Gal in distress! Battery? Selenoid? Fuse? HELP!!

[Neko]

My story.. I have a 91 Subaru Legacy LS, the battery always seemed fine I dont drive it much so I go out to start it every few days, well I went out and the battery was dead!

I took the battery to have it check and it was bad. So I installed another used battery I had but I did know that I have the "Neg" on the "Pos" posts and I had someone try to jump it and it sparked like crazy!

And now the dash lights are off and of course the car isnt starting, no click, no nothing.. The only noise is the "dinging" of my door when its open. Can it be a fuse? Alternator? Selenode? Something else?

I was also wondering why my battery went dead when it was only 1 year old?

Can you guys help me out?
Neko

[magicmike]

ok there is alot of confusion here.
1. The battery you put in the car, where the posts in the same location as the one you took out? The car doesn't give you enough wire to move the posotive and negative terminals around and not all batteries have their posts in the same place or orientation. We need to establish that first.
2. Did the guy giving you the jump start know what he was doing? so he connected everything correctly and you saw sparks?
3. Usually but not always you will get the battery light on your dash come up if the alternator dies but without a multimeter you cant know for sure. Do you have access to one?

[Neko]

ok there is alot of confusion here.
1. The battery you put in the car, where the posts in the same location as the one you took out? The car doesn't give you enough wire to move the posotive and negative terminals around and not all batteries have their posts in the same place or orientation. We need to establish that first.
2. Did the guy giving you the jump start know what he was doing? so he connected everything correctly and you saw sparks?
3. Usually but not always you will get the battery light on your dash come up if the alternator dies but without a multimeter you cant know for sure. Do you have access to one?

1. The Neg and Pos posts were not in the same location, we didnt know this untill we jump started the battery when it sparked. Then we turned the battery around not an easy thing to do with those wires being short.

2. The guy did know how to jumpstart a car but also didnt see the Pos and Neg wires were switched when we jumped my car. Then when we turn the battery around the right way nothing happened, no dash lights only the dinging of my door being open.

3. There are No lights at all that come up on the dash. I dont have access to a multimeter. What is a multimeter?

[magicmike]

ok, this is pretty bad I have to say honestly but lets have a go at it.
Connecting the battery backwords hopefully did not damage anything. I don't think so at the moment anyway.
Jumpstarting it on the correct terminals but with them on the wrong side of the battery is I guess the best option if you were going to screw up. The first thing you need to check is the fusable link in the main fuse panel under the hood. Its on the drivers side right next to the battery and the washer fluid bottle.
Once you get the cover off you will see a wire on the left hand sidfe of the box inside that looks like there is fabric around it. I think its green but I may be wrong. This wire is a fuse in case something goes really wrong like in your case. check this thing for damage (i.e. burnt! or broken into two pieces).
Now,
this is I the most you can do without a mulitmeter which is an instrument used to check voltage. you can pick one up for 10 bucks but there are alot of switches and nobs on them for reading ac or dc voltage and resitance and if you have never used one it may be confusing for you. I would say you can check the fusable link yourself but from there it will be a long road of troubleshooting what else may be wrong.
You also need to know what your battery voltage is at and you cant do that without a multimeter either.

Are you terying to figure this out for yourself? How handy are you? I'm just trying to figure this out because debugging electrical problems is not for the faint of heart and you need some knowledge to get started. I'm more than happy to tell you what to look for but this could take a while.

[n2x4]

Have you checked any fuses under the hood and under the dash?

You probably blew a few.

As far as your dead battery goes, what kind was it? Maybe it was junk. Other causes could be a bad alternator, or a short in your electrical wiring that causes a constant slow drain on the battery.

[Neko]

ok, this is pretty bad I have to say honestly but lets have a go at it.
Connecting the battery backwords hopefully did not damage anything. I don't think so at the moment anyway.
Jumpstarting it on the correct terminals but with them on the wrong side of the battery is I guess the best option if you were going to screw up. The first thing you need to check is the fusable link in the main fuse panel under the hood. Its on the drivers side right next to the battery and the washer fluid bottle.
Once you get the cover off you will see a wire on the left hand sidfe of the box inside that looks like there is fabric around it. I think its green but I may be wrong. This wire is a fuse in case something goes really wrong like in your case. check this thing for damage (i.e. burnt! or broken into two pieces).
Now,
this is I the most you can do without a mulitmeter which is an instrument used to check voltage. you can pick one up for 10 bucks but there are alot of switches and nobs on them for reading ac or dc voltage and resitance and if you have never used one it may be confusing for you. I would say you can check the fusable link yourself but from there it will be a long road of troubleshooting what else may be wrong.
You also need to know what your battery voltage is at and you cant do that without a multimeter either.

Are you terying to figure this out for yourself? How handy are you? I'm just trying to figure this out because debugging electrical problems is not for the faint of heart and you need some knowledge to get started. I'm more than happy to tell you what to look for but this could take a while.

I just text my friend and he has a meter. Were NOT handy. Do you think it can be a fuse from that fuse box? Are there fuses inside the car to look for? You said something about a wire in that fuse case, can that be easily replaced? I'm so upset about this.

[Neko]

Have you checked any fuses under the hood and under the dash?

You probably blew a few.

As far as your dead battery goes, what kind was it? Maybe it was junk. Other causes could be a bad alternator, or a short in your electrical wiring that causes a constant slow drain on the battery.

I havent checked the fuses yet anywhere I need my friend to do that hopefully tomorrow. I dont know what kind of battery it is, its in my trunk right now probably a cheap one, it was in the car when I bought it in April. How can I track down the source of a slow drain from the battery?

[magicmike]

I understand n2X4 is trying to help out also and makes some good points. however you have two major problems.
1. you probably blew something trying to fix your original problem.
2. your original problem of a dead battery.

you need to address the first problem right now of just making sure everything is ok with the car after your fireworks display
Then we can figure out if or why your battery was drained. Cheap batteries only last 2 years and without the car running we cant determine if its your alternator.

you dont need your friend to go check that fusable lik I mentioned. you can pick those up at the local car parts store but bring in the old one as the color indicated the size or AMPS it will handle before it blows. There is also a 45Amp fuse in that box which may be blown. Its in location 4. there look under the cover for a chart showing you where #4 is and pull it out and see if its melted and not conected in side anymore.

[n2x4]

you need to address the first problem right now of just making sure everything is ok with the car after your fireworks display
Then we can figure out if or why your battery was drained. Cheap batteries only last 2 years and without the car running we cant determine if its your alternator.

Mike's right, and he's posting at the same time that I am so we're in sync

Checking fuses is not hard, and you'll know if it's bad right away.

Watch this video. Your engine fuse panel is in the same spot, this should be REALLY helpful:

http://www.answerbag.com/articles/video ... d3daea2b27

[Neko]

Thanks for your replies!

I'll have to wait till tommorrow for someone to come around to help me.. I'll post back if I found the problem or have any more questions. Oooo your right a fireworks display is was!

Thanks for your help guys, I still might need you

[RJ93SS]

it's really easy to do and a good way for you to learn. try giving it a shot yourself, you can do it

[evolutionmovement]

I think you probably just blew the fusible link as they mentioned. If an old POS Jaguar E-Type (+ ground, but not supposed to be according to the VIN) can take the hit even without a computer, the Subaru can. At least there won't be any doubt it's blown when you see it!

Cold kills batteries and if you hardly drove it, you might not have been recharging it.

[Neko]

BINGO!!

It was the fusible link!!

I got a fusible link but couldnt get new ends, so my friend striped the wire ends on both fusible link and my old connectors and connected them with wire nuts. The car is running but can this be a permanent fix with these wire nuts?

[magicmike]

BINGO!!

It was the fusible link!!

I got a fusible link but couldnt get new ends, so my friend striped the wire ends on both fusible link and my old connectors and connected them with wire nuts. The car is running but can this be a permanent fix with these wire nuts?

NOT PERMANENT!!!!!

The fusable link in the ONLY thing saving your cars electrical system from catastrofic failure. Don't mess around with it. Get the correct one as soon as possible or you won't be so lucky next time.

[Neko]

I got another fusable link but its a brown one, the one that came out of my car was a black one. What's the difference in ampacity is between the black and the brown one?

[evolutionmovement]

Whatever it says on the fuse. It will tell you amps and voltage.

[magicmike]

Whatever it says on the fuse. It will tell you amps and voltage.

fusable links dont have markings on them. The standard is that each color indicates the gauge of the wire used thus the abilitiy for it to carry loads.

Good read: http://www.b2600turbo.com/truck_fuselinks.htm

Basically, Brown what you have now is grossly underrated and will probably blow just trying to start your car and leave you stranded.

You need to pick up a Black one asap and get it in there. (like I said before )

[evolutionmovement]

Damn, I never really looked at it before so I assumed they were like fuses. Don't listen to me, then!

[magicmike]

Damn, I never really looked at it before so I assumed they were like fuses. Don't listen to me, then!

I'm not trying to hurt your feelings!

[evolutionmovement]

No, you're stating facts I should have been privy to. What's that about a fool typing on his computer and removing all doubt? Oh well, at least I get to wear a cool hat.

As for myself, I am simply Hop Frog the Jester and this is my last jest!