I also need urgent help!!!!

[Johnny Quest]

okay, so i'm on delivery when suddenly my car power dies out and i see a little bit of smoke coming out from the hood. thankfully, i died out not too far from my friends house, and they come to push it over safely out of harm's way.
i pop the hood and notice that the insulation from my negative cable has been fried off (assuming that is where the smoke came from) and that the positive terminal made contact with the metal battery tie-down which is connected to the chassis of the car, thus ground.
the negative terminal is completely cooked off and is now in two parts; some of it is still on the terminal the the other half is on the fried negative cable.
i come back later to cover the wire with electrical tape in hopes of getting it started and running; i even replaced the terminal.
For some reason the car dies out, when i give it gas (in parked). the car has power, lights come on and everything, but the only way for the car to also start is by giving it a jump, which i had my buddy do.
i also notice that the engine isn't idling very strong too, almost very weak, and when i also gas it from the throttle cable, it too dies out....
any explaination would help, thanks!

not important, but it's f-ing cold here in houston, temperture dropped like crazy in like 2hrs since this morning!

[ABUSEDDOG]

First, I would check on the condition of the batery, when you say a "jump" do mean a boost or push start? I would also check the fusible links at the positve battery terminal.

[Johnny Quest]

checked the fuses, they seem to be okay. (i'm assuming the smaller ones, with 15amps, 20, etc) and its an optima dry cell battery, red top.
i have yet to check out the battery's output after the incident, but it was able to power my lights and everything else!

[Tomkat]

You probably damaged the battery. Low voltage will give you these symptoms. Cold weather only makes things worse for the battery. Take it an auto store. They can test it to see what is happening. I don't know how you let this happen, but be more careful with the battery and the wires. Keep that battery tied down.

[jefe_not]

He also suggested that you check the fusible links. They cause problems for some of us occasionally. I've had to replace them on one car but not too recently. It's been pointed out before that they can look fine but when you pinch them between your fingers it becomes apparent that the metal wire just isn't there any more... Usually when they're gone the car won't start.

[Johnny Quest]

its okay now, i just left it over night and it started again, although i will replace the ground cable soon! thanks guys!