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I have a 1989 sable and it died when I was driving so I changed the alternator. Then it would just click one time when i tryed to start it and the positive battery cable smoked and got hot. So i tested the starter the battery and then changed the positive battery cable. And now when i try and start it ever with jumpers on it still just turns over really slow and now the negative battery cable gets jot and smokes. Oh and I checked every fuse. So Wut do I do now?
Country: United StatesMake: MercuryModel: sableYear: 1998Engine: 3.0 single cam
Hello and welcome to Justanswer,My name is XXX XXX I am here to assist you with your question.Anytime a cable gets hot and smokes its usually caused by eaither the starter is drawing to many amps or you have resistance on eaither cable due to a short to ground or one and or both are loose. I would start with making sure the starter dosnt draw more than 280 cranking amps and if not, then recheck you positive cable for any signs of shorting to ground and also to be sure its nice and tight on both ends as well as making sure the ground cable is tight as well.
I did all of that with the cables. But how do u test the the starter like that.
You install a battery test to the batter positive cable and measure cranking volts at the tester along with the amp draw. The cranking volts should not drop below 10.8 volts and the starter draw should not go higher than 280 amps. If you do not have the tester, most part stores can do it for you at no charge in most cases. If your battery is good and fully charged and the cables check ok then the problem is very likely a failing starter.
Well the battery is 3 weeks old and iv charged it and got it tested at auto zone. And i tested the starter there to. So when they test the starter at auto zone it does not tell them if the starter is using to much power.
Well if the cables are getting hot one of them is, its eaither the cables and or the starter or the connections to them.
So if I change the starter and get a new one. And it still don't start. Then its has to b a wire. Because iv done everything I can do to the wires I can do like taken off every connection and cleaned them. So it has to b the starter right.
The starter really needs to be test on the car so there is a load on it. A dragging starter will likely spin fine on the bench with no load. Before replacing the starter I would try to get it tested on the car.
Well thank u for the help hopefully I can get it running.
Your very welcome and thank you as well.