Anyone in Alex, VA? Need help please, I'm stuck

[blloyd7]

I need a little help please.
Car is a 1987 300 TD.
The wife and children are out of town, I finish staining the deck. Time for some golf. Buddy comes over with his wife and children, alright lets go.
He notices that the passenger seat bottom won't adjust forward. Seat back adjusts. Tilt is intermittent.
I can fix this he says, get tools and contact cleaner. I don't do electrical I tell him.
No problem he says.

Take off the battery negative, hey there is some corrosion around the battery tray. 2 year old battery.
Take out the battery and tray. Loosten the ground.
Starts spraying contact cleaner on everything tray battery terminals the 2 BIG connections behind the battery. One is for flywheel timing the other I don't know.
Take trim off passenger door. Sprays contact cleaner into seat adjustment switch.
Battery tray back in. I see these little areas of white aroune where battery tray serews into body, and on the nuts.
What is that? Lithium grease probably. Shouldn't we use some. We don't have any.
Attaches positive. Puts negative on loosely. It is tight oning on, he is fiddleing around. Hasn't tightened the ground yet.
Pull negative off of the post, it touches the hood hinge, tiny spark, puts negative back on the post.
Horn starts blowing. Check fuses. Replace number 6. It has a bulge in it.
Negative back on. Now the alarm horn blows when the negative is touched to the post. Check fuses, all appear ok. Horn still blows when negative is on post.
His wife and childern show up, they are crying, well gotta go.
The end result is I'm am stuck without a car.

Anyone in Alexandria, Va wanna help with this?
Otherwise I will probably have to tow the car.

Need some advice please.

Thanks.

Bernie

[blloyd7]

So I took off the negative / ground wire.
Sanded a little, reattached.
Opened passenger door, kind if sit the negative terminal on the battery post.
No alarm horm is blowing.
Try the forward / back seat button, seat moves as it is supposed to. Try it again. It doesn't.
Close door, open door a;arm horn sounds.
10 minutes later same thing.
30 minutes later same thing.

Can't find a fuse fot the alarm.

How am I going to be able to start this car?

Thanks in advance.

Bernie

[haasman]

blloyd7

This is what I would do- check to make sure the ground cable where it attaches to the body is clean and well connected. No grease inbetween the connectors.

I would double check the positive connector to the battery and make sure it is clean and then do the same for the negative.

>>>Always disconnect and connect the ground wire first on batteries. <<<

If the cable connector to the battery is hard to get on the battery terminal, try inserting a large screw driver into the space by the battery connector bolt and see if you can spread the ends of the connector. Be sure to have the nut and bolt unscrewed enough to allow this.

Once all the above is done I would check all of the fues. Rotate the fuses in their sockets. If they are aluminum they often corrorde and often it is hard to see the corrosion.

If would turn the car on and then off again. I would lock the doors and then open them again. This is under the presumption that it is a factory alarm.

If the problem continues I would also check the battery for water and for a proper charge. I would also check the alternator belt to make sure the battery is getting enough charge.

Keep us posted,

Haasman

[16VAlex]

Before you install the terminals back on the batery always turn the ignition to on. After complete the batery job, then turn off the ignition. See if this help, if not the conector for the alarm is under the carpet on the passenger side.