Today, I elected to replace the OEM battery in my '04. I had ordered and purchased a Mopar replacement a few days ago.

I presumed it would be a simple swap. WRONG!!!

I failed to check the polarity since the new one fit directly into the battery case and the wires could only be attached one way.

After the initial flash and sparks, even I knew something was wrong.

I yanked out the new one and replaced it with the old OEM. The car started, but when I did a quick check of my elecrtical system, the radio won't work.

I've changed many batteries in my lifetime, but I've never encountered this type of situation.

We'll see what the dealership has to say. It was dumb of me to have not checked the polarity, but in my defense, everything else seemed to be a perfect fit.

Tune in tomorrow for the next chapter of "Local Dummie Fries Electrical System.

Electrical Don

 

Very strange. Did you do a battery search here before purchasing a Mopar battery? What did you pay for the battery? Here's a thread about batteries: click here

 

Red is positive (+) and black is negative (-). Positive likes to visit negative and make lots of sparks!! That is why we keep them separated.

Sorry to hear this happened. Hope it didn't fry too much.

MikeR

 

I went back to the dealer today and they acknowledged it was the wong battery. While the posts' position corresponded to the OEM, their polarity was reversed. Of course I know red is positive and black is negative, but my cables were both black.

To compound the situation, the cables would only fit on the reversed poles.

The tech replaced the fuses for my subwoofer and the fan, but the radio still won't work. In the old days, there was an inline fuse in the power wire.

Except for the radio, it looks like the problems have been solved.

We'll see if there's any offer to repair the radio. Meanwhile, I won't hold my breath.

Breathless

 

Don,

this situation sucks for you or anyone. If the Stealership spec'ed this replacement, AND it is a white case duplicate, AND the post size limits how it can be attached, they had darned well replace anything that was damaged. If you had paid the $85 minimum chage to have a tech do the work, I doubt very much if a voltmeter would have been used to check polarity. It would have been a "dang" and give her back to you. If it started. The regulator built into the alternator took a good hit, and shortened the lifetime of those components. Tons of stuff took a whack, and in the near future could start failing.

I just looked at my OEM and it's marked with a 3/8" high red "+" and it would be easy to overlook-especially if you expected it to be a "FACTORY REPLACEMENT".

Start screaming!