Brand new battery -- Car won't start. Help.
 

Car had no power so I went out and bought a new battery. When I turn my key to the on position I get power in the gauge cluster. However radio, map lights, alarm etc have no power and will not turn on. I turn the key as if im going to start the car and no start. I figured it was a fuse. Pulled the fuses from drivers side floor panel all looked good. Please help!!

At anytime did you hook this battery up backward even for a second? Did you try to jump it and maybe get the cables back wards for an instant?
What sound does it make when you turn the key?
Does it click, click, click.............does it try to turn over?

If it's just dead then there is a 120A main fuse that is in the back left hand corner of the fuse box in the engine bay. It's not really in that box, but sort of on the side. This fuse(if blown) is about $5.00 at the dealer if I recall............but, you need to know why it blew out.
There are a list of things that will still work if this fuse is blown and a lot that won't. I'll go see if I can make up a quick list for you to confirm or deny.

There are also other fuses in the engine bay fuse box that it could be, but I'd check that 120A first!

If you turn the car on you say the instrument cluster is on.................under this condition..............
Do the windsheild wipers work?
Do your Fogs?
Do your Power Windows?
Interior lights?

Check the ACC 30A fuse in the engine bay.

Thanks for the quick responses guys.

@Mazurfer -- The battery actually did get hooked up incorrectly for a second. The battery I first purchased had the terminals on the wrong side (i noob'd it up, i know!) so ill check on that 120A main fuse. The car doesn't even try and turn over. No clicks or anything. Just some things work, some don't.

@Jon -- Ill go double check that right now. Thanks!

^...............if cig lighter or trunk remote opener works, then it can't be the ACC or the main fuse right?

If the cig lighter works, then its not the 30A ACC... but he didn't mention that.
He has power to the gauge cluster... which gets power from the 120A fuse
Either way... its likely one of those.

Yeah, he was a little vague.....that's why I was working it down(sort of), but you can see by the questions I asked.........and then his response that I figured I knew what was up! :wiggle:

And with his answers you are likely correct... we'll wait and see...

It's the 120A main fuse..................I'll bet a lot of money on that now that you responded like you did.
When facing the fuse box, it's on the left side at the furthest point from you. It's not a normal looking fuse.

A girl I was helping had the same issue. Her brother hooked it up wrong to a battery charger and blew that fuse.
It was either $5.00 or $8.00 at the dealer. Not too bad considering it saved everything else! You could sort of jury rig it until you get a fuse, but I CANNOT recommend that and I will not...........even though I did for her for a day or two until we got the fuse.

Hopefully you learned an $8.00 lesson and didn't blow anything else!

so i checked the fuse and it was blown! i purchased a new one for $4 and things were back to normal. However, I still cannot start the car. New battery, new starter, new plugs/wires/coils. I don't know what could be wrong...

Does it even turn over at all but just wont start. My car did the same things and it was loss of compression in 2 cylinders and it was flooded .

Also is this a factory alarm or aftermarket. If its aftermarket may need to be reset car could be stuck in started kill mode

Okay, so now it's either flooded, you blew more than just that main 120A fuse(check the all in the engine bay), or possibly fried a relay???? Tell us exactly how it is attempting to start. Can you hear the starter turning(trying to turn over) and it just doesn't start?

be very detail and write down all the sound that you hear.

plug in key, turn to on, see what lights come on and off.

prime the injectors (you should hear it)

start the car. (crank it) hold it for 10 seconds max. describe any cranking sound, slow turning over sound, clicks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExTPnbpLp3o

use that video as a reference to what you SHOULD hear.

I'm having similar problems with my 04 AT. I bought a new battery shortly after the engine was replaced a few months ago. The car isn't being driven right now... I've had to jump start it everytime since the replacement of engine & battery. The battery will not charge and a new battery is drained overnight to the point there's nothing, no gauges, lights, remote don't work, absolutely no power at all. Thought it may be the altenator however when changing batteries out while running the car don't die. Let it run for about an hour and cut it off...again would not start. Going to check the 120A main fuse and see if this could be my problem as well. Any other suggestions?

Check for something causing parasitic draw...trunk light is a common problem.

If you charge it and disconnect the battery...and it still does it ...you may have a defective battery...it happens more commonly than you think.....

Again, the car isn't driven and hasn't been for a year. Trunk's never open for the light to be on & drain the battery. Could the trunk light still be draining due to a short or something? And has had 5 batteries since 04...with 3 being in the last year.

Hi guys,

I have the same problem here. How did you make that work?
I read about so many posts and there are never any good solutions, did you all sell you car before making it work?:sad:

Hi ambitious8

I'm having very similar problem to what you had and wanted to ask how you fixed it?

Hi Jon316G

I loosened the fuse box to get a better reach of the 120a main fuse but still having trouble getting it out, what do you use to take that fuse out?

I'm having exactly the same problem, it wont even click with the security indicator flashing. Could this be more than just a blown 120a main fuse?

much appreciated for all your informative posts :icon_tup:

Its held on by two bolts (I believe they were 8mm):
Attachment 168666

Also remember to disconnect the battery.
Even if the fuse is blown, one side is still "live"

Howdy all... Long time no see. Been away on deployment. Just returned to find my 8 not starting. While I was on the road, my wife said that she was starting and driving it occasionally, when I got home she translated this to once a month, "maybe". My translation? You were gone for six months, I started her up twice... My wife got the 8 started the other day with a jump and left it running for about 45 min to charge.

Fast forward a day or so, finally got to drive her... (she also let the out of state tabs expire) and she won't start. Checked out the threads and went looking for fault indicators.

No:
Remote doesn't lock/unlock
a/c
Radio
Lights on info bar above radio
Interior lights
Most indicators on dash
Crank

Yes:
Guage needles moved, three times up and back if i recall
Blue "background" light in guage cluster
Fashing DRS light

Bought a trickle charger just in case ( in case I leave again and she doesn't drive it again), when it was hooked up it said the battery (red optima powertop) was charged. I hit the unlock on the remote and no light flashes, but it did unlock. Still didn't start.

So i jumped the battery, I hooked everything up right but unknown if my neighboor and wife did the same the other day. This time she almost came alive.

All lights worked, a/c worked, she cranked, but did not start. Didn't sound flooded (its happened twice on this car for me). When I pulled the jump leads off, back to the conditions listed above. I checked the fuses at that point and all looked good, checked out the 120a and it looks fine too, though I'm now replacing since I yanked the cover off and can't get it back on. Whoops, didn't see the part on THIS thread regarding bolts for the fuse. I will chdck windows and wipers and such once I replace the fuse.

So I'll be replacing that today.

Any thouhgts?

So small update. Got the fuse installed, but when I pulled off one of the fuse bolts, the thread that is inside the fuse box dropped away. So I can only secure one side of the 120a fuse. Awesome. This day just keeps getting better.

I tried starting her again, and with the help of a neighbor putting pressure on the fuse (to ensure the connection since the other bolt won't go in) and I get... nothing. Same symptoms as before.

I checked the wipers and windows: the wipers twitched, the windows didn't work. There was a clicking sound coming from the engine, sounded kind of like a relay, but couldn't hear too well from inside the cabin. Had another thought after reading another thread... no sound from the fuel pump either.

Insert lots of swear words here, oh wait, I already did that when I was on the driveway. I'm getting the feeling a tow to my dealer is in my near future.

OK, so we gave it one last college try with the jump leads. Nothing. The fuel pump is on and all the accessories work fine when its attached to another car's battery. However, it turns over slowly and just won't catch.

So when you jump it with another car, you get slight crank, then when the jumper cables are disconnected you get no crank?

Yet your battery is new and fully charged?

Then you have the worst connection ever at the battery posts or the ground to body connection - logical?

Well crap... posted in the first thread that had the most details in it. Sorry, to clarify, my battery isn't new, but only has about six months of use on it and another six months of basically cold soak. Let it charge off my wife's car for about half an hour before trying to jump with her car and for sh**s and grins I tried afterwards with just my battery and nothing. Either way, yeah, might need a new battery, but I think there is another issue as well.

Dead battery and flooding sometimes go hand in hand....
Anyway, once you get a new battery, check for anything symptoms of flooding...