The Kia needed a new battery.

 

The owner of the vehicle asked for help from a tow truck driver. He agreed to help her and he replaced the battery in her vehicle.

 

Three days later she started to have electrical problems. Her turn signals didn’t work. Her taillights worked sometimes, and sometimes they did not. Eventually she took the vehicle into a dealership for diagnosis. They took a look at the vehicle and said a bundle of wires were crushed and exposed. The owner’s insurance company then hired GEI to find out what really happened.

Our expert inspected the 2012 KIA Forte at the owner’s residence.

The main fuse box was located under the hood, had all of the fuses in their proper location, and appeared to be in good condition. There were no blown fuses.

 

The fuse box located at the left end of the dash was the location of the turn signal fuse.

 

The vehicle’s owner stated that she replaced the fuse but it melted again when she operated the turn signals. The blown fuses had been removed and were not in the fuse box at the time of the inspection.

 

The wiring in front of the battery was damaged. It was partially crushed by a heavy object. The wiring appeared to have been caught between the battery and the plate below the battery location.

 

The damaged wiring had no signs of being cut with a tool such as a knife or wire cutting pliers. No other damage was found to the wiring in that location. The damage to the wiring located in front of the battery was in all likelihood a result of the recent battery installation. This most likely occurred when the battery was being lowered into position and the wiring was not pushed out of the way as the battery was lowered into place.

The wiring became caught beneath the battery and the support for the battery, and was crushed due to the weight of the battery. No other items or conditions were found that could have caused or contributed to the damaged wiring, which then caused the electrical problems.