dale1lexus

Ive had my car for 2 years. Yesterday the battery was dead so i pit a box on it. When i turned the key the starter clicked and lost power. When i went to reconnect the box there was major sparks. Anyway i unbolted the starter wire from the cables and no sparks. So i pulled a wire diagram for the battery and the wire that i took off the battery ris directly to the starter. Could this be a problem with the starter or is the wire just hitting grond somewhere?

dicer

Battery dead and you put a box on it? Was the box plastic or card board it makes a difference you know.

randal

Dale, when you say you put a 'box' on it, I assume you mean a charger or booster box?
The cable SHOULD run directly to the starter, so that is normal. There is also a smaller wire that energizes the starter solenoid.

If you are getting major sparks, that suggests major current draw. Could be something shorted, perhaps the starter itself is bad (shorted). How many miles are on the car?

dale1lexus

Yea I used a good jump box. When you try to connect it it sparks so much its like touching the cables together. I just wanted to make sure that the problem was in the starter before i start taking it apart. It has 147,000 miles

randal

Oh, another thing to check carefully...I know it sounds too simple...but make sure that you are putting the correct polarity on the battery from the jump box. It just does not make sense to have major sparks unless the polarity is reversed. May be that the box got incorrectly marked.
I would put a slow trickle charge on the battery overnight to see if it would at least charge.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

With so much sparks I'm surprised you did not blow the 120 amp fuse.

Yamae

I can see how your brain works.

randal

sha, I believe the 120 amp fusible link is in series with the alternator. So, a booster box polarity reversal would not cause current draw through the fuse.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for that bit of knowledge.