can you smell that?

[AndoCommando]

that would be the smell of my battery sizzling when i put the wires on
why is it doing this?

[coletrain]

What kind of battery cables are you running? Stock?
What kind of battery did you get? Stock replacement?

[AndoCommando]

everything is all stock
when it started making the crackling noise my friend said just shove them on so i did then it stopped but when i went to turn the key its making this weird clicking sound while the key is in the on position (not trying to turn it over)
and also the tach revs at like 1.5 with the car being off and the only fuse that blew was for the horn

[C91BLX7]

battery is bad.

[AndoCommando]

you sure cause it was working just fine like 4 weeks ago before i started my swap

[Accrdwgnguy]

You say you swapped? Check all the engine grounds, make sure they are all clean and connected tight. I had electrical problems with my Civic after I swapped it because of bad grounds.

[James Matteu]

Please be sure you have the battery terminals on the correct posts. If your car has the wrong battery in it, the posts may be switched around.

[07BLKNINJA]

Please be sure you have the battery terminals on the correct posts. If your car has the wrong battery in it, the posts may be switched around.

that's Exactly what i was thinking. and i hope this is not the misfortune. not only do u toast the battery but usually control modules too.

[coletrain]

Also if you have aftermarket/new battery cables, make sure they are the same oem specs.

[AndoCommando]

Also if you have aftermarket/new battery cables, make sure they are the same oem specs.

like i said all stock
and the battery is in the right way thats what i checked first

can you guys tell me where the engine grounds are?

[batever]

like i said all stock
and the battery is in the right way thats what i checked first

can you guys tell me where the engine grounds are?

I've never messed with them but I know there is one off the starter.

also make sure your *battery cables* are routed correctly.


What do you mean, a sizzling sound? just as you put the wires on, or after, too?

In general I would say if the battery sizzles when you put the cables on it even though the car is off, that means that some power is going straight through a circuit back to the battery. In other words, somehow the current is making a circuit (running from the positive to the negative terminal of the battery through the engine block or elsewhere) when there should be no circuit running, except the minor one that keeps the clock or alarm system on. something is not connected right and enough power is circling around to make the battery make noise. Although to tell the truth a battery making noise doesn't sound so good to me. Unless, again, you are talking about just as you put the battery clamps on, in which case it would spark or sizzle as you come close with the clamp and make contact *if there is a complete circuit (besides the radio) happening in the car*.

Wear full eye goggles while you are figuring this out/connecting and reconnecting the battery while you are working on the car and figuring this out and keep a couple gallons of water in milk jugs nearby in case the battery explodes. Rare but possible, and especially more likely since something weird is going on.

[johnl]

It sounds like there might be a major short circuit, so the battery could be heavily disharging. If so then this can cause the battery to generate a lot of hydrogen gas, and hydrogen is explosive, so it's possible for a spark to cause an explosion.

I've had this happen. A battery slid forward in the (loose) mounting and the positive electrode got jammed against the chassis (causing loss of all electrics and the engine to stop running), causing a massive discharge. When I moved the battery away from the chassis it exploded literally in my face when the hydrogen was ignited by a spark.

Fortunately I was able to immediately wash the acid off my face and out of my eyes so no real damage to me, but that was just luck...

Be careful...

[batever]

It sounds like there might be a major short circuit, so the battery could be heavily disharging. If so then this can cause the battery to generate a lot of hydrogen gas, and hydrogen is explosive, so it's possible for a spark to cause an explosion.

I've had this happen. A battery slid forward in the (loose) mounting and the positive electrode got jammed against the chassis (causing loss of all electrics and the engine to stop running), causing a massive discharge. When I moved the battery away from the chassis it exploded literally in my face when the hydrogen was ignited by a spark.

Fortunately I was able to immediately wash the acid off my face and out of my eyes so no real damage to me, but that was just luck...

Be careful...

When I saw your name on the thread, johnl, I just knew I was going to learn something new...and I was right!

I hadn't connected the sizzling sound to hydrogen gas bubbling up through the sulfuric acid or gas venting out of the battery.

OP, the hydrogen gas is explosive. And it's when you either put on the clamps or take them off that a spark is created. If H is around the spark then it ignites, the hydrogen inside the battery ignites, and it blows the cover of the battery and the acid all over the place. I've heard about it but today is the first time I've heard from anyone who actually had it happen to them.

(That's why you're supposed to jump start the car with the negative jumper cable on the jumped car going to the engine block or tab, not the negative pole of its battery. Because if you charge the battery for a decent time, then go to remove the clamps, the clamps will spark as you remove them and the spark will ignite any hydrogen gas around. If you put that negative cable on the engine block that spark when you remove the negative jumper cable from the jumped car will be far enough from the battery that igniting any gas is much less likely. This is commonly ignored by almost everyone I know or have heard of (except my father who taught me the right way and *why* it's the right way) and luckily usually they get away with it. )

Best thing would be to leave those clamps off and go over *all* of your major electrical connections and make sure they are going to the right place. You may want to take a less powerful battery, like a 6 or 12 volt lantern battery (not only less powerful, it has no acid to blow up all over your face), hook it up to the car, and pull off various electrical connections, then see if you have a complete circuit. You should have no full circuit when the ignition is in the off position. Put a test light on a lead from the negative pole of the lantern battery and connect it in line to the negative battery cable with a clamp. Then when you have a full circuit you'll see the light on but you'll be dealing with low enough amperage (and a non lead acid battery) so it will be much safer (actually, completely safe) to work with.

Then just go through all the engine electrical connections and see which one it is.

good luck and be careful. take that car battery out and diagnose the electrical connections before putting the car battery back in.

[batever]

everything is all stock
when it started making the crackling noise my friend said just shove them on so i did then it stopped but when i went to turn the key its making this weird clicking sound while the key is in the on position (not trying to turn it over)
and also the tach revs at like 1.5 with the car being off and the only fuse that blew was for the horn

All of this is consistent with some kind of circuit being completed when it really shouldn't be. You have current moving through the vss (the tach is moving) when there shouldn't be any and the fact that the car won't turn over probably is because most of the energy of the battery has found an easier way to complete a circuit than jumping across a spark plug gap. And in fact you don't even have enough power to turn the starter motor, which indicates that your short is either at or *before* the starter. Check your starter engine electrical connections and grounds. Not just that they are tight, but that they are correct (not reversed) and that there is no short someplace.

You just put a new engine in, probably you messed up the connections somehow in the process.

good luck and be safe, use that lantern battery trick. and have the H20 nearby and use full goggles once you fix it and go to put in or reconnect the car battery.