AHHHH . . . I am an IDIOT

[hkeller]

I just used my wifes 2000 LX to jump start our Heep. It was dark, I had the LX running, hooked up the cables, started the heep, went in the house for a beer, came back out, and the cables were damn near on fire. I freakin' crossed the cables . . . red to red terminal and black to body ground on the LX, and red to black terminal and black to red terminal on the heep. AHHHHH. What have I done?? Both cars seem to run fine. BUT, what electrical gremlins now await me???? I don't care about the heep, but I sure hope I didn't fry the trans, abs, trac, vsc, fuel injection computer(s) on the LX.

Thoughts? If there was real trouble, would it not have blown a fuse before frying something??? AHHH, I am such an IDIOT!!!!!

 

[e9999]

OK, if you say so...

 

[macneill]

Should have held off on that beer.

 

[tabraha]

Maybe some stress on the alternator perhaps. Hopefully you won't notice any gremlins.

 

[ATLcrusher]

I'm with Tad. My understanding is that you can fry the internals on an alternator by making jumpstarting mistakes.

 

[WES1977]

My vote is to keep a flashlight in your vehicle. And if unsure about something on a expensive vehicle, don't do it.

 

[hkeller]

"Should have held off on that beer."

"My vote is to keep a flashlight in your vehicle. And if unsure about something on a expensive vehicle, don't do it."

Thanks for the Monday morning quarterbacking! I already admitted I am an idiot. I've worked on cars as long as I have owned them, and even before. This was a stupid mistake.

The reason I am asking is that I am taking about a 1000 mile round trip in this LX next week and wanted some constructive and serious feedback on what, other than the battery and alternator, is likely to have blown, if anything.

Wouldn't the fuses prevent any system damage past the alternator and battery?

Thanks!

 

[dfmorse]

Check the LX's battery with a voltmeter - engine off. Then start engine and check again. If the alternator is working u will see 14.5 volts or in that region. If over 16.5 volts and not dropping, there could be alternator problems. Your initial mistake created a discharge cycle ithe the two batteries; fortunately the vehicles were not touching.

...

 

[NMuzj100]

Don't pick on him guys. It could happen to anyone in a similar situation.

My experience indicates that any improper crossing of the cables provides instantaneous negative feedback informing one of the error in cable orientation.

 

[cruiser88]

im trully sorry man your not the first thats done it.but the land cruiser gods are trying to tell you something get rid of the heep it just might catch fire check the past pictures in here

 

[hkeller]

I take it that is Helen Keller. Funny, my last name is also Keller. You know, it really didn't arc that bad when I did it. Oh well, it will probably let go on the way to the beach next week with 2 screaming kids in the back seat and a pissed-off wife riding shotgun!

 

[jjbodean1970]

been there, done that, got the crossed cables t-shirt. when i did it i got a hell of a shower of sparks, but nothing other than a blown fuse in the main box under the hood. guess thats what the fuse was there for!

 

[tabraha]

Oh well, it will probably let go on the way to the beach next week with 2 screaming kids in the back seat and a pissed-off wife riding shotgun!

As long as you get some miles on it this week and everything seems normal I wouldn't be too aprehensive about taking it for the trip. It'll still be more reliable than the recipient of the charging. ;p

You better not take that 1000 mile trip without a flashlight and other necessities. That was the true lesson!

 

[NMuzj100]

Oh well, it will probably let go on the way to the beach next week with ... a pissed-off wife riding shotgun!

You didn't tell your wife that the cable got crossed did you. Obviously that jeep has some serious electrical issues and needs replaced with a dependable toyota product. Thats the way I would handle any future problems. More proof that the Heep has to go.

 

[LXPearl]

You probably didn't do too much to the 100, it was generating power to fry what remained of the Heep battery. It is nice the Heep battery was dead to start with- it didn't have enough umph to fight back and kill the 100 charging system. The cable got caught in the middle.

If you question the condition of your 100 battery or alternator, most Toyota dealers will do a checkup for you for free - especially if you are a regular customer or buy an oil change. Since it appears to be running fine, I would be more worried about the impact on the Heep.

 

[hkeller]

LXPearl, I think you are right. I had to put a new battery in the Heep today. It had a fried cell. If anything, it protected the rest of the Heep's electrical system by drawing off all of the current the 100 was putting out. I imagine I took some life out of the LX alternator and maybe its battery, but I feel a bit better now than I did when this first happended.

Thanks to all for the input.

 

[BulletHead]

shouldnt one of ur fuses have blown before anything?

 

[hkeller]

I also thought I would have blown a fuse. The Heep has a main fusable link that did not even get hot. I think the Heep's battery took all of the punishment. I know just enough about mobile electronics to be dangerous. I can only figure that all of the current from the 100 dumped into the Heep's battery and did not make it further up the line into the Heep's system, and did not push back into the 100's.

We'll see if I make it on this trip. If I don't have any problems over 1000 miles, I think the 100 will be okay. Although I may have to replace the alternator a couple years early.

 

[SWUtah]

LXPearl, I think you are right. I had to put a new battery in the Heep today. It had a fried cell. If anything, it protected the rest of the Heep's electrical system by drawing off all of the current the 100 was putting out. I imagine I took some life out of the LX alternator and maybe its battery, but I feel a bit better now than I did when this first happended.

Thanks to all for the input.

Go get it checked at any battery store, it's free and they can check the battery and alternator in about 1 minute. Better then breaking down on the road.

 

[dfmorse]

HK - see previous post;

Your LX alternator put out ~80 amps and stopped putting out anymore current. Your LX batt continued to put out ~500 amps [this is a guess] into the defective jeep (old) battery. There was no connection between the two vehicles. I.E., the load was the jeep battery and the source was the LX battery. On my battery system, a direct short = 2500 amps. On your system mistake ,an easy 500 amps short to the LX battery; which will burn up #4 gauge wires in 10 mins or so. Or "blow" up the jeep battery. Consister your jeep battery as a big resistor across the LX battery. As it disappates the current from the LX battery, the cables can't handle the current and overheat. The same thing happens when u start the LX. There is #4 cable (black - neg) to the block; and #4 cable to the starter device. The starter "can" pull ~300 amps; but it only does so for around 2-3 seconds, and the wires don't even give a dam.

What really creates the problems is when the connections are made with the jumper cables. Fuse Link named "MAIN" is connected to the ECU. A weird spark or voltage spike can do bad things to the ECU. It rarely does anything bad to the Denso Regulator system on/in regulator. If the voltage, on the LX, is reading around 14.5 volt while running, there is nothing wrong with the LX system.

Enough babble

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