2003 wont start

[mikef0179]

Hello,

When I got back from a trip last week I went to start my 2003 vibe and the battery was dead. I had a friend help me jump the battery and didn't notice he connected the cables backwards. I proceeded to try and start the car and nothing. I went to check the cables and noticed the mistake. I ended up having to replace the 100 amp alternator fuse and any other blown fuse in the under hood fuse block. everything in the car works, gauges etc. when I turn the key I hear a click but nothing else. is there anything else I can check. I don't have the money for a mechanic. I appreciate the help!

Thanks,

Mike

[lannvouivre]

Get a cheap digital multimeter and check voltage across the top of the battery on the cables while the car is off and then also while someone else tries to crank the engine. Your battery may just be bad at this point if it only took a week to die, honestly. It sounds to me like the battery voltage is simply insufficient to turn the engine over. Next, go down and rent a cheap code scanner and hook it to your OBDII port and check from communication from the PCM. If the PCM won't communicate, things may be very bad. If this is the case, try pulling all the fuses relating to the PCM and checking for continuity across them. If they're all good, put them all back in and try again. I had a similar issue a while back; I don't really know what was up, but I could crank for ages and not have the car start. There was no communication to the scanner from the PCM. I guess a fuse was just dirty because all I did was pull one of the main small ones (don't remember which) and she started right up after my boss left.

[mikef0179]

Thanks for the reply! After some more troubleshooting I decided to look in the fuse box underneath the dash and discovered the am2 fuse was blown also, I replaced it and was able to state car. all In all I had to replace 10 fuses to get it going.

thank for the help,

Mike

[Salsa Guy]

Good deal!

[lannvouivre]

Thanks for the reply! After some more troubleshooting I decided to look in the fuse box underneath the dash and discovered the am2 fuse was blown also, I replaced it and was able to state car. all In all I had to replace 10 fuses to get it going.

thank for the help,

Mike

Those fuses really saved your skin, there! We once had a student hook a battery charger to the Mitsubishi at 24V. Needless to say, they had trouble getting it to start again, but luckily the PCM didn't fry.