Melted Terminals (1 Viewer)

[Hikeshi]

Hi Guys,

Minus 37 degrees Celsius and for the fist time I am having trouble with my batteries (not too surprising). The positive terminals on the new batteries are melting. I put 2 brand new Kirklands in this morning, they were in the house all night.

Everything was starting fine, glow plug lit up, the truck turned over and was about to start, then choked out. Tried it again, no power on batteries and the positive terminals are slightly melted. Getting a fizzing noise too, like a short of some type, only when I try to turn it over.

Any idea why? (besides damn cold!)

Thanks,

H.

 

[Big Blue 84BJ60]

its shrorting some were locate that noise
also bad ground(s) mabey

 

[TwoThirtyDirty]

Hi Guys,

Minus 37 degrees Celsius and for the fist time I am having trouble with my batteries (not too surprising). The positive terminals on the new batteries are melting. I put 2 brand new Kirklands in this morning, they were in the house all night.

Everything was starting fine, glow plug lit up, the truck turned over and was about to start, then choked out. Tried it again, no power on batteries and the positive terminals are slightly melted. Getting a fizzing noise too, like a short of some type, only when I try to turn it over.

Any idea why? (besides damn cold!)

Thanks,

H.

Batteries hooked up in series properly? Neg to truck ground, Pos to Neg on second battery, second battery pos to truck power? I only ask because I did it wrong once and also melted the terminal.

 

[Hikeshi]

I made sure the batteries were connected properly, driver's side battery positive to starter and glow plugs, negative to passenger side battery positive, passenger side negative to ground on frame.

I replaced the corroded battery connectors on the link cable from the negative to positive. Turned over and ran once like a brand new truck. Put new batterries in...now nothing. Thought I would go back to old batterries to see if it would fire again...nothing, not even the dome light. But, I get plenty of sparks when I cross connect anything.

I do not get it...

Got any ideas why I don't have any power at all? I do get a click when I turn the ignition key, but no dash lights, absolutely nothing.

Ideas would be great.

thanks,

H.

 

[The Glowplug]

I would be chasing a ground problem (possibly - batt to chassis cable, battery connection or connection to chassis 12 volt side ) try running a jumper cable from -on the 12 volt side to engine ground.

 

[Hikeshi]

The corrosion on my battery terminals seemed to be part of the shorting issues on the terminals.

I also found the problem with the lack of power, there is a wire that is connected to the Glow plug circuit from the positive battery terminal. It was snapped off at the connector, but didn't appear that way. One small wire...one small 20 year old wire.

Thanks for the input.

H.

 

[lostmarbles]

.........there is a wire that is connected to the Glow plug circuit from the positive battery terminal. It was snapped off at the connector, but didn't appear that way. One small wire...one small 20 year old wire.........

That wire could be one of your "fusible links". (These look like ordinary wire but act as fuses to protect the rest of your wiring loom.)

If it is a "fusible link" it should be short in length and positioned between two connector plugs. It should also have a "fabric sleeve" over it.

And if it is, you'll need to replace it with another fusible link of the correct current rating. (Don't just replace it with ordinary wire!)

 

[ikarus]

Bumping an old thread -

'97 HDJ81 - OEM dual battery setup, 1HDFT. Went to disconnect the batteries to do some work today and noticed that my secondary battery (left hand side) negative battery terminal is melting. I had made a note a while ago to replace the terminal clamps, as you can see it's super thin and janky. I knew it was bad but wow. Thoughts? The truck is running fine otherwise - I wonder if it's because of the terminal clamp.

 

[AirheadNut]

Crusty, corroded terminal clamps will cause poor connections, which will arc, get hot, and melt the terminals under high load conditions. Replace the terminal clamps, possibly the battery if it is too far gone, then put some corrosion protection on the new ones.