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I had some issues with my car not starting after driving in the heat for about 30 miles. The issue I want to ask is, I decided to check the battery connections after reading some post here (although it's worked fine for years). The connections at the battery were fine and the battery showed 12.7 volts but what concerned me was the larger post on the top of the battery on the pos. side had no nut on it. When I pushed it down, the lights in the trunk went off and then the alarm began to sound. I put a nut on it and when I tightened it down. Nothing worked. I took the nut off and everything works fine. Does that indicate the fuse it is connected to is shot?
Thanks for the reply. I had looked at the post you suggested. I KNOW fuses do not work intermittently but I DON"T understand why everything works in my car when the first fuse to the left of the battery post is NOT bolted down, but NOTHING works by just bolting it down. It is already attached but not bolted. As soon as I removed the nut I had placed on it, everything again works. I tried to upload a photo but I don't know it if worked. On the positive side next to the pole there is 5 smaller post. the first one from the pole is larger. It has a metal strap attached to it but if I bolt it down, nothing works.
From looking at the pictures, it looks like nothing is attached to this post but, without attaching anything else to it. Just bolting it down, kills everything!
Pls add year, model, trans, etc to your profile or signature.
You have 3 fuses connected on the side - do you have a convertible? (I don't have the 60 amp or the first two 100 amp fuses connected). Putting a nut on an unused stud should not cause a problem unless you are twisting a loose connection somewhere else.
Agree with Tink - disconnect the negative battery cable first, take lots of pictures, label everything, then disconnect, clean so connection areas are shiny, and reassemble. All of the metal pieces should lay FLAT together and make good electrical contact.
With all of the yellow paint dots, someone has had problems before and taken the whole bus apart...
Thanks Ron7 and Tinkertech for the responses. Yes it is a convertible. I was in the process of checking the battery connections when I found there was not nut on that stud. But from pictures I've seen posted, none have a nut on that post. As far as the yellow dots, they were there from the factory. I ordered the car new, I replaced the battery about 2 years ago, and other than oil changes, I've never had anyone work on it so if it was worked on, it was either at the factory, dealer prep or during an oil change? Is there a nut on that stud in your car?
Thanks eboggs_jkvl. That's what I was thinking about it not needed so no connection, but I still couldn't find out when you put a nut and nothing more on the stud, it kills everything. I was a mechanic for several years in a factory and fixed lots of mechanical and electrical problems but never came across anything like this. Like someone else posted, it must be some sort of short in the bus connections. I just don't understand why it would take 9 YEARS and 80,000 miles to occur. This weekend I will disconnect, clean, and reconnect all the wiring. Thanks for the response.
Looks like there's no nut supposed to be on that stud. In the video below he pops off the cover at 4:30 and there's no nut on his. Why it would cause a problem putting a nut on I can't explain but I might just leave it off and be done with it since it works.
That's probably pretty good advice Zjoe6. I would never have looked at it if my car had not failed to start. My first thought was to check the voltage on the battery. (12.7) I've driven it a couple of times since with no issues BUT I hate the thought I may go somewhere and it not start. When it happened, the starter engaged for just a second then nothing although all the electrics were still working. I immediately tried again and then didn't hear the starter at all. After about 5 minutes it started fine. This happened twice that day so when I got home, I started looking for a loose connection somewhere and found this post without a nut and thought maybe it had vibrated off. So I replaced it and to my surprise, nothing would work.I took the nut back off and everything's fine other than having to reprogram everything. Thanks for the response.
Looks like there's no nut supposed to be on that stud. In the video below he pops off the cover at 4:30 and there's no nut on his. Why it would cause a problem putting a nut on I can't explain but I might just leave it off and be done with it since it works.
Anyone that wears a watch and a ring while changing the battery does not give me total confidence in what he has to say.
Well I took the connections from the battery and made sure they were clean (they were) and retightened everything. I've driven it several times since, even once about 70 miles but the weather hasn't been that hot so far. It seems to be working fine now but since I didn't find anything wrong, I'm still leery. Thanks to all for the tips.
Well I took the connections from the battery and made sure they were clean (they were) and retightened everything. I've driven it several times since, even once about 70 miles but the weather hasn't been that hot so far. It seems to be working fine now but since I didn't find anything wrong, I'm still leery. Thanks to all for the tips.
That bus bar is very finicky with keeping all the connections good. Torquing an unneeded stud nut disturbed the bus bar out of alignment. I am guessing that torquing in the reverse direction to take the nut off restored a connection to restore power to the car. If everything is good now, you should be good until the next time you have to replace a battery.
Well Gold72 since I didn't address either of the problems I had, I'll not very confident that I won't have further problems. On the first post from the pos. post, which doesn't have a nut on it, I found I can just push down on it and it kills everything. That's not finicky, that's a short. after taking everything apart and putting it back together, it still does it. Someone on this site said it was a short. Well Duh. They suggested to check everything which I posted here in the first place was to get some Idea WHERE to look in the miles of wire. The reason I had looked at the battery was to check the voltage after the car failed to start twice one day but after 3-4 minutes it started with problems. THAT'S what worries me since it's not the battery. I've looked at several post and what seems to come the closest is a hot starter motor. I too live in Texas so I don't see why that would be a problem after 9 years. but nothing else makes sense unless there's a relay somewhere that's failing. That's why I joined this forum so some of those real mechanics might chime in. I know intermittent problems usually don't get found until they are no longer intermittent.
DON'T muck with any of this mess that you do not have to, and if you take the positive cable connector off, do NOT do as the noted video in this thread and a PDF here at the Forum suggests, i.e. removing all three of the nuts (the two on the "L" plate and the one the red cable connects to). Doing so is asking for trouble. Just remove the red-cable nut and loosen the nut holding the whole mess to the + post and lift it out of the way as a unit, as someone else here recommended. Wish I'd known this and not just the vid and PDF info before disassemble everything. All the best.
Well Gold72 since I didn't address either of the problems I had, I'll not very confident that I won't have further problems. On the first post from the pos. post, which doesn't have a nut on it, I found I can just push down on it and it kills everything. That's not finicky, that's a short. after taking everything apart and putting it back together, it still does it. Someone on this site said it was a short. Well Duh. They suggested to check everything which I posted here in the first place was to get some Idea WHERE to look in the miles of wire. The reason I had looked at the battery was to check the voltage after the car failed to start twice one day but after 3-4 minutes it started with problems. THAT'S what worries me since it's not the battery. I've looked at several post and what seems to come the closest is a hot starter motor. I too live in Texas so I don't see why that would be a problem after 9 years. but nothing else makes sense unless there's a relay somewhere that's failing. That's why I joined this forum so some of those real mechanics might chime in. I know intermittent problems usually don't get found until they are no longer intermittent.
Pushing down on the 'bolt' your not creating a short, some how your creating an open.
If you truly created a short, you would defiantly know it, ZAP!!!!!
Anyone that wears a watch and a ring while changing the battery does not give me total confidence in what he has to say.
ELmer
AMEN Elmer! My mechanic buddy wore a ring until he touched it to the battery terminal while holding a wrench on the opposing terminal when he was replacing a battery. He couldn't pull his hand away quick enough. I still vividly remember him having to peel the burnt skin off that had completely encompassed his ring just to get the ring off so he could treat the wound. Yes, it's only 12V but the amperage will get your attention if you make a mistake like that.
battery connections
