yea, thats what i said earlier today. my girlfriends car, a hiundi or whatever battery died because she left the light on for 4 days while she was out of town, so i was just like, no big deal, we will jump it and get you on your way. so i pull up to the car get the jumpers out plug them on my car, and then continue to put them on her car, well, apparently i put them on backwards, or i think i might have, i just looked at the battery terminal and there was a red plastic cap over one of the terminals, so naturally i think +, and of course black would be -. so i place them on and we try to start her car, it wouldnt start, but we were getting power to it, so im like, ok.....what now. to make a long story short, we baught a new battery and now it is dead again, which means the alternator isnt working......so my question is, WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU MIX THE CABLES UP LIKE I MIGHT HAVE? SERIOUS OR NOT THAT SERIOUS? i say this because i dont remember if i put them on right or wrong, naturally i would think that i wouldnt be that dumb, but when i looked again today, hyundi puts everything backwards on there battery, its really set up weird.
Thanks guys.

P.S. i know this doesnt pertain to ford, but it was jumped by a ford

 

You need to get the system checked out before throwing anymore money at it. Most autoparts retail stores will check it out for free.

I suspect you have a cable loose or not correct on the Korean car.

A starter will turn if the cables are correct and there is a charge in the battery, no matter what other stuff you may have hurt.

If you reverse the cables even for a split second you 'could' fry both electric systems, toast the PCM's, start a fire, ruin the regulator (built into the alternator) or lots of other things.

Probably not. The Hundy was not charged; not running so I doubt you hurt it. If your truck seems OK for a week, it probably is.

Chris

 

yea, everything is fine on my truck, but like i said, everthing works fine on her car, radio, air etc so i dont think i fried anything as far as electrical, but she cant get her battery to hold a charge...anybody else, thanks for answering by the way

 

Probably blew the PCM megafuse. Poke around the engine compartment looking for any big (like 50A, maybe 100A) megafuses and see if they're blown. There may be damage beyond that, but it's someplace to start.

 

If I am getting it right, the Korean car runs, but the battery runs down?

That does not sound like the PCM fuse, as it would not start/run with that blown, unless Koreans do it different. Or perhaps I didn't get the right idea of the present problem.

If the car is running, take it to Sears, Autozone, etc. for a free diagnostic. If they say the alt is toast, and it is not out of warranty, I would just pick up a rebuilt one. Shop around, prices vary a LOT.

This assumes the car will start, run.

I would invest in a small cheap battery charger if you are gonna be messing with cars much. You can get a trickle charger (8 hours for a full charge) for ten fifteen bucks. You can get a decent ten amp charger for twenty thirty bucks. They will put a full charge in it in about three hours.

It is just a handy thing to have one around.

If the battery does nothing, even when fully charged, then start looking for a bad connection, cable, or blown fuse/fusible link.
Chris