tried hooking up a standard battery charger to an optima red top and start my car, then out of nowhere smoke from dash and engine bay. and then for some reason parking lights where on even tho the switch was on off position. someone told me agm batteries charge different and i shouldnt have had a regular charger on it. a month ago the car started and ran fine. wtf. did moisture cause an unseen problem? am i in deep shit? fcm im not good at these things. i need advice. i bought a new battery but now im worried about extra damage being done.
sounds like you fried something in there… before you hook anything up you are going to want to fully inspect your engine & wiring harnesses… also pull and inspect the ECU & ICU check all fues and links in the engine bay…
generally you don’t try to start the car with the charger on it… you let the charger run overnight to see if the battery takes a charge or not… only top end charging systems will have a 'Boost" function that allows you to start the car with it connected… otherwise you run into issues like this…
Sorry I don’t have better news, but you definitely are going to have a bit of work ahead of ya…
As mentioned, before connecting the batt. you need to inspect wiring to prevent more damage, if there was smoke, something burnt, and if anything is staying on, [that should not] there is a short. 94
thanks guys, ive been having alot of issues lately. and this didnt help. as i check the car out. just keep me posted on things. i think my life needs more modification than my car right now. but thank you for telling me i screwed up. maybe i can prevent someone else from doing something like this…
It may not be that big of a deal, a “large” harness from PicknPull is only around $35, so even if you had to replace all the harnesses, it would still be under $100, just a bunch of time to do.
In a lot of cases, just the damaged, [burnt] wiring can be replaced.
We juat finised a 94 Acura 3.2TL that was going to be writen off, [burnt wiring] a new combination light switch harness and repaired/replaced two other leads and the car is good to go.94
engine bay damage appears to be in/by the alternator. ill pull that out and have it tested… If the plug appears to look ok do i sheath the wires and look for damage? if no damage move on to starter and related wiring?
that wuld be the right course of action… from there keep on working back until you find what smoked under the dash…
Ditto the above^^^.
Do not connect up power untill you find the damage. 94
first and foremost, i want to say a thank you to all. G2’s are good cars but the people who own and respect them make this community what it is. you guys will never know how much this 23 year old car means to me… but thank you. traced backed all wires etc. in engine bay; alternator, starter, and related all seem good. only thing that isnt functional is radio and door chime. i feels like i went through alot more than i should have, but thats life. FCM, DJZach thanks guys. i Owe you one… MIke.