A battery that will not jump

ANBU SAI

MEMBER
2006 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
200,000 MILES

I have the car listed above that won't jump. Every time I try to jump the car it gives sparks out of the negative. I connect the jumpers the correct order. The car has a new battery and a new alternator, but every time I try to connect the last negative there are sparks. This happened before but when I replaced the battery the car started fine! I'm not sure what to do now. I can't buy a new battery every time my car wont start.

1 Reply

SCGRANTURISMO

MECHANIC
4,897 POSTS

Hello,

Okay, so the battery either has an internal short circuit in it, or the wires that you are connecting to it might have a short to ground in one of them. I would start by inspecting the wires that are connecting to the battery[especially the positive ones] for any frayed or bare insulation that is allowing metal to metal contact with the vehicles frame. If everything looks good then I would have the battery tested at your local auto parts store for a shorted cell internally. You can also take a voltage reading across the battery terminals with a Digital Multi-meter [DMM] and see if you are reading around 10.5 Volts or so. This would indicate that a cell is shorted as well. Please inspect everything we talked about and get back to us with what you are able to find out, and we can go from there, if needed.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros