jimmycofc

I backed it out of the garage, shut it down, and went back to the house to set the alarm. Got back in the car, turned the key, and nothing. Took me a while to figure out that, not only is it not cranking, nothing electrical is working; no lights, no door locks, no radio, nothing. Seems like something that massive must be pretty simple.

In a house it would have to be the master breaker, but it's not clear to me that a car has such a thing. I pulled the cover on the fuse box under the hood, but not much made sense to me other than the little fuses, and how could it be one of those? On top of that, the diagram inside the lid didn't match what I was looking at inside the box.

On the way out of the garage, the driver's door, which I neglected to close completely, caught on something and opened up completely. My first thought was that I had probably bent something, but I pulled up a foot or so and the door closed just fine. All OK. Then I finished backing out, and you've seen the rest. I can't imagine how the door thing can have anything to do with it, but I find this car so mysterious that I thought I'd better add that as well, however embarrassing it is.

The other car is just fine, but the LS400, now that it's out in the driveway, has it blocked in. Doesn't help the diagnosis, but I thought you'd find it amusing.

Any help appreciated.

kevvo

First thing check and clean the battery connections.

Sewpra

^ That's what happened to me in the past, cables appeared to be tight but somehow loosened over time, the fact that they're not the type of cables with big *** clamps didn't help. The negative one especially likes to get loose.

Shmee

iTrader: (3)

Check that you have it in park... I had a similar situation in my 96 where it was acting completely dead. Somehow I turns it off and removed the key while it was in reverse.

BluesImage

I have had the exact same thing happen to me on a Marquis. I went to start it and nothing happened the whole car was dead nothing worked. The only thing that was wrong was a loose battery cable! Good luck I hope you have an easy fix!

jimmycofc

Messed with it some more this morning. Had a neighbor crank it while I watched under the hood. I saw a spark shoot out of the negative battery clamp. So you guys are almost certainly right.


It looks like that cable is shorter than it should be, so I may just replace it. I wouldn't hesitate on any other car I've had, but you can't even see the engine in this thing. How hard would it be to replace it? Can somebody tell me where the other end is?


I'll test this theory by tightening up the bolts on that cable clamp as soon as I can feet back home and find a wrench that fits. I had to leave and come to the office.


thanks, guys

RA40

iTrader: (6)

In your humid weather, it is possible the cable has corrosion further down the cable under the insulator. A good cleaning of the terminals and inspect-clean of the upper portion of the cable is about the best you can expect. If it needs to be changed out, you will have to splice it into the wiring harness.