Hi there

Got me a flat battery recently and after finishing charging, heard a big crack when i took the clip off the negative terminal. I took them off in the right order, and turns out the dash fuse in the drivers footwell had blown.

Replaced the fuse, and as soon as i turned the car on, blows again. Tried a few more fuses, and still no go. I've lost the dial movements in all the gauges, but the lights still work.

All i did was disconnect the battery, charge it, reconnect the battery and now my fuses keep blowing. Can anyone give me an idea of what i've screwed up??

Cheers,
Bon

There's another dash fuse under the hood next to the battery, 15amp. Might seem dumb, but the battery is in the correct orientation with the leads going to the correct terminals? ;)

That fuse is fine, and yes all orientation is fine. Didn't take the battery out, just disconnected it and reconnected it.

You better check how much the battery is putting out now (after the cracking sound). If it
is blowing a fuse then it might be putting out too much current. Don't want to damage any
other electronics. AND don't replace the fuse that keeps blowing with a higher rated one.

and i do this how??

Perhaps take the battery to you local machanic and they can check the current flow, or take it to a battery place like Battery works or some place like it.
I wouldn't recommend driving the car with the battery in case you blow more fuses.

and i do this how??
Use a multimeter.

gathered that much- but what am i looking for?? current over what is bad??

When disconnecting/connecting the battery, was the ignition switch "on"? If it was on, than there is the chance that electrical components are damaged.

Nope- jump started it, drove it home, then, removed the key/locked the door before charging....

Any autoelectricians in the building?

Nope- jump started it, drove it home, then, removed the key/locked the door before charging....

Any autoelectricians in the building?

You did charge it with it disconnected from the car right?. Also, there is no order in which
you connect/disconnect the terminals AFAIK.

Also, there is no order in which you connect/disconnect the terminals AFAIK.


Workshop/Service/Operators Manual suggest to disconnect grounded (negative) terminal first and then the positive terminal.
When connecting the battery, connect the positive terminal and then the negative terminal.

If the battery is to be fast (quick) charged, first disconnect the battery cables.
When slow charging, the battery does not need to be disconnected.

Never disconnect the battery while the engine is running or the ignition switch is "on".

Yes i did disconnect the battery from the car before charging, and reconnected in the correct order. Driving me nuts!

Yes i did disconnect the battery from the car before charging, and reconnected in the correct order. Driving me nuts!

I reckon its time for a new battery. How old is that one. Mine died suddenly just shy of 3 years. Drove from city to in-laws. Stopped car, went in to pick up daughter, 5 mins later
car won't start.

the battery went flat due to have the stereo on for a few hours.

there is nothing wrong with the battery, the problem we are having is with the fuse in for the dash guages.

Possibly, damage to electronics happened when jump-starting the car.
I have limited knowledge about electricity, but fuses doesn't blow for no reason.

There is a short article about Zap Protection For Jump-Starting in the Silicon Chip online magazine.

http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_100878/article.html

Sounds more realistic- battery is only about a year old. is there a way to ifnd out where the problem is exactly?

Similar problem on the Camry.

SUBJECT: TOYOTA CAMRY V6, 1998 - Alternator Fusing Problem - anyone come across this or a similar problem? (20/04/2006) *ADVICE WANTED*

* "Have had my 98 V6 manual since new, without any major problems. One month ago replaced the battery for only the second time since new, which I thought was quite good. Was on Easter holidays in NSW when starting for home & only a few minutes into trip I found I could not get cruise control to function. Then noticed all dashboard was out. No fuel gauge, no water temperature gauge, no speedo, no tacho, no warning lights. Later, I discovered no cruise control. I stopped & found the 10A instrument fuse in the fuse compartment above the accelerator was blown. I replaced it but the fuse blew again, so I assumed the fault was a permanent short circuit somewhere that would have to be sorted later. I assumed the instrument fuse would not effect the motor running so pushed on. 2-3 hours later the radio cut out, and shortly thereafter, the engine management died if an indicator or stop light was operated. I figured the battery was low, so refrained from operating anything but the engine until I reached somewhere I could get it looked at. Alas, it stopped in the middle of no where, and my glove box multimeter showed the battery terminal voltage as 7.2 volts. I assumed the alternator was not charging. I got a jump start from a passer by, and with the engine running, measured the battery voltage which indicated no alternator charging. The thought crossed my mind that the instrument fuse blowing may have some bearing on the problem but I could not understand how a fuse for a non essential item like cruise control could stop the alternator from charging.
* After getting the car towed to the nearest large town with an auto electrician, I told the sad story. He replaced the instrument fuse again, but this time it did not blow. A jump start got the car going again, and low & behold the alternator was charging. The auto electrician said that he had come across this problem before, where the instrument fuse apparently supplies the sensing voltage to the alternator regulator. As the short circuit that had caused the instrument fuse was obviously intermittent, we had a problem in finding what was causing it.
* With a pocket full of 10A fuses I set off for Brisbane in darkness. The auto electrician suggested I should carefully note what function I was using in the car just prior to the next time the fuse blew. Within 45 minutes the fuse had blown again just as I pulled into a farmhouse where I had left the trailer I was pulling, when we came to a stop. I was reversing & using an indicator at the time. I replaced the fuse and we were again mobile. I tried everything over the next 400 km to try & get the instrument fuse to blow, to no avail.
* Has anyone come across this or a similar problem before? What design has a fuse that could blow for anyone of several pieces of equipment going faulty. And in blowing, cuts out the life blood of the car, the alternator, and gives you no indication of the alternator not charging, because the same fuse powers the charge or alternator warning light. Shaken my confidence in Camry's a bit at present, until I get to the bottom of this." K Bennett, Greenbank, QLD

Read under Jump start - wires crossed.

http://www.autoupkeep.com/QAelectrical.htm#Anchor-Shorte-39739

Auto electrician


This problem seemed to get worse in hot weather

Thanks for that, looks like i'm just going to have to dig in my back pockets and find some change for the auto electrician. Will double check the alternator, but again, thats only as old as the battery so shouldn't be doing anything out of the ordinary just yet!