car won't turn on, only headlights and guage lights work
 

Okay so i recently did some work to my car ( 87 turbo II) it ran fine the last time i drove it which was probably 2 months ago. Did some work to it this afternoon and now only the headlights and guage lights work, it won't turn over at all. What should i start checking? Its weird cause my aftermarket guages aren't working even tthough ther spliced into the dash... anyway any help is appreciated.
Tony

90% sure it is your main fuse(under the hood). And when you go to pull it out there are two 10mm screws on one side of the fuse box and 1 screw on the other. They are behind a plastic cover you would not believe how many people break them trying to take them out including me.

okay i thought that too. I checked the fuse though and it wasn't popped, the bridge just looked black... can they go without breaking the bridge piece, but just burn out?

It might the only way to know for sure is to take it out and test it. But it should not be black so it might be bad.

okay thanks man... i wish wal-mart sold those damn fuses! any one else got any ideas?

I bet the black wire that comes from the fuse box came unplugged.. It is a thick guage single pin connector, comes out of the bottom of the box and connects to the wire harness....

Check that then thank me.

This usually happens when people change the battery...

^^^ cool i'll check that... haven't changed the battery in a while though... i relocatd it to the back but have an e-fan wired up there so i could knocked something out...

ground to starter

search for the troubleshooting thread i wrote up a while back

okay the ground to the starter is that stupid female conector right? if so can i just ground that anywhere or does it need to be plugged in the factory black connector?

also if someone could elaborate about the ignition connection hurley is talking about here.

4. Ignition Connection came loose. THIS IS THE MOST LIKELY CASE IF YOUR LIGHTS STILL WORK AS THEY ARE NOT ATTACHED TO ANY ACCESSORY OR IGNITION FUNCTIONS.

a. At the ignition switch connector it would be the two wire one with a pure black wire and a black/white wire. The pure black feeds 12v to the ignition switch.
b. Check the connection and if its loose reconnect and your problem is solved.

nuetral saftey switch. on the back of you clutch pedal actuallt the front there is a plug with 2 wires disconnect it run a jumper wire from one to the other. to bypass it. if the switch went out it will cause just that everything will work ecept the starter. if it still fails slide underneith and on the back of your trans tou will see a white plug about six inches or so off the back diconnect it and do the same thing with those wires. its possible it could be something else like the starter protection relay also but im just tryin to help. let me know if that works out for you i have a few more possibilitys it may be.. hahaha laugh i no i cant spell lol

Have you looked at what I told you yet?

RRTEC, i checked it but in my car its just runs to a distrobution block if were talking about the main power wire?

No... There is a thick guage black wire with a black single pin connector on it it is on the drivers side tower and plugs into the body harness.. Take a picture of your drivers side pillar, I will point it out...

oh okay, i'll check that.

okay i found the wire with the single pin connector... mine is haggard!! can i cut the connector out and just wire is straight? also mine goes down and splits into two wires... what does the other one do?

after closer inspection it almost looks burned... could this have been caused by a bad jump... the last time the we attempted to start the car my friends tried to jump it... since the batteries located in the back maybe it could have gotten grounded out?

Perhaps... I don't know if I would hardwire it... If they reversed the wires when they were jumping it you will probably need to replace the fuse box.. that usually fries it good...

how can i tell if the fuse box is fried besides visual inspection

I doubt it is the fuse box. If all the fuses are still connected then don't worry about it. If I were you, I'd probably charge the battery overnight or take it to an auto store that charges batteries for free. While that is charging, make sure the power wire from the battery to the starter is on solid as well as the plug that connects to the starter solenoid.

Oh yeah, if you are leaving your car sitting for awhile, like how you left it for 2 months, disconnect the negative battery cable so that it doesn't slowly drain the battery. The headlights and gauge lights work probably because they don't require a huge amount of electrical load. It takes a lot of juice to start up the car, and if you are constantly cranking just know that it will die faster than if you start it, idle, then shut off

^ its a brand new optima red top battery

Ok... Umm Wrong... These underhood boxes FRY EASY.. It won't even blow the main fuses it just trashes the internal connections.. But whatever, I'm sure charging the battery will take care of it... http://southeastdrift.com/forum/imag...ghting0024.gif

^ sweetest smiley evar!1

Well, if the main fuse, the 80A or 100A, went out the other fuses wouldn't get power. He basically said this headlights and gauges work, which have a fuse in the underhood fuse box, thus meaning the main is good. The only real way for the underhood box to fry, like crisp and all that, is if the main fuse is higher than what it can actually take (thus not breaking the fuse link).

Is the starter even kicking in? When you mean the car won't turn on, you mean not even a shake from the engine right? I had this happen to me, the engine shook the female connector from the starter solenoid while I had it at idle awhile back and the engine wouldn't start. Only the idiot lights would turn on. I clipped the old female spade plug and used a new one for a better connection. Engine started right up afterwards.

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No. If the Main Fuse is blown the headlights will still rise and fall and light up. The MAIN fuse is not related to the headlights in any way.

Please, see the free online FSM wiring diagrams.

If the Main Fuse goes, you still have headlights and retract functions AND the instrument cluster will have backlighting. But your starter won't work nor will the WARNING CLUSTER work or the clock. If the warning lights worked when the key was put to ON prior to your present event, and the clock worked before but not now, then the Main Fuse is blown or the feed wire from the engine bay fuse box is interrupted to the ignition switch. You don't seem to have found the single black wire with single black connector below the engine bay fuse box that feeds the ignition switch. Your lost.