photec2

Car: 98 DX Coupe 5 sp, no mods, original everything. I'm in Rochester, NY

Ok, so my girlfriend just walked out to her can and it will not start. FML..

If you turn the headlights ON everything in side is DEAD (dome light, cd player, dash, everything...) turn the key and nothing at all, completely dead.

If you have the lights OFF or just the parking lights ON everything in side is normal. (CD player is ON, dome light ON and if the parking lights are ON the dash lights up) Turn the key and you just hear a relay buzzing and the started tries but just clicks.

I have tried jumping it hoping that it has a short and it drained the battery but that didn't do anything, everything is still the same.

I think it is a short somewhere, probably the lights somewhere?

Anyone have any ideas on where to start? It is at my work right now in the snow, I'm planning on working on it in the morning before work. HELP!!

TIA

delsolproblems

When you switch the headlights on, do they actually turn on or are they dead with everything else?

When you try to start it, does the starter ever turn the motor at all or has it done nothing but click since the problem began?

photec2

Headlights are dead jus like everything else when turned on.

And the starter does nothing but click, never turned the motor.

starion88esir

Sounds like you have a completely dead cell in the battery. Check the voltage on the battery. I bet it's no good, and with a dead cell, they often won't take a jump.

photec2

^^^I really hope so!! on my way into the snow to try and figure this out...

delsolproblems

If it won't start when jumped off of a running vehicle then the battery isn't the (only) problem.

delsolproblems

Disconnect the battery and check the resistance across the harness power connector and the ground strap. Anything but infinite ohms is a drain on the battery. Small drains, like from the radio memory, are normal. Check the fuses as well while the battery is disconnected. If you find a blown one, don't reconnect the battery. Check the terminals of that fuse's socket for continuity with bare metal on the car body. If a terminal shows anything but infinite ohms across the body ground, then that terminal is at least partially shorted.

photec2

^i'll try that when I get home. I had my buddy push me and I pop started it and drove home. While driving home the CD player was turning on and off. Haha shoot me. When I got home it didn't want to turn over either. I'll start with a new battery in the morning.