need urgent help

[Chevy305]

So driving home from work today at around 1:00am, I start slowing to a stop at the stop sign to turn onto my street when bam i loose all electricity. The headlights still glowed very dimly and my turn signal arow indicators illuminated solidly but also very dim. I turn off all unnessesary accessories and my volt gauge no longer registers anything however, the engine is still running and I have no alternator or battery warning light coming on. Also my hazard lights wont work but I keep drving to my house. I smell that nice burning electrical smell. I pull into my driveway shut the truck off and even with the iginition off and the headlight awitch off the head lights stayed dimly lit. I pop the hood and my positive terminal on my battery is roasting with my battery sizzling. then I check to see if i have any electicity and now everything is back to normal.

So I dissconected the terminals and I am letting it cool for the night. Anybody have any idea WTF is going on with this?

Could this be because I was using my KC daylighters that are wired directly to the fuse box as my high beams? I've used them for longer periods before with no problems, so idk whats going on.

 

[4X4HIGH]

Check to make sure the positive battery cable didn't get burned on the exhaust manifold or pipe somewhere. Are your KC lights run through a relay? They need to go through a relay because they draw too many amps and could easily kill wiring. Also, once everything cools back down hook the cable back up and start the truck and check with a DVOM (digital volt ohm meter) what the alternator is charging at. It could be that the regulator took a dump on you and the alternator is overcharging the battery which will make the cables HOT and will boil the battery pretty good.

 

[AZ79K5Project]

Couple of things -

First - remove the KC light wiring and switch from the fuse box. They take too much power for that. They need to be wired with a relay.

Second - check your positive cable to make sure it's not shorting against the frame anyplace between the battery and starter.

 

[Chevy305]

Check to make sure the positive battery cable didn't get burned on the exhaust manifold or pipe somewhere. Are your KC lights run through a relay? They need to go through a relay because they draw too many amps and could easily kill wiring. Also, once everything cools back down hook the cable back up and start the truck and check with a DVOM (digital volt ohm meter) what the alternator is charging at. It could be that the regulator took a dump on you and the alternator is overcharging the battery which will make the cables HOT and will boil the battery pretty good.

No they aren't wired with a relay. I will check it all out in the morning, but for now I'm going to bed.

 

[Chevy305]

I figured out the problem!!

Turns out my offroad lights were not the problem. The bungie cord holding down my battery came loose and the batter jumped and got wedged on the raised edge of the battery tray and the hood. The possitive terminal was contacting the hood causing it to arc which is why I lost all power. Thats why everything worked when I had the hood open looking at the battery. Go figure...

 

[dyeager535]

So now you've got two problems to fix.

 

[supersize75k5]

You're supposed to use garden hose.

no..


you use twine from the home depot loading dock, for extra points ask the employee in the contractor sales desk to hold open your hood while you tie it down with a 15 foot piece..

 

[Chevy305]

You're supposed to use garden hose.

garden hose? I think that might go under this catagory:

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171888&highlight=hillbilly

 

[lectric80]

I have always used plenty of duct tape to hold down the batteries, duh!!!. That way when it breaks you just wrap it with plenty more.

 

[Dafey]

I tied mine down with pantyhose once to get us home..And NO they were not mine

 

[Mike D]

Although you found the problem, drive your rig to an Advanced or Auto Zone store. Have them check out the battery and alternator while in the truck. The short you encountered could have warped or destroyed the very thin plates in the battery or one of the six rectifier diodes. This means your 85(?) amp alternator is putting out 20 amps max at any speed.
If something is screwed up you can schedule a R & R at your convience. When we buy a battery we usually look for the most cold crank amps ( CCA ) we can afford. Well to make a 900 CCA battery each (lead) plate looks like fine screan wire extending down to almost the bottom of the case. A 450 CCA battery uses a similar screen only going about half way to the bottom of the case. These screens cannot handle high power drains for more than 20 seconds.
The last thing you need is for the battery to go completely dead while you are out four wheeling in the woods ( you know, like where they filmed DELIVERANCE ).

 

[AZ79K5Project]

Mike D made some great points. You should also address the KC lights. That is also a disaster waiting to happen.