Technical Reversed battery cables

Went stupid and reversed battery cables by mistake. Car will not crank. What do I need to do


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What kind of car? A little more info would help. Won't crank after hooking it back up correctly?

 

generator or alternator? 6 or 12. how old?

 

Won't turn over? Or turns over but won't start? Points or electronic ignition? As said, more info...

 

Hot rod running 350/350 with points ignition and 12 volts. Replaced battery. Will begin checking fuses tomorrow. Alternator is likely fried. What should I look for?


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Again, when you say it 'won't crank', is it won't turn over at all or just won't start?

 

Alternator won't cause No start ..or no crank, or no start /crank, geographically speaking.
It would be the regulator, most likely anyway.

 

The first thing to let the smoke out will be your diodes in your alternator. If your'e real lucky, the fusible link has let
go before any damage was done (if it was fitted with one).

 

As Mark Yak said, the alternator working or not has absolutely no bearing on if the engine will or won't start. I've been around too many dirt track modifieds that had no charging system at all. Battery was usually goo for several heat races and they might charge it in the pits or swap to a fresh battery for the main.
That said, it's time to make sure the points and coil are working right and I'd want to check the coil with a coil tester. Some just don't handle reverse polarity well. I've seen that a couple of times where someone hooked the coil up backwards polarity wise.

 

This seems simple enough on a 350/ 350 hot rod. Probably just need a test light for this one.
Surprised it's not 6 pages already. I think people here are getting tired of the guessing and mind reading.

 

^^^ You're absolutely right ^^^

 

I'll give the OP credit, it takes some Mr. Ed sized cahoneys to admit to that one! Hopefully there is a fusible link or 100 amp breaker in line.

Word to all those reading this, if you don't have one, add one.

 

Problem solved. Alternator @ 14.5, no blown fuses, lights or gauges. Stupid is as stupid does. Never over think a problem. Replaced bad battery. Found the negative battery cable with bad ground at chassis. Car starts and runs. 100+ miles today.


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Those bad grounds will get you every time but probably saved the day this time.
I've seen too many guys spend their month supply of car money replacing things because of a bad connection at the ground cable.

 

Well, kudos to you for getting back and letting us know what the problem ended up being. That will help someone in the future reading posts like this if they do a search.

 

Saved by the problem

 

Times 2 on getting back with the solution. Way too many times the OP never gets back to all the people who tried to help. Plus we never find out what fixed the problem. Now have fun driving it.