88 Civic Electrical Problem

The Problem: Yesterday I made my first newbie mistake in owning a
car. (I left my lights on while at work.) Luckily a coworker offer
to jump me off. We hooked up the cables. waited a minute, started the
car, allowed the altenator to charge the battery ( I think that what
is is.). The car started and off I went, when I got home, I shut the
car down, and restarted just to make sure everything was okay.
Everything was fine. Then next morning, trying to start the car:
nothing!!! No Lights will come on, No radio will play, No Interior
light comes on when you open the door, Car will not start. I tried
charging the battery again this time nothing happenss. I rush with a
friend get a new battery and nothing. it feels and acts as if there
is no battery at all installed. I know the battery is new, (Maybe and
Hour old if that much. It wil not start. and once again it's as if
there is a blackout in my car.

Thanks alot for your time.

 

This sounds as if you have a connection problem at the battery. I would try
cleaning both battery connectors with a small wire brush (or preferably a
battery terminal cleaning brush designed for the job), then make sure you
securely fasten them onto the battery posts and see if things light up.

 

I agree with Mike's suggestions. I would also add that you should check
for corrosion or a loose connection where the ground-strap from the
battery is connected to the chassis. Also, the battery clamps tend to
get looser over the years, making it impossible to tighten them enough
for a secure connection.

 

Fuse blown? Guessing - Charging a dead battery sometime damages the
charging system. I`m thinking the morning temp shorted the fuse out.
Rick

 

That was a bad move. I made that mistake once, very eary in my days,
fortunately nothing came of it, and it's not likely that caused your
problem. But consider what you did. By starting it, you used battery
power, but by not going driving afterwards, you didn't recharge the power
that was used to start the car. So don't start your car unless you are
going to drive it for a few minute to recharge the battery.

BTW, the battery you bought, they did charge it right? New batteries have
to be charged before they are installed.

 

Obviously, check all your connections on both ends of both battery
cables as the next 15 posters will tell you. When you have no power
it's easy to track with a VOM or a test light. The test light can be
any 12V bulb with wires on it to check down the line. The battery
itself is not the problem. Perhaps you disturbed a wire when hooking
up for the jump and it was right on the verge of not making contact.

 

when I got home, I shut the

Usually a long trip home would charge the battery to its capacity.
Starting once or twice has no effect. This is a good habit, at least
for me, to verify a working charging system.

I've never seen a drained battery battery sold in stores. Unless it's
the type sold as a kit. Acid/battery kit. The original poster might
want to try jumping 12V battery to the starter solenoid to verify good
ground. If cranks, then ground, battery, battery posts connects are
good.
Rick