1994 Bonne Mental Pause - Battery charger + on - and - on +.
 

DO OVER!!! THE BATTERY CHARGER WAS PLUGGED IN!!!!!!!!!
[sorry for giving wrong info on first post :( ]

After I connected the wrong cables to battery and plugging in charger to AC power...
After second or two I connected them properly. Now when I try starting, it does nothing. No sound of any kind.

There must be a fuse that I blew and I can not find it.

Please help the stupid.

More info on issues.

Over the last 9 months my batter would go dead over night. I pulled the 15 amp fuse (right side position 2) Power antenna - found draw with amp meter.
That made the battery dain better but if the care would sit for more then 2 days I would
have to hook up the charger to get it started.


Mike Braun

Mike,
Give us a little more info. Firstly, was your battery completely dead before you started? Did you have anything before that?

Secondly, you say that "...Now when I try starting
it just goes dead." Does it "go dead" or does it do anything?

The more info you provide us, the better we can help you. ;)

Hi Mike...

As the other Mike (aka Lash) mentioned..the more info the better. First off.. by simply hooking up wrong and never plugging the charger in, you didn't do anything bad. Think of it like hooking up a cable w/o attaching it to anything.

Let's start you off with the usual items of cleaning all ends of all battery cables, making sure you pull the rubber boots off at the battery to check for corrosion underneath the boots.

Look over next to the window washer tank..do you see a little compressor?

Oh, I see you edited your original post to add more info. That's a good start.

It would seem to me that you still have a hefty drain on the battery somewhere.

OR

Your alternator is not charging the battery.

Let's start with the first one, since that seems most likely from what you've said. Note that BillBosst above asked if you have a compressor. It would be used to keep your air shocks at the right level. If you have air shocks (ELC), it is common for there to be leaks in the lines, making the compressor run too often while the car is not running, resulting in battery draw down.

That may/may not be it, but let's walk through the diagnosis, shall we? ;)

Mike, I see you replied again by editing your original post. While I applaud your desire to get it right, I'd suggest you put that info in additional posts below ours. The reason for that is that there is no way for those interested to know that you have edited your post, but when you make a new post (not a new thread mind you), then it shows up as a new reply, so that we will know you've responded. K? ;)

Anyway, I see that you did indeed have the charger running when you hooked it up backwards....OUCH!

I'll be honest and admit that I'm not sure what you may have done at this point. I assume you've done some more testing???

On a positive note, there are some pretty talented electrical gurus here, let's hope one of them sees this.

Maybe we can get a Moderator to move this thread to the Electrical section for more focused exposure. HELLO.....MODS....OVER HERE!!! :D

Generally, I'd expect that if anything "bad" happened, it would have been to your charger, rather than the circuitry in the car. There should have been quite a spark when you hooked things up backwards.

Do any of your lights in the car turn on? Headlights, interior lights, etc.? As a start, measure your battery voltage across the terminals of your battery. Also, measure the voltage output of your battery charger.

Also, do as Lash suggested, and post replies to the thread rather than editing your first post.

I'd look at fuses..and wiring..if you don't see things melted..there probably isn't much that was harmed. Although..you aren't able to start the car. Here's what we'll need from you. Get a friend to sit in the car and you crawl under (take normal precautions jackstands etc.) and test for power at the soleniod wire when your friend turns the key and holds it to the start position. If you have no power there..then we'll need to work backwards from that point.

I believe there is probably a fusible link in that circuit and it may have blown.

I got it started!!!
 

Thank you for all of the replies!!

After testing fuses and voltage... I got it started.

The battery side post ground cable has an issue, the screw in bolt is striped and
some times has a bad connection.

Sorry for the sorry for the non informational post I first put out :(

The 2004 SLE (28k miles) I bought 5 days ago will make my world much better :)

Again, THANK YOU

Mike Braun