Major car problem - need help

[RaistlinZ]

So, like an idiot I left my headlights on when I went shopping and when I came back of course the battery was dead. The problem though is when I tried to jump start it smoke started coming from the battery as well as from the steering wheel and center console area.

Would just a dead battery cause that, or is some other electrical problem? My car is a 1998 Sentra 200 SE-R and it only has 61,000 miles on it, but my battery had been pretty old. Any thoughts on what is wrong and how much it would cost to fix? Thanks.

 

[jagec]

How does smoke come from the steering wheel?

The only think I can think of is that you shorted some wires, and smoke is coming from burnt wires. However, a jump start really shouldn't cause this. What procedure did you use for the jump start?

 

[LuckyTaxi]

wrong forum buddy

 

[compnovice]

You connected +ive to +ive and -ive to ground, right?

 

[jagec]

WTF is "+ive"? Never heard of "positiveive" before.

 

[LordMorpheus]

Originally posted by: jagec
WTF is "+ive"? Never heard of "positiveive" before.

that aside, it's a valid question.

But if he did it backwards he should have seen some pretty fireworks when he connected the last terminal.

 

[Colt45]

Don't put the jumper cables on backwards next time.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Oh shit. Hopefully you didn't hook it up negative to positive and positive to negative. You could have some major problems here. Like replacing all of the wiring in your car and possibly anything and everything electrical. I take it the vehicle is still at the shopping parking lot?

 

[compnovice]

Originally posted by: jagec
WTF is "+ive"? Never heard of "positiveive" before.

+ is plus
+ive is positive