boosted the fuse box - help please!

[warribbons]

so, my car ran out of batteries yesterday morning because I left my headlights on.

after school, my buddy and I tried boosting it. When we opened up the hood, i assumed the little box with the sign depicting a battery with a lightning bolt on it was the battery. We were uncertain about it in the first place, as there was a huge stick that said it was positive, and a super small one that said that nothing about it, so we assumed it was negative. We hooked his car up first and then put the negative to the negative (or so we thought) and then the positive to the positive, then a huge ass spark came out.

we then tried again, but this time with the saturn before his vehicle, and we revved our engines and waited like 3 minutes. i still remember the smell of fried circuitry. At the moment, i thought it was ozone from the electricity... I have very little experience with cars.

then my car started acting up, and trying to start without the key in the ignition and my friend, who knows a bit about cars, told us that we were "boosting the ECU" and that the battery is in the back.

so we checked the "ECU" and there was a fuse that was melted, so we took it out and replaced it. the car still didn't start

so later on my uncle and i went to it, and he checked all the fuses under the hood and when he took one out, it sparked and melted. Also, no one knew where the "second" fuse box was and so we didn't check it.

what can i do to fix this and how much will this cost me?

obviously we seriously ruined something, but i don't want to get ripped off by a shop.

[2006 ion2]

You and your friend clearly know nothing about cars. What you thought was the battery, then the ecu is the under hood fuse box. It los nothing like a battery, nor ecu. You hooked the positive up to the right place, but what you failed to realize is you're negative (red is positive, black is negative) is a ground post on the upper radiator support. It has a sticker right by it that says iir is, and everything. You could have also read your owners manual, but nobody seems to do that anymore, which is dumb. The second fuse panel is in the car, it is right by your right foot. As far as what to expect to fix, if the dealership says it's bad and wires run to it, believe them, you just made a big boo boo.

[shadowspiyre99]

DOH, live and learn my friend

[lgodave]

Here I thought this "mistake" usually only affected Power Steering. Sorry to hear you've got a "Severe" Case on your hands.

So with that bad news out of the way... Hopefully some fuse checking in the IP Fusebox (which as 2006 ion2 mentioned is behind a kick panel by the accelerator) will discover some additional burnt fuses. If you do have the Owner's Manual handy it might outline the types of fuses you are using along with which fuses/circuits are which. (The diagrams under the Fuse Block covers might also help.)

Replace the fuses and try again. I'm a bit concerned about the fuse that "sparked and melted" when your Uncle pulled it out. THAT shouldn't happen. If you really meant to say was you got a blow out or short when he reinstalled it... He either plugged it in wrong (Which with your luck... might have happened) or that specific circuit has some serious issues.

Think of it like Fuses or Circuit Breakers in your home... If you keep tripping/burning out the circuit there is something seriously wrong. Which ever circuit that "melted" Fuse belongs to (or was plugged into) may have some issues/damage... Have the shop investigate that (don't try and keep replacing the fuse and "limping" along on that circuit).

If you are lucky the fuses did their job and protected the circuits from serious damage... But even if you swap out the fuses and everything seems OK... I'd seriously consider having the Shop look everything over anyway.

Again like Circuits in your home... under certain conditions an overload or short could cause contact/wire damage which if allowed to go unchecked will only cause problems later.

[2006 ion2]

The part that affects the power steering is where people hook it up in the wrong order, or hook up the jumper cables while the good car is running. They straight up fried the fuse box by hooking the positive and negative to two positive posts. They also clearly do not know how jumping a car works, but after they read their owners manual, they might figure it out.

[lgodave]

Originally Posted by 2006 ion2

The part that affects the power steering is where people hook it up in the wrong order, or hook up the jumper cables while the good car is running. They straight up fried the fuse box by hooking the positive and negative to two positive posts. They also clearly do not know how jumping a car works, but after they read their owners manual, they might figure it out.

Thanks... now I've got to go and review my Jump Starting protocol for Winter again. You've got me all Paranoid.

PDF (Print and leave in car) http://www.cartalk.com/content/featu.../jumpstart.pdf

http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/WinterDriving/

OK now I feel better. I'll have to look for that Upper Radiator Support you are referring to as a good option for a Negative Post. (I've had varying success clamping onto the Nut for the LF Strut) Not sure my 2003 has this area clearly marked. Maybe marked later after people started having these little accidents with their IONs.

[2006 ion2]

a lot of cars have this alternative negative , out had a sticker above our, it is actually under the lip of the support.

[warribbons]

thank you all for the advice and whatnot... i'll definitely take it into the shop and hopefully it won't cost too much.

[lgodave]

thank you all for the advice and whatnot... i'll definitely take it into the shop and hopefully it won't cost too much.

If you wanted to give us some more specific info. on what you've been trying and exactly what is/isn't working besides the vehicle doesn't start we might be able to help narrow down what you should look for...

Did looking in the "2nd" fusebox (inside the vehicle) reveal anything? Did replacing the "melted" fuse(s) in the underhood fuse box do anything? (Did you try replacing it? Did your uncle see anything that might have caused it to "melt"?)

Best of luck with the shop. If they are a dealership or maybe part of a tow company they may have some experience with fixing this kind of "boosting the fuse box" issue.

PS. Calling ahead and seeing if they sound confident working on this issue might go a long way in getting this vehicle back for less money. Course Electrical work is never anything one can say is a "quick fix". But my fingers are crossed for you.

[lgodave]

With all that said...

It might be just as easy to tell us what is working OK on the vehicle.

(Assuming the battery has been properly charged and is providing sufficient voltage now.)

When it doesn't start... what does it do (or try doing)? Your Instrument panel is normal, no codes/lights (after test phase)?

[2006 ion2]

They should court take our in, messing around with it can cause more damage

[lgodave]

Originally Posted by 2006 ion2

They should court take our in, messing around with it can cause more damage

Did someone try and "boost your fuse box" 2006 ion2? But I get your drift. Let somebody with experience and direct access to the vehicle figure it out. Additional "tinkering" (and remote assistance by us) could just make things worse.

[warribbons]

Originally Posted by lgodave

If you wanted to give us some more specific info. on what you've been trying and exactly what is/isn't working besides the vehicle doesn't start we might be able to help narrow down what you should look for...

Did looking in the "2nd" fusebox (inside the vehicle) reveal anything? Did replacing the "melted" fuse(s) in the underhood fuse box do anything? (Did you try replacing it? Did your uncle see anything that might have caused it to "melt"?)

Best of luck with the shop. If they are a dealership or maybe part of a tow company they may have some experience with fixing this kind of "boosting the fuse box" issue.

PS. Calling ahead and seeing if they sound confident working on this issue might go a long way in getting this vehicle back for less money. Course Electrical work is never anything one can say is a "quick fix". But my fingers are crossed for you.

i do think that if i try anything else on it, it would only make things worse.

and i'll take your advice on calling in first, hopefully it won't be too much T___T

thanks for all the support again everyone

[chilipepper1327]

Originally Posted by lgodave

Thanks... now I've got to go and review my Jump Starting protocol for Winter again. You've got me all Paranoid.

PDF (Print and leave in car) http://www.cartalk.com/content/featu.../jumpstart.pdf

http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/WinterDriving/

OK now I feel better. I'll have to look for that Upper Radiator Support you are referring to as a good option for a Negative Post. (I've had varying success clamping onto the Nut for the LF Strut) Not sure my 2003 has this area clearly marked. Maybe marked later after people started having these little accidents with their IONs.

This was at the bottom of the cartalk webpage! Made me laugh! Haven't heard this one in a loooooong time! lol!!!

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