And the dummy award goes to.......

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Princess Valiant

Princess Valiant

A.K.A. Rainy Day Auto
FABO Gold Member
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ME!!!!


I have no idea how I managed to do it but I connected the battery backwards on my dart and now I am not sure what I damaged.

it still has points and not much else electrically. the starter made a hideous noise and now it just stopped .....I think its sleeping....please wake up mr. starter :eek:ops:

I was messing with the clutch and got no where and decided to crank it over once I got the trans back in and that is when it went from bad to worse.
 

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that's rough

hopefully you didn't fry anything other then your pride
 
Check the fuseable link.
 
LMAO! That's OK, chit happens. My wife is laughing about this and the time she hooked the jumper cables on backwards herself. The battery started smoking and where looking at it saying, "HOLY CHIT, look at that Chit! WTF?!?!" Laughing our asses off!

Everyone is guilty of something stupid! ;)
 
Been there...another place is to check the connections in the bulkhead connector.I burnt one of the connections in mine and it wouldn't start.
 
It could be worse. At least you didn't do it to a more modern car and fry the computer and all associated electronics.

Good luck Rani.
 
rumblefish360 said:
LMAO! That's OK, chit happens. My wife is laughing about this and the time she hooked the jumper cables on backwards herself. The battery started smoking and where looking at it saying, "HOLY CHIT, look at that Chit! WTF?!?!" Laughing our asses off!

Everyone is guilty of something stupid! ;)
Click to expand...

Yeup, been wrenching for over thirty five years. I have a newer Ram truck starter on my slant six Valiant. Easiest starter in the world to change. It died in a parking lot, so I went home, grabbed some tools, stopped by O'Reilly's and bought a new starter. Broke the nose cone bolting it in. First starter I've ever broken. This was just last year.....:banghead:
 
I was jumping my car using a friend's Ram. Well the jumper cables they had were homemade. they had red and black on the same wire! Blew the heck outta his trucks electronics.
I just changed the starter on my Saturn Van, that is a pain in the arse....In conclusion if you work on a car more than once a year your bound to do something to it that's wrong. I always have bolts left over when I do things, jars and jars of bolts.
 
1....You probably blew the fuse link

2....It's possible you took out some /all the alternator diodes

3.....I assume you are using a "mine" starter? The old "wound field" starters don't care about polarity

4.....What is was turned on in the car? Radio? Might have..............

5.....What other solid state devices, GPS, etc? that are 'hot?' Might have damaged them, or just blown the fuse.

6....You have a "big" stereo remote amp? Newer radio with "keep alive" memory? Could be.......

PROBABLY did not hurt the starter. Will not hurt any "old school" stuff like horns, coil, breaker points, heater / wiper motor, and should not have injured the cluster / gauges unless you have a "solid state" IVR
 
My least mechanically inclined son did that to his moms car jump starting it, Lincoln navigator (jumpee) caught fire. Not to worry, fire dept put it out. DOH !!!!
 
67Dart273 said:
1....You probably blew the fuse link

2....It's possible you took out some /all the alternator diodes

3.....I assume you are using a "mine" starter? The old "wound field" starters don't care about polarity

4.....What is was turned on in the car? Radio? Might have..............

5.....What other solid state devices, GPS, etc? that are 'hot?' Might have damaged them, or just blown the fuse.

6....You have a "big" stereo remote amp? Newer radio with "keep alive" memory? Could be.......

PROBABLY did not hurt the starter. Will not hurt any "old school" stuff like horns, coil, breaker points, heater / wiper motor, and should not have injured the cluster / gauges unless you have a "solid state" IVR
Click to expand...


1. yep ...fusible link is limp and looks burnt

2. how do I check that?

3. it is an older original type starter

4. car has a radio delete plate.

5. see number 4

6. Ha you don't know me very well, I say if Ronnie Sox had an amp so would I :D

I have not converted it to electronic ignition as of yet ....right now it has the original points and no ECU box.
 
Check the alternator. Just hook the alternator frame to ground, just like it should be, and take a test light and run from the alternator stud to battery positive. If it does not light, the diodes are not shorted. They COULD still be "open."

If that test proves good, I'd just see if it works. If it won't charge as it should you probably have open diodes. Only way to check them individually is to unhook all six and use a "heavy lamp" such as stop light bulb as a test lamp / continuity checker

You test them, see if it lights, then reverse polarity. Should light one way, not the other. You can NOT reliably test high power diodes with an ohmeter.
 
rumblefish360 said:
LMAO! That's OK, chit happens. My wife is laughing about this and the time she hooked the jumper cables on backwards herself. The battery started smoking and where looking at it saying, "HOLY CHIT, look at that Chit! WTF?!?!" Laughing our asses off!

Everyone is guilty of something stupid! ;)
Click to expand...
As I usually say when I do something stupid:
What fun is being stupid if you don't get to show it off once in a while!
 
Change #1 & #2 and you should be good.
You have enough parts cars.

Also, looks like you have a decent garage to work in!!!!
 
I missed an insulator on my alternator and burnt up my wiring harness both under the dash and the hood! Things like that happen.
 
alternator seems like its bad.

wiring harness checks out ok with visual inspection.

fusible like actually rang out with ohm meter and shows closed circuit. surprisingly enough.

old starter also seems to be good, although I am strongly considering replacing it with a newer mini starter since a local buddy dropped one off here.

those mini starters sure are cute next to the old bulky type
 

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Do you actually need any type of bracket or adapter to go from an old starter to a mini-starter, or does it bolt right up?
 
Look at the mounting flange... they bolt up... except some need a bit of the nose ground off... and some have the terminals in an awkward place.

I'm kind of partial to that unmistakable raaaw raaaw raaaaw starter sound, though.

Might be messing with the soul....
 
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