1994 holiday rambler, F-53 chassis, 460 ci engine- Battery was completely dead and while attempting to jump start the cables were reversed (bonehead!). A brief puff of smoke and burnt plastic smell in the engine compartment when ignition was turned on, but nothing else. Thorough flashlight exam of engine compartment failed to find the source of melted plastic smell- battery is intact (thank God..)and still dead. Where do I start to troubleshoot and repair the damage of my boneheaded jumpstart attempt?

scottmarsc wrote:1994 holiday rambler, F-53 chassis, 460 ci engine- Battery was completely dead and while attempting to jump start the cables were reversed (bonehead!). A brief puff of smoke and burnt plastic smell in the engine compartment when ignition was turned on, but nothing else. Thorough flashlight exam of engine compartment failed to find the source of melted plastic smell- battery is intact (thank God..)and still dead. Where do I start to troubleshoot and repair the damage of my boneheaded jumpstart attempt?your lucky the battery was dead that,s why no big damage anyhow charge up the battery and then see what works and what dont and trace from there.

May have burned the main fuseable link. Usually connected to the starter solenoid.

You probably toasted one or more relay coils. They smell lick plastic when they get hot and have a melt down. You may want to install a good battery, get it running and see what isn;t working. Things like headlights, horn, wiper. Good luck.

+1 for a fusable link. BTDT on a car.

Relay coils do not care about battery polarity. Ditto the fusible link. Inspect all wires around battery in case a light weight one melted. You may have multiple blown fuses so take your time sorting things out.

cables reversed during jump start attempt | Good Sam Community

17 Replies

Alfred622
Explorer
Sep 28, 2013
Does that engine have a computer associated with it? Uh... did it? I hope that didn't blow but it sure would not be happy with reverse voltage.
K_Charles
Explorer
Sep 28, 2013
Fuseable link is my guess too.
YC_1
Nomad
Sep 28, 2013
Relay coils do not care about battery polarity. Ditto the fusible link. Inspect all wires around battery in case a light weight one melted.

You may have multiple blown fuses so take your time sorting things out.
time2roll
Nomad
Sep 28, 2013
+1 for a fusable link. BTDT on a car.
chuckftboy
Explorer
Sep 28, 2013
You probably toasted one or more relay coils. They smell lick plastic when they get hot and have a melt down. You may want to install a good battery, get it running and see what isn;t working. Things like headlights, horn, wiper. Good luck.
sch911
Explorer
Sep 28, 2013
May have burned the main fuseable link. Usually connected to the starter solenoid.
prism
Explorer
Sep 28, 2013
scottmarsc wrote:
1994 holiday rambler, F-53 chassis, 460 ci engine- Battery was completely dead and while attempting to jump start the cables were reversed (bonehead!). A brief puff of smoke and burnt plastic smell in the engine compartment when ignition was turned on, but nothing else. Thorough flashlight exam of engine compartment failed to find the source of melted plastic smell- battery is intact (thank God..)and still dead. Where do I start to troubleshoot and repair the damage of my boneheaded jumpstart attempt?

your lucky the battery was dead that,s why no big damage anyhow charge up the battery and then see what works and what dont and trace from there.

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cables reversed during jump start attempt

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