Did a stupid thing...

[kizza23]

So the battery in my VT died last night and after buying a new battery to replace it, I accidentally put it in backwards in the darkness (stupid thing, I know!)... quickly realised the problem when the smoke started coming - probably 3-4 seconds - but maybe enough time to do the damage!

Anyway, turned the battery around (the right way!)... engine cranks, but no spark. CD player doesn't work either. Checked all the fuses both under the steering wheel and under the bonnet, the only one that was blown was the cigarette lighter so it's not the fuses...

This makes me worry that I've done some major damage - thought I'd post on here to see if anyone had any ideas (or was stupid enough as me!) before I fork out more money for towing and repairs.

Cheers...

[accentstencil]

Did you check the fuses and fusible links in the engine bay?

[Tom_1569]

Mate ive done exactly the same thing, except someone put red tape on the negative wire and black on the positive, i didnt check that lol i just looked for the colour.
I dont this on a 84 scorpion, was on for a couple of seconds, it burnt the main wiring, cant remember which ones got replaced, but even after replacing them it had serious on going trouble. It would constantly blow fuses, sometimes fuse would smoke, the car had some pretty serious electrical trouble for years, we took it off the road as it would of cost to much to track the problem.
I would say unless you know what your doing (which you clearly dont caus you put it on backwards in the first place), then just pay someone else to do it, its not worth the risk... or claim it on insurance if you have comprehensive if its going to cost to much to fix.

[kizza23]

accentstencil - yeah checked all the fuses, including the ones in the engine bay... the only one that was blown was the 'engine sensors' fuse, which I replaced yet still no result.

Tom - thanks for the advice mate... hope it hasn't got that bad since its a newer car but we shall see I guess. Yeah I'm gonna leave it alone - just trying to get an idea of what the potential problems could be and the cost involved with repairs.

[Tom_1569]

Yeah i would hope it isnt that bad being a newer car, one problem i can see is it being a new and being full of important electrics it could quite easily do damage specially to the computer etc. BUT in it being newer one would think it would have a fuse or something to prevent doing damage.

[accentstencil]

You could try and see if there are any fault codes and if there is no reaction from the engine light then there is a good chance you fried the ECU (computer). You can pick them up cheap on ebay if necessary.

[kizza23]

Went out and had a look.. no fault codes.. computer seems fine (apart from saying I have more fuel than I probably actually do)... just no spark and no power to the radio. To make my day even better, having the dreaded ignition problem where the key won't turn!

Arghhhhh.... thanks for the help guys, appreciate it. Shall let you know what happens.

[vxcalais_01]

Mate ive done exactly the same thing, except someone put red tape on the negative wire and black on the positive, i didnt check that lol i just looked for the colour.
I dont this on a 84 scorpion, was on for a couple of seconds, it burnt the main wiring, cant remember which ones got replaced, but even after replacing them it had serious on going trouble. It would constantly blow fuses, sometimes fuse would smoke, the car had some pretty serious electrical trouble for years, we took it off the road as it would of cost to much to track the problem.
I would say unless you know what your doing (which you clearly dont caus you put it on backwards in the first place), then just pay someone else to do it, its not worth the risk... or claim it on insurance if you have comprehensive if its going to cost to much to fix.

Just out of interest, if you have comprehensive, how do you get insurance to fix your car for mechanical/eletrical issues ?

[garywg]

Take the car to an auto electrician to get it checked out, you could have fried anything including alternator, wiring etc - sorry I haven't got a better solution for you.

[Tom_1569]

Just out of interest, if you have comprehensive, how do you get insurance to fix your car for mechanical/eletrical issues ?

Honestly I dont no how, but my ex's grandma use to claim everything on insurance i would hate to see their premiums.
Anyway their old boy was working on the car, brakes from memory and he stuffed it up he stripped a bolt (years ago i cant remember exactly) but they just claimed it on insurance as accidental damage, it wasnt the first time they did it either. Those people made the most of their insurance companies, i remember my ex spilt coke in her 1000 dollar phone, so her gran put it through the mulcher and sent it off to insurance lol.

[wrx884]

wat sorta cd player do u have? ive seen this done b4 with the same result and id say uve cooked the internal amp on the unit

[kizza23]

it's a pioneer.. pretty old one now but was still working very well...

[south21]

Same thing happened to me, It turned out to be the battery. I shorted it out put new battery in no more problems.

regards

keith

[kizza23]

thanks keith - was everything else working though with the shorted out battery?
because in my car, everything else still has power except the radio and the problem is getting a spark..

[stocky]

i say find a wiring diagram for your car. upload here if you can. that way you can trace the ground for the car and find what components the 12volt reached first and see what has been fried. good chance the 12 volts hit a few things before it was stopped

[south21]

Sorry it took so long to get back to you, only 2 things worked in my car, the interior light would come on slowly and the ignition lights would also come on very slow, I did discover after put new battery in that a majority of my fuses were blown replaced them then everything was ok.

keith