Smoke from engine bay when conecting battery

[AdrianCowley]

Dear All; Help !

 

I have a 996 tt from 2001.

I removed my battery from the car to charge over winter.

When I connected the battery again yesterday, I saw some smoke come out from the engine cover grills.

It stopped vey quickly, but I couldn't see where it came from.

 

Has anybody had this problem ??

Any ideas what the problem could be ??

I have had issues with the car battery going flat if not used for a week.

Is this related ??

 

All ideas greatly appreciated.

 

Best Regards,   

 

Adrian.C

 

 

 

 

[White987S]

Re-confirm you are properly attaching the positive and negative terminals.

 

What do you mean by "engine cover grills"?

 

How old is battery?

 

Is the vent tube properly connected?

 

What is the battery's fluid level in each cell?

 

If the battery is failing, and you "recharged" it, it only made it worse. Worse thing for a battery it to be fully discharged, and then recharged.

Edited March 17, 2017 by White987S

[wizard]

+1.

 

If not that, it's always conceivable that some wildlife took up residence over the winter and chewed some wiring if the car was not garaged.

 

Did the smoke have a smell of burning wiring? When you reconnect the battery and if you experience the same, feel for any heat from the starter motor/solenoid.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 17, 2017 by wizard

[AdrianCowley]

Hi Wizzard.

 

The old battery would go flat after about a week. So I would charge it.

Then I started putting it on charge after every time i drove so it would be ok the next  time I wanted to go out.

The car is kept in a heated garage, and is used only between April and October.

The battery was new late last year, a Bosche S5.

 

I've had the battery off the car for maintenace charging (car has cover, during winter,and I did not want to leave it on charge in car)

After I connected the battery terminals, and closed the bonnet, I saw smoke comming out the rear (RH engine cover side, blue)

Burnt electrical smell.

I was looking in the area marked with a pink arrow (pic from net, not my car).

I couldn't see any obvious signs of wire damage.

 

I didn't check starter or starter/solenoid, don't actually know where it sits.

 

I've since disconected the battery, and want to try and locate fault before connecting again; fear of doing more damage.

 

Any ideas ??

 

BR // Adrian.C

[AdrianCowley]

[JFP in PA]

1 minute ago, AdrianCowley said:

Hi Wizzard.

 

The old battery would go flat after about a week. So I would charge it.

Then I started putting it on charge after every time i drove so it would be ok the next  time I wanted to go out.

The car is kept in a heated garage, and is used only between April and October.

The battery was new late last year, a Bosche S5.

 

I've had the battery off the car for maintenace charging (car has cover, during winter,and I did not want to leave it on charge in car)

After I connected the battery terminals, and closed the bonnet, I saw smoke comming out the rear (RH engine cover side, blue)

Burnt electrical smell.

I was looking in the area marked with a pink arrow (pic from net, not my car).

I couldn't see any obvious signs of wire damage.

 

I didn't check starter or starter/solenoid, don't actually know where it sits.

 

I've since disconected the battery, and want to try and locate fault before connecting again; fear of doing more damage.

 

Any ideas ??

 

BR // Adrian.C

 

 

Anytime you connect a battery and get smoke and/or burnt smells, you are risking burning the car to the ground.  Something has shorted and is not going to heal by itself, you need to get the car up in the air and start searching for what got hot before even thinking about reconnecting the battery.

[jpflip]

May be the ground is at fault, located near the right turbo between body and engine 

[Loren]

Start with the fuses and fusible links to further locate the source of the burning.

Even if you can see something burned you need to look for other damage caused by the short - and the fuses will help tell you where to look.

[DBJoe996]

The engine bay 12V terminal is right there in the location you pointed out.  It's in a small black plastic box with a big + on it.  Pop it open and make sure the wires have not melted there.  That is the main 12V supply terminal for the starter.

[AdrianCowley]

Hi All.

 

Thanks for tips.

I've had a cold over the weekend so didn't fancy lieing on the garage floor!

But I'll get to it soon.

 

As soon as I locate the problem I'll post here.

 

Thanks again.

BR // Adrian.C