the bozo backwards battery blunder

[Rosco]

I'm not even going to start to explain that it wasn't actually me who hooked up my battery backwards (positive lead to ground and vica-versa) cuz there isn't anyone who would actually believe that! Let's just say it happened. There was initially a very wrong smelling stink followed by a mini James Bond smokescreen coming from the bulkhead connector. Ugly.
By the time we figured out what had happened I'm afraid the damage was done. This was roughly a year and a half ago and the car has not been dealt with.
I do know my electronic ignition is smoked. And, there's a good chance (according to the tech. support guy at Pertronix) the coil is too- the battery was on backwards for a good 30-40 seconds.
I'd like to know if anyone has ever experienced this situation? And/or what would you suppose I should anticipate needing to fix/replace as a result? The guy at Pertronix was laughing out loud but said he get's this call at least once a week. He thought after the first time he (incredulously) got that call it would be the last. Nonetheless...
Really a great place to post a question like this. I don't have to ask this question face to face to anyone Kind of like putting gasoline in a diesel vehicle- that happened to a friend of mine.

 

[Davea Lux]

Hooking the battery up backwards will usually fry any electronic components that are active when it happens. Assuming that this is a C-Body mopar, the main items of interest would be the electronic ignition, the diodes in the alternator, the electronic voltage regulator and the radio. I can not think of any good reason that a polarity reversal would ruin a coil unless there is a chip incorporated into it. The bulkhead connector was probably smoking because a circuit that was supposed to be a ground was shorted directly to a power source. Electronic components are designed to have power flowing in a one way direction and when the polarity is reversed, a short to the grounded side of the component is often the result. You should start by replacing/repairing the bulkhead connector and then start the car to see which components still work if any.

Back when liquid crystal dashes first came out a dealer form the dark side (Chevy) got in a shiny new Corvette with a dead battery. Lot boys pushed it off the transporter and hooked up the jumper box backwards. They fried the dash and a bunch of other stuff and I heard that the car needed over $4k in repairs. Would have been interesting to see how they explained that to GM.

Dave

 

[CBODY67]

They fried the dash and a bunch of other stuff and I heard that the car needed over $4k in repairs. Would have been interesting to see how they explained that to GM. Dave

Much less the dealer principal who probably had to pay for it, after the Chevy service rep denied their warranty claim.

When the '84 Corvettes came out, the dealers got a letter stating that before the cars were put on the lot for sale, they had to have their battery charged. Then every 30 days or so after they were on the lot, after that. The factory security system had enough parasitic drain to drain the battery by 30 days of sitting inactive. Plus, new batteries are only charged to about 65% when they arrive at the assembly plant and then the cars at the dealer. Some enterprising customers found a small motorcycle battery that would fit in one of the stroage compartments and had enough juice to run the alarm system when they unhooked the main battery, but not enough to start the car, as they would unhook the main battery for theft-prevention purposes in their own garage.

Y'all didn't put a battery in the car with a "Ford" post arrangement, did y'all?

Take care,
CBODY67

 

[Rosco]

Not a Ford arrangement just the good ol' slam it on the tray and hook up the cables without looking at anything job. I always try and look at the bright side- at least we didn't manage to burn the car to a crisp.
I should mention that the Pertronix guy who was laughing at me (and rightfully so) traded a bozo battery maneuver of his own: dropped an end wrench across both terminals and blew the bottom of the battery off. Says he lifted the battery out by the end wrench that had welded itself across both posts. I say, "HA HA HA"!!!!!! What an idiot!!
Anyways, looks like I'll need new:
alternator, check
regulator, check
ignition, check
coil (just in case), check
radio (ouch!!), some day
Bulkhead connector- any ideas on where to source one of these? The Fury is so old I was considering doing this regardless just to have a new starting point.

 

[Davea Lux]

Not a Ford arrangement just the good ol' slam it on the tray and hook up the cables without looking at anything job. I always try and look at the bright side- at least we didn't manage to burn the car to a crisp.
I should mention that the Pertronix guy who was laughing at me (and rightfully so) traded a bozo battery maneuver of his own: dropped an end wrench across both terminals and blew the bottom of the battery off. Says he lifted the battery out by the end wrench that had welded itself across both posts. I say, "HA HA HA"!!!!!! What an idiot!!
Anyways, looks like I'll need new:
alternator, check
regulator, check
ignition, check
coil (just in case), check
radio (ouch!!), some day
Bulkhead connector- any ideas on where to source one of these? The Fury is so old I was considering doing this regardless just to have a new starting point.

They might not all be toast, check all of the above items once the bulkhead connector is repaired. If the bulkhead connector only fried a wire or two, you can probably splice past the damaged terminal(s). Check the harness to see if it has any burnt tape approaching the connector, that will give you a start to see how much damage was done once the tape is removed. If the wires are a burnt together mess, you may need a harness as well. Most of the time, the bulkhead terminals have higher resistance than the wires, so you might get lucky and just need to replace the connectors. There are several aftermarket suppliers of bulkhead connectors and harnesses, a lot of the time the replacement units do not have the same color coding on the wires which makes circuit ID a PIA.

Dave

 

[65sporty]

Like Dave said, look for burnt or melted wires. If the plastic connectors for the bulkhead are not burnt and just a section of wire, the connectors are available for repairing and adding new wire. You may have to unwrap the harness to find wires burnt together. Remove the alternator and have it tested.

 

[furious70]

My dad did this to his charger (now mine). No idea why but it took out the starter and the fuses in the cd player and sub amp. The oem ign, alt, bulkhead were all fine.

 

[tbm3fan]

I once momentarily hooked up the battery in my Mustang backwards. Only for 2 seconds though as a wire at the solenoid started to smoke and I pulled the terminal right off since my hand was still on it. I then looked down and said stupid...

 

[Big_John]

I think the voltage regulator is right above or near to right above the bulkhead connector. Any chance that's what you let the magic smoke out of? Still worth pulling all the connectors for a look and clean up.

As said, electronic VR, electronic ignition, radio and maybe the diodes in the alternator. You've got two of those covered already from your previous charging issues, and it sounds like a new Pertronix is already figured it. I don't see where the coil could fail, but I might defer to the expertise of the Pertronix tech who has experienced this before. Possibly the primary side gets taken out, I don't know... It's worth taking another as a spare (hey, you are in Mexico) just 'cause and if you need it, great, if not, another trunk piece.

Obligatory replacement smoke pic.

BTW, blowing up a battery is not a good thing... Saw one once, makes a mess and a really good reason to wear safety glasses when dealing with batteries. A discharged battery is the worst because it gives off a combustible gas. That's why you always hook up the discharged battery first when jump starting.

 

[Rosco]

My dad did this to his charger (now mine). No idea why but it took out the starter and the fuses in the cd player and sub amp. The oem ign, alt, bulkhead were all fine.

I once momentarily hooked up the battery in my Mustang backwards. Only for 2 seconds though as a wire at the solenoid started to smoke and I pulled the terminal right off since my hand was still on it. I then looked down and said stupid...

Boy, you guys are idiots!!!
Just kidding!!! It's nice to see we are all human- even Snark's brother in law... Long story and no one will believe it.

A good bozo story involves a good buddy of mine. We both work construction and he has (had) a Dodge pickup with lumber racks. A black full size hemi. Being that it is (was) a Dodge I think the story's pretty appropriate here, anyways, one day Pat thought it would be a good idea to roll through the car wash that was free at the Shell station in town if you bought a certain amount of gas.
When he got far enough through the machine where the big nappy roller was coming over his hood, it got to the top of his windshield it got completely wrapped up on the front bar of his rack that sits just over the cab. The momentum of the roller spinning pulled it off the machine and slammed it through his windshield, BAM!! Him and his buddy were stuck in the machine yelling at the top of their lungs with water pouring in and broken glass everywhere! It really cracks me up thinking about that one.
I will start the search for the bulkhead connector piece and individual connectors. I know there was a fusible link near there that got fried. I gotta assume more stuff than I know is cooked as well.

 

[Rosco]

I think the voltage regulator is right above or near to right above the bulkhead connector. Any chance that's what you let the magic smoke out of? Still worth pulling all the connectors for a look and clean up.

As said, electronic VR, electronic ignition, radio and maybe the diodes in the alternator. You've got two of those covered already from your previous charging issues, and it sounds like a new Pertronix is already figured it. I don't see where the coil could fail, but I might defer to the expertise of the Pertronix tech who has experienced this before. Possibly the primary side gets taken out, I don't know... It's worth taking another as a spare (hey, you are in Mexico) just 'cause and if you need it, great, if not, another trunk piece.

Obligatory replacement smoke pic.

View attachment 431790

BTW, blowing up a battery is not a good thing... Saw one once, makes a mess and a really good reason to wear safety glasses when dealing with batteries. A discharged battery is the worst because it gives off a combustible gas. That's why you always hook up the discharged battery first when jump starting.

I might need a case of this stuff!!

 

[Rosco]

Is this everything for the bulkhead connector?
NEW 66-76 Plymouth Dodge Chrysler A B C body Firewall Bulkhead Wiring Connectors | eBay

 

[1970FuryConv]

Is this everything for the bulkhead connector?
NEW 66-76 Plymouth Dodge Chrysler A B C body Firewall Bulkhead Wiring Connectors | eBay

Ad says: 66-68 C-bodies. Definitely would not fit my 1970 Fury. I agree with checking continuity and resistance across all engine compartment wires, then repairing what needs repair. If it's only 1 or 2 bulkhead connections that are bad, you can bypass the bulkhead connector with drilled hole and rubber grommet.
I hope your "friend" who ****** up the battery connections is going to help with all this.

 

[Rosco]

Ad says: 66-68 C-bodies. Definitely would not fit my 1970 Fury. I agree with checking continuity and resistance across all engine compartment wires, then repairing what needs repair. If it's only 1 or 2 bulkhead connections that are bad, you can bypass the bulkhead connector with drilled hole and rubber grommet.
I hope your "friend" who ****** up the battery connections is going to help with all this.

Oh GOD, never again! Barred for life. Note to self, don't let Snark's brother in law get within 15 feet of the Fury.
I'll check it out first and for now bypass the bulkhead connector w/ any fried circuits and replace the whole thing down the road.
I'm thinking about increasing the wire size on the ammeter circuit anyway so I'm not opposed to having a couple of holes in the firewall.

 

[Rosco]

Oh GOD, never again! Barred for life. Note to self, don't let Snark's brother in law get within 15 feet of the Fury.
I'll check it out first and for now bypass the bulkhead connector w/ any fried circuits and replace the whole thing down the road.
I'm thinking about increasing the wire size on the ammeter circuit anyway so I'm not opposed to having a couple of holes in the firewall.

With my understanding of the electrical system I'm more apt to replace the parts I have been told probably got fried, look at the bulkhead connector wires and take a close look at everything once power is applied. Checking all the wires seems monumental and maybe a bit above my pay scale. I'll start looking at the wiring diagrams. Maybe I will spend a bit of time looking at the individual circuits.
Would most of the damage be evident at the bulkhead connector? Or could I have more damage down the line that would be dangerous if power was reapplied? I'm fairly clueless at this point on the whole electrical system. I'm just getting acquainted with where the wires go but am certainly not the guy to determine how to troubleshoot at this point.

 

[stubs300]

the battery was on backwards for a good 30-40 seconds.

How could someone be so obtuse as to not realize that there's a problem the instant that the 2nd connector hit the battery with sparks flying???
You need to find some smarter friends. Good Luck

 

[Rosco]

How could someone be so obtuse as to not realize that there's a problem the instant that the 2nd connector hit the battery with sparks flying???
You need to find some smarter friends. Good Luck[/QUOte

brother in law of friend. He builds guitars and was bored...
I guess there wasn't sparks flying or we would have noticed.
It was a bonehead move!!
This is the same guy who put on a lucha libre mask and costume after getting all hammered and went down to the real lucha wrestling match to stir up trouble...Nobody is saying he isn't obtuse!!

 

[1970FuryConv]

With my understanding of the electrical system I'm more apt to replace the parts I have been told probably got fried, look at the bulkhead connector wires and take a close look at everything once power is applied. Checking all the wires seems monumental and maybe a bit above my pay scale. I'll start looking at the wiring diagrams. Maybe I will spend a bit of time looking at the individual circuits.
Would most of the damage be evident at the bulkhead connector? Or could I have more damage down the line that would be dangerous if power was reapplied? I'm fairly clueless at this point on the whole electrical system. I'm just getting acquainted with where the wires go but am certainly not the guy to determine how to troubleshoot at this point.

Do you have factory shop manual? Turn to chapter 8, engine compartment wiring diagram. If your car is like mine, there really aren't that many wires to check for the engine wiring itself. Besides that, if the switches were off when the battery was installed backward, headlights, turn signals, windshield wipers, etc, can be checked with a flip of the switches. If you have neither factory shop manual or volt/ohm multimeter, electrical work is going to be like shooting in the dark.
Free shop manual source
MyMopar - Mopar Forums & Information - Service Manuals

 

[Rosco]

Would it make sense that the fusible link between the bulkhead and starter relay would have fried w/ the battery blunder?
Too, it's been suggested to add an inline fuse or fusible link at the alternator (stock wiring has the fusible link after the power has returned from the ammeter on the engine side of the bulkhead connector)- is this necessary? Is it a good idea? Anywheres else that could benefit from an additional fusible link-eg between the battery and starter relay?

 

[Davea Lux]

Would it make sense that the fusible link between the bulkhead and starter relay would have fried w/ the battery blunder?
Too, it's been suggested to add an inline fuse or fusible link at the alternator (stock wiring has the fusible link after the power has returned from the ammeter on the engine side of the bulkhead connector)- is this necessary? Is it a good idea? Anywheres else that could benefit from an additional fusible link-eg between the battery and starter relay?

Fusible link is essential, that keeps an overload from frying the harness or the ammeter if there is a direct short someplace. On a '70 Fury, the ammeter is the full load type. Chrysler had lots of issues with ammeters frying on the '74 and older vehicles sometimes leaving the vehicle dead on the road and other times causing a dash fire. You should run a continuity test on the fusible link to see if it still works, usually if they start smoking they are toast. The lead to the alternator is energized all the time so if you want to add a fuse for greater protection, add it to that circuit. The fuse needs to be sized appropriate to the alternator output at full charge.

Dave