"Camry won't start" Question

[chuloloco]

Yesterday my 92 Camry just straight up wouldn't start. When I put the key in the ignition and turned the key not even a sound came from the car like it will usually do when you try to start it up. I tried to jump start it, but when I put the negative cable on my battery it started to spark in 1 second intervals. I was too afraid to grab it off with my hands, but after about 20 seconds I man'd up and took it off. I tried doing the jump start process again making sure I did everything my car manuel said to do. I then tapped the negative cable again to my battery and still there were sparks. I put water inside my battery after taking off those two rubber things on the battery (sorry I don't know what they're called) and tried jumping it again, but the same thing happened. Today my car makes this weird noise that sounds like its coming from the center of the dash whenever I attempt to start it up again. I think I fried my battery trying to jump it, but if you guys think its something else or you agree with me, please let me know. I appreciate your responses.

[airelement01]

So you put one the side the negative cable to the negative side of the good battery but did you put the other negative side to the bad car battery or to a metal part of the car (it should be to a metal surface of the bad car not to the negative end of the bad battery)? Because it almost sounds like the cable from the bad car to the bad battery is loose and electricity is trying to jump the gap.

Seeing that your car makes absolutely no sound before when you tried to turn it on it is most likely a bad battery.

But make sure the cables from the car to the battery are not loose.

[Mike Gerber]

Is any electrical device in the car working? Dome light or even the radio? Do the headlights go on?

Mike

[airelement01]

If they go on or off, it's one thing but if they act weird like if the dome light or headlights flicker on and off, you have a bad connection between your car and battery for sure.

[chuloloco]

Well the dome light, corner lights, and bumper lights come on although they are much dimmer than before this problem occured, but when I press the brake pedal they all get dimmer not to mention the brake lights and headlights don't come on at all. The radio doesn't come on either. The lights don't flicker either as airelement01 mentioned. I would check to see if my connections are bad, but I'm not real car savy so how would I check for that? If they are bad how would I fix it? Also, there is the bluish, green corrosion on my negative terminal. I got most of it off but there is still some left. I heard that putting a little bit of soda helps clear it out. Have you guys heard of this? Thank you all very much for your help!

[toyomoho]

Remove and clean your battery terminals so both battery terminal and wire terminals make good contact. Check to see if the battery is dead. If you connected the jumper cables correctly you should not experience this type of sparking unless there is a dead short in the wiring or an electrical component.

Guessing you have a dead battery or severely corroded battery terminals. A google search on cleaning battery terminals will turn up a lot of hits.

[airelement01]

You can do one of 2 things to clean off the deposits.

1) First disconnect you terminals of course. Then either sprinkle some baking soda straight from the yellow box on terminals. Take a toothbrush, dip in water and scrub away.

2) Get some sand paper and just sand it away manually.

Add some grease or petroleum jelly to prevent future corrosion if avaliable and connect the cables back on the battery terminals tightly. Turn on car. If it turn on fine and stay on for at least 15 minutes (take a drive) then you're probably fine. If it doesn't do anything at all then your battery is probably died. If you hear clicking sounds then you have a loose cable to your starter. If it turns on but shuts off after a couple of minutes your alternator is probably messed up.

Good luck man.

[chuloloco]

Originally Posted by airelement01

You can do one of 2 things to clean off the deposits.

1) First disconnect you terminals of course. Then either sprinkle some baking soda straight from the yellow box on terminals. Take a toothbrush, dip in water and scrub away.

I was going to do this exact thing tomorrow morning to see if it will help. This one sit I found said to "mix baking soda and water, then drip the mix a little at a time on the battery terminals, then wait 10-15mins and wash off with water". Does this process seem ok too? I think I'll combine both together. Thanks for you help.

[airelement01]

Whatever works. Your terminals are made of metal so whatever you do, baking soda, water, soda, sand paper you won't harm it at all. Just get the rust off, and make sure the cables are tighten on the battery terminals. Turn on your car.

[wiccanferret]

Honestly most people connect the negative to negative and it works out fine. I don't think that would cause this problem.

How about this...disconnect your dead battery completely and connect the cables to the car's posts instead, with your battery completely out of the picture. If it starts up fine off the other car's battery then you know your problem is your battery. Don't let it run long though, your alt will be double charging their battery.

If possible just trade batteries with someone temporarily.

[Mike Gerber]

3 things I can add to what the above posters have said:

1. Always take the negative battery terminal off first and reinstall it last. This is important for someone with very little automotive knowledge. This is the safeest way to do it. This way, if your tool comes in contact with any metal surface, it will not create any sparks. If you remove the positive terminal first and the tool comes in contact with any metal, you will see some high intensity sparks and could actually burn your hand.

2. If you can, just take the battery out of the car and bring it to an auto parts store that tests batteries for free. This is safer than trying to jump the car from another car. Many times when I have seen this type of corrosion, it indicates an extremely weak battery or a battery with a slight crack in it's casing, causing outgassing of the gasses inside the battery.

3. If you use the baking soda and water cleaning method, be aware that the ground underneath your car will be stained a light brown color. You may not want to do this in your own driveway. I personally like the method where you buy a simple battery terminal cleaning tool for a few dollars. It has male and female ends to clean both the cable's terminal ends and the posts on the battery. I have even seen this at some dollar stores from time to time.

Mike

[chuloloco]

Alright guys. I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but maybe it will help someone else in the future. The reason jumping starting my car failed was because the positive cap on my battery was on the negative terminal. So, that's why it sparked. Now its all good. Cleaning the corrosion helped too. But yeah...

Thanks for all your help!