if its not one problem, its another
 

aight so go to work on my car today....and i knew it would have to be jumped cause its been sitting awhile....so i pull my dads car up, connect some jumper cables, try to start it, and all the warning lights come on when i turn the key to run, then i turn it to start, and everything goes out, no clicks, no trying to turn over, nothing. so we keep playing with the connection on the cables, and i get the same scenario once more, about 5 minutes after the first try. turn it to run, all the warning lights come on, turn it to start, everything goes out, only this time you could hear it try to crank over but stop almost immediately. those were the only times i could get the warning lights on. so i busted out the voltmeter, maybe theres something wrong with the cables...not gettin a good voltage off of my dads car, so try my moms....a nice strong 12 volts, connect it to my battery, and the reading drops down to ~4 volts. thats holding the voltmeter to my battery. so we decide maybe the battery is fried, and nothing can save it. we disconnect the battery, and try connecting the cables to the battery connectors, minus the battery. reading still drops to ~4 volts, and still no warning lights, no turning over, no nothing.


i cant think of anything, but something has to be fucked in my electrical system. all fuses in engine bay were present and accounted for, and all had fuses intact. system power wire was disconnected.....there has to be a short somewhere, thats all i can think of.



hanes manual says nothing about which fuses are what, or any other would-be helpful info.


please help!!! i dont know what to do

There is a short somewhere. First place I would check is the starter. Disconnect the larger wires from the starter and then check again.

i was just able to get the warning lights to go on again by disconnecting the cd player and most of the other wiring....while i was doing this, specifically, playing with the ground to the cd player, i noticed the security light blinking and odd sounds coming from behind the paneling, relay sounds....if there is such a sound...i tried to start it, and again, everything went blank, and it didnt try to turn over.


ideas??

bump!!!

update:


alright, i think ive narrowed the problem down to the security system.

a little info on the security system (most everyone knows this, im just copying and pasting from other forums im posting on, and it has a point at the end of it)

the stock security system on fc's is armed when u push the locks down and then close the door. the security light comes on, and it arms in ~10 seconds. to disarm, simply put the key into the lock, unlock the door, security light comes on, and system is disarmed. now what happens when the alarm is activated while it is armed, is that the lights pop up, start flashing, the horn goes off, and the ignition is bypassed.

this got me thinking, i had left the car armed when it was sitting at the dealership, and when i picked it up, the battery was dead. so for all intents and purposes, the alarm was still engaged. figuring that i by suddenly putting power to it, i had activated it, somehow, i went at it that way. so i hooked up the cables to my moms car again, and connected them to my battery wires. checked the voltage, ~12 volts. word. go through the steps of arming and disarming the alarm. security light goes on when disarming it, but not arming it. ok, no big deal, lets see if it worked. put the key in, turn to run, all the warning lights come on. HOLLR. turn to start, click of the starter, warning lights dim, nothing else happens. but they didnt go away so im still happy. i turn it back to run, warning lights stay on.

so im thinking word, it was the security system. disconnect everything, hook the battery back up in an attempt to recharge it. hook everything back up, try it again, and nothing. no warning lights, nothing. fuck. so i disconnect the battery and hook it up just by the wires again. try the same sequence. turn key in door to unlock, security light glows, (all the time im watching the voltage on the multimeter) try the key in the ignition, turn to accesory, voltage is still good, turn to run, voltage drops to ~4, here a relay click, and no warning lights go on. security light also blinks when i take the key out. fiddle around with the jumper cable connections, get a good voltage reading, and try it again. same thing.


so now, im almost positive its the security system fucking up somewhere. not sure where, or how to fix it, but ima try and pick up a new battery tomorow. never got around to checking the ground, but that seems more and more likely. i actually think im gonna go do that now. :lol:

I had a similiar thing happen, I lost power to everything except the ignition key reminder buzzer and the headlights. It turned out to be the single wire black connector just below the fuse block in the engine compartment and next to the battery. Corrosion can generate enough resistance there to prevent the flow of electricity (unless you jump it), a couple times of this happening and the heat build up melts the connector.

Not saying this your problem, but it is worth eliminating as a possibility.

That is incorrect. The stock security system only kills the starter. It will have absolutly no affect on the rest of the cars electrical system at all.

Even with the stock system triggered and going off, you can turn the key on have all the dash lights and gauges work, and push start the car.

Sounds to me like you have corroded battery terminals, and possible bad grounds from the battery to the cars body.

Maybe the jumper cables had a short in them or something... doubt it, but worth checking into.

word, thanks for the info, i was misinformed. well, that rules out the secuiryt system, even though it was doing weird things to me. i think im gonna pick up a battery, some battery terminals, and re ground everything today if the weather clears up


edit: and the jumper cables wernt shorted, we checked them with a multi meter, good voltage, and we ended up being able to get a good reading with them connected to the battery, but once i would turn the key to run, a relay would click, all the lights would go off, and it wouldnt try and turn over

Try cleaning battery terminals and ends of battery cables. The same thing happened to my fiero, and that was the prob. Plus you said it sat for awhile, so I think that is it.

I would also check the fuse box main fuse, sometimes the nuts that hold it in get loose and can do what you are describing.

the fuse box in the engine is fine, all the fuses are still good, and connected. i did not check the tightness of the bolts holding in the big blue one (100 amp), i'll be sure to do that

:ham: :ham:

it was the battery, swapped mine with mommies and it started up first try


but it was also a combination of having shitt jumper cables

:ham: :ham: