No electric power in 89 Civic

My next door neighbor has an 89 Civic. Yesterday he had a dead battery, brought it to me and asked if I would charge it for him. He said the engine was turning over very slow if at all. I charged the battery and gave it back to him. He came back a few minutes later and said the battery was dead. The dash gauge lights wouldn't even come on. I took a fully charged batter and tried a jump start. Seems the entire electrical system is dead, no lights, nothing. What did he do, I know nothing about Hondas. There were two fuses on the positive terminal, these were OK.

 

First check that the ground strap from the battery really is grounded to
the car body.

Most Hondas have a fuse box under the hood in addition to the one under
the dash. In the under-hood fuse box there is a main fuse (or some times
a couple of main fuses). Check to see if any of those fuses are blown.
These high amperage fuses are not the usual automotive plug-in fuses but
are screwed down with a screw in each end. I think they are called wafer
fuses.

 

I checked the two 30 amp fuses that are attached to the positive battery post, they are good. While talking to my neighbor, he confessed that he tried to connect the battery backwards, he dropped the positive battery clamp on the negative post, then just touched the negative clamp to the positive post, saw that it would not fit, then turned the battery around and connected it corrrectly. I noted there are two boxes that appear to be relay just to the left of the battery. His Chilton's manual does not define what these boxes are. One has four wires, the other appears to have two or more wires. They don't "appear" to be fuse terminals. Any suggestions?

 

30A does not sound right, are you sure these are factory installed fuses
as opposed to something added later (for a stereo system etc.). My old
'87 (one generation prior to your neighbor's) had a main fuse box under
the hood with one 55A and two 45A fuses. My '94 (one generation after
your neighbor's) has a larger under-hood fuse box with a variety of
fuses as large as 80A.

Follow each of the cables from the positive battery terminal and see if
you can find another set of fuses.

You might want to suggest to your neighbor that he buys a service manual
for the car to simplify the troubleshooting. The best manuals are from
http://www.helminc.com, but a Haynes manual from your local book store
or auto parts store would do as well and is much cheaper.