Electrical damage from jump start

Tiny
ROOTSROCKRAY
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 TOYOTA T-100
  • 225,000 MILES
Hi, I found this site while searching for help diagnosing some electrical trouble on my vehicle listed above.

I made the mistake of leaving my lights on after arriving at work on a very cold single digit day.
Battery was totally dead when I returned to the vehicle.

I had a friend to help me jump start. He placed the jumpers on his truck, and I placed them on mine.

My truck started right up and I promptly removed the cables.

After jumping however, my dome light, aftermarket radio, and aftermarket fog lights are no longer working. Everything else seems normal (so far).

Strangely, the radio seems to receive intermittent power. It lights up and seems like it is trying to power on, then blinks out with a pop that is audible over the speakers. This happens occasionally while the car is running, but with no discernible pattern.

I have visually checked the obvious fuses and not found any blown. (Radio fuse and dome light fuse)

I should add that I did not think to verify that my friend set up the jumper cables with correct polarity on his end, the running donor vehicle.

I would appreciate any DIY trouble shooting suggestions.
Tuesday, December 31st, 2019 AT 9:15 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,797 POSTS
Good afternoon,

The first thing I would do is charge the battery. Low voltage from a dead battery will cause these issues.

In the future, never get a jump or jump someone with your car. The voltage surge from the cables is enough to damage modules in both vehicles.

Roy
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Tuesday, December 31st, 2019 AT 9:33 AM

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