Battery hooked up, and we have sparking.

[utherjorge]

So, I got a brand new battery to replace the dead one I had.

Placed it in the tray, went to hook it up.

Hooked up one cable, all is well. Hooked up the second, and immediate sparks at the battery and smoke from the alternator.

I confirmed the terminal position and the cables...pos was to pos, at least as the last battery was, neg to neg, so on.

The truck has not started in about 10 months. WHAT IS GOING ON?

 

[nvrenuf]

Either backwards or a short.

Any chance the wiring was chewed up while parked (squirrels, etc)?

 

[TheBeast_88K5]

There is a short inside your alternator....

The power is grounding into something, inside the Alt, and melting it.
Thats why its sparking at the battery, because the least resistance is there.

Makes sense, right?

 

[utherjorge]

It all makes sense. And it all sucks. DAGNABBBBBBBIT

Now I'm just wondering if I should bring the battery back and just wait until spring. Efff.

 

[4xcrazy]

Had a friend that hooked up a battery backwards at night, didn't make absolute sure on the battery which side was which, turned out the new battery terminals were opposite of the old one, he just "assumed" they went back on the same way as the old one. Fried out the alternator and several fuses.

 

[utherjorge]

OK.Hooked up the right way for sure.

Pos hooked up: no sparks, no smoke. Hooked up the neg cable, slow tick noises, and the alt was smoking. quick. beautiful

 

[TheBeast_88K5]

Like I said..... The Alternator went bye-bye.

Mine did the same thing.

 

[Fordum]

Disconnect all the wires from the alt. Tape up any bare ones, hook the battery back up and see if it will crank.

 

[utherjorge]

Fordum...would that actually work? Or will I get a K barbecue out of it? I'd prefer not to have that.

 

[Fordum]

IF the problem is a shorted Alternator, then it should do fine. It will run for quite a while with no alternator.
It has to be physically on the truck for the fan belt, but does not have to be hooked up.
I would not take any long drives, and the less load on the battery the better. No headlights, that sort of thing.

I know you have double checked, but just in case, follow the negative battery cable and make sure it is bolted to the frame or engine. If its hooked to the starter, then someone has swapped cables.
The negative will always be hooked to the engine or frame, and the pos will not. Its normally hooked to the starter solenoid.

After you remove the alt wires, there might be a very small spark when hooking up the battery, but no smoke or anything getting hot.

Sometimes there is a light or something on that will draw a small load, but usually you have to be watching for it to even see the spark.