Hooked Car battery up the wrong way

Hooked battery wrong way

If you hooked the battery up backwards then you likely smoked the fuse links at the starter solinoid on the inner fender passenger side. but it likely id the alternator was smoking then you likely smoked it as well. Start by checking all the fuse links at the starter solenoid, and im sure you burnt one or 2 . Replace them and the alternator.

Check fuses..... Fusible links....... once you get the power back, watch your alternator, theres a chance hooking power leads up backwards can kill the Alternator.

Reversing the battery connections is not too uncommon. If the key is off the damage is often just fusible links and fuses and the alternator. If, however, the key is on a great deal of damage can be done. Many relays, the computer, the ignition switch, etc. If the starter was engaged, it too might have been damaged. And there is the possibility that wires, anywhere in the harnesses, have damaged insulation but won't short out until some future time. 

There are "wires" in the engine bay that are designed to open up in an over-current situation. They are called fusible links. The car also has fuses on all of the electrical circuits to protect the wiring from burning up in the event of an over-current situation. So, the polarity reversal may have resulted in one or more fusible links and/or fuses blowing to protect the wiring. The wires themselves do not care about polarity so the likelyhood of any additional wiring harness wires being "fried" is remote.

What can happen is that any electrical device on the power bus may have been compromised. For example, your radio is likely to not only have a fuse on the general circuit feeding it and other compoenents, but also an internal fuse to protect the wires feeding just the radio. Sometimes, they do not even have fuses internally but some electrical component on the power supply front end is sacrificed so the radio becomes inoperative. If your radio is dead, it needs to be repaired or replaced (assuming the general circuit fuse is OK).

With regard to the longer cranking times, it's probably a result of the battery power being removed from the ECM and so it lost all of the memory stores for operating parameters. It has to re-learn over time and use to custom tailor the controls to the engine condition. The older the engine, the more likely it requires some custom settings to operate best since it no longer matches the performance of a new engine. If the ECM is doing its job, it's probably fine and in time, it will adjust to the settings necessary to operate as it did prior to the battery swap.

General Information For Car Battery,Starter,,Starter Solenoid

CAR BATTERY STARTER STARTERSOLENOID 

The battery and starting motor are linked by very heavy electrical cables designed to minimize resistance to the flow of current. Generally, the major power supply cable that leaves the battery goes directly to the starter, while other electrical system needs are supplied by a smaller cable. During starter operation, power flows from the battery to the starter and is grounded through the vehicle's frame/body or engine and the battery's negative ground strap.

The starter is a specially designed, direct current electric motor capable of producing a great amount of power for its size. One thing that allows the motor to produce a great deal of power is its tremendous rotating speed. It drives the engine through a tiny pinion gear (attached to the starter's armature), which drives the very large flywheel ring gear at a greatly reduced speed. Another factor allowing it to produce so much power is that only intermittent operation is required of it. Thus, little allowance for air circulation is necessary, and the windings can be built into a very small space.

The starter solenoid is a magnetic device which employs the small current supplied by the start circuit of the ignition switch. This magnetic action moves a plunger which mechanically engages the starter and closes the heavy switch connecting it to the battery. The starting switch circuit usually consists of the starting switch contained within the ignition switch, a neutral safety switch or clutch pedal switch, and the wiring necessary to connect these in series with the starter solenoid or relay.

The pinion, a small gear, is mounted to a one way drive clutch. This clutch is splined to the starter armature shaft. When the ignition switch is moved to the START position, the solenoid plunger slides the pinion toward the flywheel ring gear via a collar and spring. If the teeth on the pinion and flywheel match properly, the pinion will engage the flywheel immediately. If the gear teeth butt one another, the spring will be compressed and will force the gears to mesh as soon as the starter turns far enough to allow them to do so. As the solenoid plunger reaches the end of its travel, it closes the contacts that connect the battery and starter, then the engine is cranked.

As soon as the engine starts, the flywheel ring gear begins turning fast enough to drive the pinion at an extremely high rate of speed. At this point, the one-way clutch begins allowing the pinion to spin faster than the starter shaft so that the starter will not operate at excessive speed. When the ignition switch is released from the starter position, the solenoid is de-energized, and a spring pulls the gear out of mesh interrupting the current flow to the starter.

Some starters employ a separate relay, mounted away from the starter, to switch the motor and solenoid current on and off. The relay replaces the solenoid electrical switch, but does not eliminate the need for a solenoid mounted on the starter used to mechanically engage the starter drive gears. The relay is used to reduce the amount of current the starting switch must carry.