I went to start my car up this morning, and got nothing. No lights, no crank, no click, nothing. I figured I had a slow drain, and pulled my battery to recharge it so I could track it down. I hooked the battery up, and it says that the battery is fully charged. :?:

I drove it last Sunday, and it ran fine. The gauge showed just under 14. The battery and alternator are both less than 6 months old. When I pulled the wires, the connections were pretty clean, and still had that purple goo on them.

I thought maybe fuses, but how would a car sitting in a driveway for a week blow a fuse? It hasn't really rained much this week, and it hasn't been very damp either. Where should I start? I'm not very good with electrical.

so your ground is good? no power anywhere I would look at both main cables, make sure all connections are tight ON ALL ENDS.

Does anyone know where the grounds are? I know of the one on the body right by the battery, but I couldn't follow the wire to any others. Is there one on the block?

Two words, Parasitic Drain. Start checking things like the glove box light, trunk light, courtesy lights being off. If you have a power antenna, remove the fuse or disconnect at motor. I don't know if you have Automatic level Control, but remove the fuse for that. You just have to isolate components on speculation unless you have either a DC clamp on ammeter, or a multimeter configured as an ammeter to read DC current you can connect in series with the battery positive to monitor current flow while you're removing/re-installing fuses. Parasitic Drain is voltage to ground leakage (not good) and will discharge a perfectly good battery. A broken ground, or partial lack of ground will not cause parasitic drain. Parasitic Drain is the result of a ground being somewhere it shouldn't be.

Yeah but he says the battery was fully charged after testing it.

Uh, yeah. Maybe I'm not understanding something here. meechv, I understand your car wouldn't start, no lights, no crank, no click. You removed the battery, charged the battery, then reinstalled & hooked up the battery. Now you say it is indicating the battery is fully charged. That doesn't mean that parasitic drain does not exist. Does the battery hold charge while sitting dormant connected to the cars electrical system?

Sorry I wasn't clear. The battery was fine, it had a full charge when I took it out of the car. I thought it was a drain, but when I went to connect the battery up to recharge it, the gauge said that it didn't need charging, that it was already fully charged.

So, yes, it does hold a charge while connected to the car'* electrical system. The problem is that the power isn't getting to any of the systems, no lights, no click, no ignition, nothing.

Okay, I get it now. You hooked the battery up to a battery charger. Sorry for the misinterpretation on my part. Anyway, yes then, locate main battery ground. Pull the main battery cables positive & neagative, inspect closely & clean both ends as previously stated.

Ok, thanks, I'll try that. Is the main battery ground on the block, or somewhere else? I can't find it. I checked the one on the body near the battery but it looked fine.

When I took my engine'* top end apart, I found that the ground was on the coil pack bracket, IMO not exactly the best spot for it, and was really greasy due to failed valve cover gasket. I would also check the positive cable that goes to the power distribution centers by the windshield wipers as that *may* have come loose or corroded.

Also, putting a bit of dielectric grease on the battery terminals helps with contact issues. I have experienced issues with battery connections where the bolt is good and tight but there is a slight gap between the lead pads of the battery and cable, and wouldn't let the car start for crap.