When a jumpstart goes wrong? Safety Question

Neighbor tried jumping my wife’s ‘06 Nissan Altima, we left it for 10 minutes and came back and the cables had melted through the headlight of both cars and some of the bumper. I wasn’t there but thankfully they stopped their car and were able to disconnect the cables without incident. We noticed after there had been mice living in around her engine from the mouse poop, minimum the last two weeks. What causes jumper cables to do this? Something a rodent may have chewed? Definitely an issue with my wife’s car. Our poor neighbors have a newish midsized suv. My wife has also had constant issues starting her car, even with a new battery I got a year or two ago. Anyone seen this before?

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u/jhwalk09 Dec 31 '23

That’s what I meant he insists he clamped em to the right ones, black to black red to red

229

u/amazinghl Dec 31 '23

He might think he did it correctly but evident suggest otherwise.

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u/Innit2winnit23 Dec 31 '23

Could have been weak jumper cables too

1

u/johnny_briggs Dec 31 '23

They been have to be fit for purpose though right? Otherwise we'd see lots of these posts.

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u/Business_Welcome_709 Dec 31 '23

No

Smaller gauge wires are sold sometimes and don’t provide enough flow to sufficiently jumpstart

1

u/johnny_briggs Dec 31 '23

I stand corrected, ty.

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u/Business_Welcome_709 Dec 31 '23

You’re welcome

In that case yes , they will start to overheat due to overvoltage. Witnessed it when jumping a civic from a Chevy Avalanche one time, with jumper cables sold in a “trunk emergency kit”

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u/Styrak Dec 31 '23

Overcurrent (amperage). It's all the same voltage (12-14v).

1

u/Business_Welcome_709 Dec 31 '23

Thanks

1

u/DeleteMyOldAccount Dec 31 '23

I’ve had this issue, but only on much larger rigs with much higher crank requirements. This is a baby Altima?

1

u/DeleteMyOldAccount Dec 31 '23

I guess OP what kind of vehicle was doing the jumping?

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u/Business_Welcome_709 Dec 31 '23

He said it was a larger newer SUV, still should only be 14.3v nominal

Doesn’t say anything about the jumper cables though

An awful lot to speculate about without seeing the entire electrical system

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u/DeleteMyOldAccount Dec 31 '23

It’s New Year’s Eve and I’ve got nothing better to do BUT speculate on internet posts while in this airport 🤌

1

u/Business_Welcome_709 Dec 31 '23

Fair enough 😂😂 I’m enjoying the weekend off and recovering from an injury, vaping weed