so lately miss trouble has been getting more drive time than the old dd honda both because it's good for my mood and she's been crabby about the whole winter thing if i don't drive her 3-5 days a week. so this morning i put her on the block heater for about an hour before work even though it was about 30*.

went to start her up and it was a very pathetic attempt. but apparently i turned the key a little too long and the (month and a half old napa) fender solenoid got stuck again i guess cause she kept cranking after i took the key out. *sigh* disconnected the negative terminals, took the honda to work, and texted my sister to go pick up a new pair of batteries for me.

she fired up all right after i got them in...but the terminals don't seem to want to fit right. i couldn't get them to go all the way down around the post. maybe my fingers were just too numb? AND when i went to reconnect the negative terminals, sparks went everywhere and there are burn marks on my new batteries!!

honestly some days i think she don't like me...her other new trick is for every light behind the dash to randomly go out. grrrr...is everyone else's truck this quirky?!?

 

If there are sparks flying you have a serious draw on the batteries. Make sure everything is off. Also you may want to disconnect the solenoid just to be sure it is not draining.

 

Sounds like that POS Napa relay is shot!! Get a stancore and be done with it.. As for being quirky, yeah mine seems to have a glitch every once in a while and about the time I wanna tackle it I can't find it.......

 

Shes' talking about the Starter Solinoid YoSlick.
=)

But yea, if she getting big sparks, there is a HUGE draw someplace in the truck, which could explain the poor starts to begin with.

 

My truck sparks a little when i put the battery cables back on too. And im having hard starts as well.

 

If you have the batteries disconnected for a period of time they will spark a little when hooked back up. If you hook them up shorly after disconnecting them there shouldn't be a spark to speak of or you have a drain somewhere.

 

I'd do the fender mounted relay with a stancore as well, she said it has been sticking and the starter won't disengage when she lets go of the key.... did you get a new starter when you were having problems?

 

Yea, I think she replaced it YoSlick.

You'd have to match up the stancore for the fender, I wouldn't use the same one we use for a GPR.

Your almost always gonna have a little spark when you put the battery cable on. But not any BIG sparks.
If you have big sparks putting cables on, you got a bad cable, or you have a huge draw someplace, which if its that big, most likely a short, or bad component leaking. Something is calling for power.

 

You probably do have a drain and that's why she is so cranky after sitting for a few days. The bats are getting low and not spinning the engine over fast enough to fire easily. That make sense?

 

Terminals don't fit........BIG sparks.......Are you sure you don't have a battery in bassackwards?

Rog

 

The problem could be from the ign switch itself.

Bill

 

they look big when they're flying in my face! that plus the zappy sizzle noises and the smoke...really really not cool. she was good today, fired up right away and strong. the two times i've gotten sparks was following an extended time (8 hours to a couple days) sitting with disconnected battery cables and a sticky fender solenoid. like when i hooked up the negatives, the engine tried to turn over...i think napa owes me another solenoid.

so now how to i track this down? i very very seldom forget to turn off the cb...the only thing i can think of offhand that could be drawing power is my brake controller. but i can't imagine it's that much...

well, now i feel the need to go check again lol...but i put the reds on the pluses first and then the black on the minus, so i think i'm good there they fit...just they won't go all the way down the post

i would like to replace the terminals at least and the cables when i can too...there is corrosion i can't tell how far down the cable it goes. the parts i can reach are sparkling clean and coated in red goop to keep em that way

 

and...the one battery was 2+ yrs old and the other was a freebie out of 2010 and i think only rated 650 cca. so that was definitely not helping either.

 

You can pick up a terminal spreader pretty cheap just about anywhere. They are kinda like a pair of pliers but work the opposite. Loosen the bolt, place the spreaders in from the bottom of the terminal (They're tapered) and spread the clamp a smidgen. Viola, drops right down onto the post.

Rog

 

uhm, the truck cranking while hooking up the negatives means you hooked a battery up backwards from what it sounds like to me, or that something else is wrong....

The truck shouldn't crank at all unless the key is on, or your jumping the solenoid. You physically have to make that loop for the power, and usually it wont even do it unless the key is turned.

You should check make sure your batteries are hooked up right.
but it sounds like you need new ignition, not a new solenoid.

Remember, 20something keys and 400 keychains do not make for a good set of keys in the ignition.