Why does the negative battery terminal spark badly when trying to reconnect?

Asked by Cars_Forever Sep 14, 2020 at 05:39 PM about the 1999 Honda Accord LX

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Replaced the battery terminal cables,
connected the positive first and then went to
connect the negative and it sparks like crazy
as if it would catch on fire. Literally connected
everything back as I took it off to replace.

One thing I did notice when it began to spark
is that one of the positive terminal ends that
connects to the starter started to smoke as
well.

I took off everything and put it back on and it
did the same thing, I even tried to put the old
cables back on and it did the same thing.

2 Answers
41,240

TDolby answered 4 years ago

I would check your connections at the starter if it is melting there. Maybe one of your battery cables is contacting another terminal? Check for missing insulation too.

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