I just replaced my transmission yesterday which i have done what seems like hundreds of times now and I got it all back together and the car had no power.. no lights would come on when i turned the key forward so i assume the battery has went dead while ive been working on it. I take jumper cables and hook them up to jump start it and there is an unusually large spark while connecting them. I try to go start my car with them connected and still nothing. I tried to take them off and they are so hot to the touch that I almost could not take them off the battery on either vehicle.

I went to have the battery tested and it said it was good but when they tried to charge it all it did was heat up so i purchased a new battery. I came home to install it and hooked up the first terminal and when i go to hook up the other there is once again an unusually large spark and the terminal begins to weld itself to the battery post. At this point im thinking maybe its a grounding issue so i double check everything - my starter ground is good, transmission ground is good, valvecover ground is good.

My wiring is as follows: positive terminal of battery goes to fuse box and starter
negative terminal is grounded to chassis
other wire coming out of the fuse box is connected to the engine harnes

I believe all of that is how its supposed to be. Im completely stumped so if someone could help it would be greatly appreciated because im suppose to leave for vacation on sunday in this car. thanks

 

You'll need to check your wires with a multimeter. Ground the negative meter terminal and start probing each wire connected to the battery positive, disconnecting each before testing. When you find the shorted cable, you'll need to follow it, looking for breaks in the insulation. If it splits, cut it where it splits and find which spit has the short.

 

A set of wires has been reconnected in reverse. Are the starter wires reversed?

 

When connecting the jump cables, you don't connect them both to the dead battery. Instead you connect the positive to the positive on the dead battery and the negative to the chasis (clean ground) of the dead battery's car. Otherwise, a spark will be produced like you experienced and the battery might explode.

 

+1

or even the positive starter wire touching the transmission housing.

 

fixed it.. dont know what was going on but it just stopped and is running fine now.. weird... i had double checked everything. thanks for the help guys