5 or so.

If you're measuring 12.5 or less with the engine running, you probably need an alternator.

If you look at the under-hood fuse box, on the front are two spade lug connections with screws through them. The one on the right goes directly to the alternator output lug.

 

Nice. I'll check it out when I get home. I think i'll be ok, but better safe than stranded on the highway.