If One Of The Terminals Came Off Your Car Battery While You Were Driving...

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Damager

2125 posts

Uber Geek

#38470 29-Jul-2009 21:31

Would your car just die immediately?Which is a horrifying thought..

Or does it keep going until the car is actually turned off? I'm guessing this is what would happen, seeing as there would be a residual charge to keep the car going, in the event one of the terminals came off or close to it.

Reason i ask, is i was out and about, stopped the car momentarily in front of a shop and tried to start it again, completely dead, absolutely no lights registered at all, dash or door lights etc.

Went to check the battery and wtf... one of the terminals was just barely hanging on.. I have an R33 Nissan Skyline which has the battery at the back of the car.. cool huh, not. I had some car audio work done recently and realised the installer hasnt tightened one the bolts on the terminal clip properly!! Didnt have an adjustable spanner handy so managed to get it finger tight. Started the car, and im away again. Home now and have tightened the clip with a spanner.

So to the above.. No chance of the car just turning off if one of the battery terminal clips came off while driving? In one of my previous cars, i blew an ignition module while turning on a roundabout.. car died immediately, power steering died too, didnt complete the turn and introduced myself to a houseowner's picket fence in spectacular fashion.. hoping it's a while before i experience that again!

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ajobbins

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#240329 29-Jul-2009 21:37

Car would stop. No juice to drive fuel pump and spark the plugs.

Alternater charges battery while driving but does not power the car if the battery is disconnected.

Shoes2468

744 posts

Ultimate Geek

#240341 29-Jul-2009 22:17

I wouldn't think so car should contiune to run, depends on the vehicle. I would assume nissan would contune to run unless you drew heaps of amps with your sound system. However I have heard that it's not good pratice to disconnect the battery while vehicle is running computrs etc dn't like it much.
ex Vehicle transporter.

andysh

188 posts

Master Geek

#240356 29-Jul-2009 22:40

I *think* a petrol car needs a battery to spark continually, while a diesel does not need a battery to spark once running

tonyhughes

Hawkes Bay
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#240360 29-Jul-2009 22:47

Have had starfire and ford ohv and ohc engines happily run with battery disconnected. Certainly nothing with an electric fuel pump though.

allstarnz

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#240361 29-Jul-2009 22:47

in an old car from 1970's with bugger all electrics, the car keeps going, you only notice it when you start your car next time :D

JimmyLizar

321 posts

Ultimate Geek

#240369 29-Jul-2009 22:58

Most newer model cars wont run.

Had alternator die on me once. Battery drained whilst was driving. Once the battery was drained the engine stopped. Same result as if battery disconnected.

.....c'mon sucker lick my battery........
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kingjj

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#240384 29-Jul-2009 23:13

JimmyLizar: Most newer model cars wont run.

Had alternator die on me once. Battery drained whilst was driving. Once the battery was drained the engine stopped. Same result as if battery disconnected.

/ OT

Had an alternator die on me recently, in the middle of traffic, car died immediatedly. However, that was not due to the lack of juice (although that certainly would have happened soon enough) it was more the dam thing ceased, stripped the belt and stalled the engine. AA man took off the remains of the belt and it purred like a kitten for around 10 minutes, luckily I was home by than. The fun part came in replacing the dam thing! (Worst part was when the car was written off a couple of weeks later after it was vandalised, owning a car is rather depressing!)

OT /

To get back on topic, yes in most vehicles the car would stop running almost straight away, especially in a Nissian Skyline. Would not be a fun experience in heavy traffic!

Kraven

675 posts

Ultimate Geek

#240393 29-Jul-2009 23:26

I've had the loose terminal problem before, on my old car ('92 Toyota Levin). It died completely. Luckily I still had enough momentum to get through a set of lights, turn a corner and park!!

The terminal didn't come off completely, but basically had pretty high resistance.

More recently I was driving a work car and the power steering/alternator belt snapped. Still drivable if that happens - well for a short distance anyway - you just need hefty arms and hope that the battery doesn't go flat!

richms

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#240414 30-Jul-2009 00:43

Happened to me in my R32 - it kept running till I got to a standstil and then it just cut out - the earth terminal had come off because it was cracked from fatigue. Had some vicegrips in the car so was able to get going again by leaving them holding it on. Flimsy crap terminals.

Richard rich.ms

RockResearch

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#240418 30-Jul-2009 06:25

It happened to me in my first car (Austin Allegro), died straight away. Never started again actually.

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tonyhughes

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#240428 30-Jul-2009 07:47

RockResearch: It happened to me in my first car

Bad

(Austin Allegro)

Good

died straight away.

Bad

Never started again actually.

Good

Best thing for an Allegro I would say. Do you know what the word Allegro actually means? If not, worth googling. :o)

Adamal

544 posts

Ultimate Geek

#240438 30-Jul-2009 08:32

As long as you have high enough revs for the alternator to be producing its proper voltage levels, it will keep running.
Most alternators however, will not produce peak voltage (which is then regulated to that voltage) at idle.

This is why you may notice that at night, your car (depending on age and battery condition) that the lights may seem dim until you give it a rev.

Balchy

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#240447 30-Jul-2009 08:50

Adamal: As long as you have high enough revs for the alternator to be producing its proper voltage levels, it will keep running.
Most alternators however, will not produce peak voltage (which is then regulated to that voltage) at idle.

This is why you may notice that at night, your car (depending on age and battery condition) that the lights may seem dim until you give it a rev.

Heh - that happens in my car when I have my sounds going and the headlights on, it will stall at idle. I have to heel-toe to a stop to keep the revs up and the car running. Need a better battery I think!

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8d52797c436

264 posts

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#240460 30-Jul-2009 09:08

As far as I'm aware it shouldnt stop. A friend of mine had an old 300zx that had a loose connection on the battery terminal. Basically we used to shove a knife in there to keep the connection nice while he started it, then used to drive around and not turn the thing off until we absolutely had to.

The alternator dieing will stop the car thou, or at least make it more difficult to drive. Theres a few things that run directly off the alternator. The battery is mostly used for your initial charge to get the car going, and then the alternator feeds it power while driving so that you can keep running things off it. Thats what I've been lead to believe anyway.

Adamal

544 posts

Ultimate Geek

#240467 30-Jul-2009 09:18

Oh, this reminds me. I had to change my alternator on my MR2 a few weeks back.

Why don't you just shoot me, Toyota?

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