Today I removed the front bumper, took my headlights off and put them back on, and converted my Intake to short ram.

I went to start the car and got nothing. I heard the, as far as I know, starter clicking away but no go. Now my headlights wont turn on, the internal dash lights, receiver, even my hood wont latch.

Im completely stumped since I have done all of these things before and never had an issue. The weird thing is when I try and start the car my taillights will come on, the ac and vent ***** will illuminate, and one of my headlights will turn on...nothing else though.

I plan on checking my fuse box tomorrow(since apparently I dont have a flash light)...other then that I dont know what it could be.

If theres some info I left out or something else that may be helpful let me know.

 

oh and I forgot to mention...I did, without thinking, try and start the car when the lights were out...Im honestly not sure if that would effect the car.

 

I take it you didn't disconnect the battery while doing this work, right?

How old is your battery?

 

2.5 years old...yeah your right. I didn't last time either though. Maybe I just got lucky last time I did it

 

Not disconnecting the battery wouldn't normally be a problem with it not turning over. You could have blown a major fusible link or something like that which would prevent the starter and other major systems from getting power. I'd start by checking the fuses & fusible links in the battery box area, those are the big ones that feed the major stuff in the car.

 

I assume I can just search here for fusible links and get results I need. Iv honestly never checked them before.

 

There's a sticky at the top of this forum on the Factory Service Manual. I'd recommend getting a copy of that as it will have all the details on the fusible links, IPMD (power management) and the circuit diagrams that you'll need to track down the problem.

 

thx dave, just reinforced some of my thoughts since Im always second guessing what I should probably do.

 

um. am i the only one who heard him say he heard the starter clicking? thats a dead battery holmes.

End of story.

 

when ur battery is dead, all the above you mentioned will still operate. I am sure by the time you read this you will hace jumped the car and all is fine.. i bet your batt load tests at about 220 CCA with a surface charge only.. enough to start the car time after time .. but if used for even a few minutes w lights on, etc.. w car off.. dead battery.

It happens.

Get a jump, head to the auto parts store.. have them load test battery.. bet you 100 bucks ( literally) that you need a new battery.

 

"As far as he knows" it could be the starter clicking. But it could also be one of several relays. Battery only two years old so it shouldn't be failing. Plus, considering the work on the car he was doing, he should have noticed if he shorted something which would have fried/drained the battery.

zerafian - another point of failure could be the BCM - it controls lights, etc. plus the NATS which would prevent the car from starting.

 

I just got up and out there to check the car out. First thing I tried was just putting the keys in the car to see if the interior lights would come on and the radio would work. Everything came on fine for about 10 seconds then it all shut down again.

Essentially the same results as last night besides everything working for a short time. One headlight was on and my taillights stayed on as well, after I took the keys out.

Part of me says how could any of that work, even for 10 seconds if its a fuse thats blown...in other words Im thinking its not a fuse but I want to check it all out anyways...so off I go into the user manual.

 

swap batteries and see what happens.

 

well tomorrow Im going to jump the car. I checked all the fuses and made sure the lights were plugged in all the way. I tried to start it tonight and it actually almost started but then died.

 

Got lucky I guess...I checked all the fuses and tested the battery. All I ended up needing was a jump and my car was back up and running.

Thanks for the help guys...Thanks Dave, for opening my eyes to potential issues in the future if I dont unplug the battery when messing with my electrical system in some way.