heres what happened, i was driving my car for bout 30 mins and it was fine, when i stopped and put it in park it died. nothing would turn on. jumped it and it started but when i put it in reverse it died again. now nothing happens when i turn it on. no power to anything when i turn the key. battery is good, had it checked but i dont know whats wrong with it.


91 auto vert

 

Same thing was happening to me except i have a 5 speed..... One of ur terminals are going bad or not tight enough. after pounding in my terminal in with a hammer and screw driver, it was on tight and so far i havnt had one problem. go try to giggle the terminals

 

sounds like terminals, or possibly the battery is dead from an insufficient recharge of the alternator (check the positive wire out of the back of the alternator to make sure it's not grounding out on anything like the engine lift hook.) Also take a wire brush and clean the battery posts and inside the terminals, maybe some die-electric grease as well. I think it could be fusible links...?!???!1?? good luck

 

batteries good and im gettin power from it, cleaned the terminals and put a battery charger on it, thats not the problem, i think it might actually be something in the ignition but i dunno what to check.

 

i think atleast brake lights should work even without ignition, check that?
Do you got a haynes manual? Anything to trouble shoot?

 

i would not suggest this method unless you want to void the batteries warranty and wind up with another screwed up battery, i have done this before and wound up driving a terminal down through the case of the battery. a new set of terminals is $2.99 at wal mart with corrosion pads or you can go the slightly more expensive but better route and replace the whole cables, they are relatively cheap as well unless you chose factory parts for them.

it does sound like you are having continuity problems with the battery and the electrical system, check your connections and your main fuses in the fuse box at the left front strut tower.

 

I checked all the fuses, there good, my front lights and my brake lights both turn on, ill try putting on new terminals see if that works out. no i dont gotta manual at all, i found one online but dont really know where to start lookin in it.

 

so your lights turn on but your guages, idiot lights and ignition are not responding? do the lights dim or go out when you try to crank the engine?

 

The way I understand it, when you turn the ignition key to On and try to start the car .....nothing at all happens. But the headlights are very, very bright when turned to On.

It sounds like you lost the feed to the ignition switch. There is a single black wire that exits the engine fuse box....and about six inches or so from the engnie fuse box, that wire connects with another black wire. If that connection comes apart, you will have headlights, but no reaction when the key is turned to Start.

The part where you said the car died when you went into reverse made me think the reverse switch had shorted out and blown a fuse.......but that idea died when you say all the fuses are good, so I drop that idea.

 

ill check that out, thanx

 

i checked under the fusebox and couldnt find anything disconnected at all, i unplugged it so i could move it out of the way to check the wires below and wasnt able to find anything, but when i plugged it back in i turned the key and got power for a split second but thats it. so im pretty sure it does have something to do with those wires but dunno which one. when i checked the single black wire i couldnt find anywhere were it split but everything was still taped and zip tied together. Should i cut all that off or not mess with it?

 

could it possibly be the starter?

 

its gotta be soemthing with the igniton, my radio wont even turn on or anything inside, i mean hell, my window hasnt been able to go up in since it happened and it rained inside for about 4 hours before i woke up to cover it.