What damage my truck may have due to improperly jump started

Asked by Rjsmith278 Aug 28, 2018 at 02:08 AM about the 1998 Ford F-150 STD LB

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I feel dumb right now, but Im sure I am not the only
one who has had this problem. I have a 1998 F150,
recently a series of mistakes was made. I hooked
up the positive end of jumper cables to the
negative terminal, of course there was an
immediate shower of sparks and the cable was
removed instantly. After cussing and screaming
(someone else did it the week before) I hooked
them up correctly and it started up until the cables
are disconnected and it dies. Same thing it did
when this happened before. Battery and alternator
are done possibly fuseable link. I have looked into
it because I just bought this truck and I seen that I
can do some serious damage and I would like to
know what else I can check. And any advice. This
truck is really nice, and im really not wanting to
touch it

4 Answers
73,400

OJ answered 5 years ago

Hopefully you just shorted out the battery or destroyed the alternator. Switch out the battery with one you know is good and see if the vehicle starts and runs. Then check the alternator with the vehicle running and a volt meter.

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Rjsmith278 answered 5 years ago

Awesome I was fairly certain that was what needed to happen, my next question is how do I go about finding what is drawing off the battery when everything is off. If I park it for 5 days and I will have absolutely nothing left in the battery and its the right size battery.

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73,400

OJ answered 5 years ago

If the battery goes dead after sitting for days you have what is called a parasitic electrical draw. The process of tracing the problem is rather simple, but to long to explain here. Check the net for a video on how to trace an automotive parasitic draw, there should me many. All you'll need is a multi-meter.

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73,400

OJ answered 5 years ago

One thing to check first is the light inside the glove box. Those small plastic switches tend to fail and not shut off when the box is closed.

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