I have an '01 CL-S that is sitting dead in the garage since Sunday. Tried to start it and it just clicks rapidly. Accessory lights come on, dome light, and dash lights. My wife left the keys in it for 5 hours before we caught it Sunday night.

Tried to jump it yesterday with my other car but when I hooked up the black negative cable to a ground (bolt holding the air intake to the painted frame) the CL-S, there was a BIG spark. I affixed it anyways, started my 2nd car, then tried to start the CL-S and still got the clicking - NO CHANGE. I then waited a few seconds but then started smelling something burning. Turns out the jumper cables going to the good car were melting through the plastic jackets . And my wife said a bit of smoke was coming up from the positive terminal on the CL-S battery.

My father-in-law told me there is a ground issue in the car but the car worked 100% without issues on Sunday. So I'm puzzled?

I checked all of the related fuses on the driver side fuse box - nothing is blown. I've already replaced the relay under the steering wheel a few years back (problem was solved by swapping the Fuel Pump fuse for a new one).

Unhooked the negative and positive battery cables from the CL-S battery and tried to jump start the car by bypassing the CL-S battery - still got a big spark when I tried to hook up the negative cable from the good car to the CL-S negative battery cable. I didn't push it any further.

I'm trying to get the starter out now and have the battery and plastic cover off it. Do I need to remove the painted metal tray (mine is red)? And then unscrew the top long bolt and the bolt holding the connection from the positive battery cable? Is that it? Take it to Autozone to then have it tested?

Help!!

 

is that the proper way to jump the car? i don't have my manual in front of me, but shouldn't you ground to a piece of heavy duty metal such as the engine block?

 

I tried the engine block too but kept getting large sparks. The sparks didn't seem to be the standard small sparks I would have expected.

 

seems like the problem lies in how you're jumping it. Same thing happened to my wife's car this weekend. She left her phone charging in the car and it drained the battery. I jumped it, let it run and took it for a drive to charge the battery back up.

Stole this from another thread:

Make certain the vehicles are not touching and both ignition switches are turned to OFF.

1. Connect positive booster cable to positive terminal of the dead battery.
2. Connect the other end of the positive cable to the positive terminal of the live battery.
3. Connect negative cable to negative terminal of the live battery.
4. Make final connection of negative cable to engine block (away from the battery) of the car with the dead battery. (This is done because the dead battery could be emitting flammable gas. This final connection is away from the battery so if there are any sparks, they won't cause an explosion.)
5. Start vehicle and remove cables in reverse order.

 

I did this - exact order. There was a BIG spark but connected anyways. I got to step 5 and my jumper cables melted quickly, like I said above.

 

Happened to me once. Big spark when I tried to ground a jumper cable to the dead car. I clamped it on the engine block. Tried to start it and nothing. Cables started smoking and the rubber coating started to melt.

Called AAA and they came. Hooked up their special jumper cables to an outlet on their truck's bumper and then hooked up the positive and ground to the dead battery directly. Car started right up.

Try connecting it straight to the negative terminal. I know your not supposed to but I've never heard of anyone getting big sparks doing it that way and that seems to be the way most joe-blows do it.


Note: I am not responsible for any injuries or damage caused by this advice. I am simply telling my story and trying to help out a fellow member.

 

I went to try this earlier and got the same, large sparks, so I backed off. The last thing I need is to melt wiring or something else INSIDE the car's electrical - that is a disaster.

I'm going to Sears shortly to have them test the 2-year old Diehard Gold battery that I purchased from them. It is showing 11.78 volts on my multi-meter currently. I'm going to have them charge it to see if it will indeed charge or not.

 

Oh yea, read the first post again. Looks like to tried to jump it 3 times. I'd call AAA to see if they can get it started without sparking it.

 

I was going to mention connecting positive to positive and negative to negative too but looks like you tried it...If you happen to have a Costco card or Sam's card, the batteries there are cheap and they have a very good return policy if the battery is not the problem. One suggestion about jumping the battery....I would say connect positive of the and negative of the bad battery first...then connect the positive and negative of the live battery. This will reduce the chance of an arc of sparks.

Sparks flying everytime you touch it does seem like some sort of ground problem.

 

I checked the voltage of the battery yesterday with my multi-meter and it was 11.78V. At 12V, a car battery is pretty much discharged. I took the battery to Sears Auto Center where I purchased it only two years previous. They charged it and tested it - took about 45 minutes but it tested good. I took the fully charged battery home in my second car and put it back in the CL-S. Car started immediately without any hesitation or issues.

Crazy, huh?!

 

grab a trickle charger. They're good if you ever leave your car sitting for a while. Glad your car is back!

 

I have also seen this happen.
Heavy duty starter cables make a difference and sometimes it seems better to go neg to neg on the battery.
But also pay attention to corrosion on cars cables.
Clean and inspect before jumping.
Had a TL that seemed to be persistent on growing corrosion.
Once it got so bad - the neg cable was eaten completly off the starter. Had to have it towed to Acura dealer.

 

I'm asking for a battery/trickle charger for Christmas .

 

not for nothing but it really sounds like on one of the vehicals u had the pos/neg reversed

 

agree.

 

If you drive the CL daily, think about the alternator. If you have the CL started, see what the volts are to see if the alternator is not charging your battery properly.

 

Have your battery load tested. It may just not be able to take and hold a sufficient charge anymore