need help asap battery meltdown!!

[baylensman]

So on the son's 96 rstd. driving down the road today. speedometer acted erratic bike cut in and out a few times then stalled. he coasted off the road. smoke coming from under the seat. Poped the seat the positive terminal on the battery is melted, no the cable noanything else just the battery terminal! What could cause this and how do I fix cheap to get him on the road as the bike is his only transportation right now

[Bubber]

Replace the battery it has shorted out internally. It is junk.

[baylensman]

second time in 2 years guess its time for AGM?

[bongobobny]

Yup! However it may not be the case. Before you toss the old battery give it a charge then load test it or get it load tested. A loose battery connector could have done the same thing. Regardless replace the battery connector...

[Flyinfool]

Pics would help here.......

 

An internally shorted cell would just reduce the available battery voltage by ~2V.

 

A melted battery terminal with no other battery or wiring damage is almost always a bad connection. Either loose or corroded or both.

 

Clean and or replace both battery terminals on the cable ends.

 

Take the battery out, clean up the terminals, put a good charge in it and take it to be load tested. If it tests good then do what you can to repair the melted terminal so that you can get a good connection to the cable.

[vzuden]

I had this happen on an Honda GL1000. Got a ride to an auto parts store and purchased a new battery. While installing it I found that the negative battery cable at its grounding point to the frame was loose. I never new for sure if the battery shorted internally due it's failure or the bad ground caused the battery to get hot internally and fail. New battery and cleaned and tightened the ground cable and was good to go.

[djh3]

The main lead goes all the way down to the "main fuse" down on the left side behind the left floorboard. youll have to take it off the gain access if you want to clean it up. The ground is on the right side sort of by the horn on top of the trans.

[coop]

Is the main fuse blown? A shorted battery wouldn't burn the cable...but as someone else said if the terminal bolt was loose it would do it. Is only the terminal burnt off or is the wire burnt down towards the fuse block?

 

Bob

[baylensman]

just terminal cable is fine cleaned the ends roadside and threw in new battery. Runs fine now. Pulling side covers tonite after work will clean both ends of both cables.

[coop]

cool beans... did your order those carb covers from chuck?

 

bob

[baylensman]

LOL yes i did they look great with the extenders

[djh3]

The positive on the starter solinoid you will probably have to use some breakfree to get it loose without damaging something.

[Neil86]

Are there more than one wire/cable attached to the positive on this bike?

[baylensman]

Are there more than one wire/cable attached to the positive on this bike?

 

no sir

[speakerfritz]

AGM's are less tolerant to over voltage conditions than flooded batteries. you should fully test your charging system to make sure there are no leaks in the rectifier diodes.