January 25, 200719 yr ok, after having my car broken into and everything ************ty happening. I just wanted to feel better and get some fast food (meh, better then storebrand food 24/7) so I go get my car and i go down the block and while my cd player is still stolen i look at the big black cable coming out (i think it's ground). I put it back into the giant hole and it hits metal, car stalls, ************, I must have grounded it. luckily some guys helped us jump our car, but to no avail, it didn't start. guy told me it was the starter or the alternator. no clue which. anyone have any ideas.... sigh. best of all, it's in a parking spot with street sweeping tomarrow at 9am ( or rather today at 9am.) sigh... why me.
January 25, 200719 yr if you pushed a ground wire into the metal, it wouldnt do anything at all. it was probably a hot wire (i dont remember the colors off hand) check the fuses under the dash. it's one of those... i dont think the radio wires bother the fusible links... ive blown the fuses millions of times, but it never blew a link...
January 25, 200719 yr Author i'll run out there and check, now the only problem is getting a fuse and replacing it before 9am today. do meter maids accept stories of cars not starting?
January 25, 200719 yr Author by the way, i really love this forum, it's like the informational side of my father without all the yelling about irresponsibility. really appreciate it
January 25, 200719 yr Just steal a fuse from some other non-essencial circuit. Or wrap the blown fuse in tin-foil if you are really, really stuck. Emergency ONLY. GD
January 25, 200719 yr Author what if i just take the broken fuse out? if it's the radio? since nothing is connected to it, would it work?
January 25, 200719 yr Um..... no it doesn't quite work that way. Find and replace ALL bad fuses and THEN try to start the car.... K? Beyond that, perhaps a good book on electrical theory..... GD
January 25, 200719 yr Author but you say i should steal another fust from a non-working component, so what do I do with the blown one? just switch them? sorry if I may be unknowledged but if it makes you feel better you're teaching me life lessons here.
January 25, 200719 yr 1. Find a bad fuse 2. Find a good fuse of similar amp rating 3. swap the good fuse over to the bad socket 4. try to start car. If it doesn't start, the good one your pulled may be required too, so try using a different "good" one. Beyond that, it's difficult to really help you cause I can't see the fuse panel. Just cause some fuse powers the radio doesn't mean it also doesn't power something else that's required for the engine to run. Does it even crank? If not you probably blew the fuseable link that supplies the starter solenoid - that circuit isn't fused at the panel anyway. If that's the case, you'll have to replace the link, or "jumper" it with a bit of wire. That would actually make sense because many "aftermarket" radio installations steal power from the ignition circuit under the dash - which is unfused. So if you grounded that bad boy - you roasted the link. GD
January 25, 200719 yr Author the engine cranks but it doesn't start, i'll check them in the morning and hope to god that it works, otherwise i hope I can beg the meter maid out of a ticket.
January 25, 200719 yr It's an ignition fuse then. Just find the bad one, and replace with some other fuse that you don't need. GD
January 25, 200719 yr also, does your horn work? the ECU shares a fuse with the horn, so that's a quick and dirty trick
January 25, 200719 yr Author well, it was 4 from the left on the top row, I think it was horn alarm or something like that.... there were 2 spares in the box thankfully.... got it working and then went to bed.... thanks so much for the midnight help last night guys.
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