I need help starting car

[Sman]

My 88 accord has been sitting in my driveway for about 10 months and I wanted to start it up today but it wouldn't start. There was no click no nothing when I turned the key. They radio, lights don't work. The battery is new but I still had my doubts so I tried with another battery, still no luck. I'm new to cars so i don't know much, I don't know where to start. Someone please help.

PS. one of my freinds thinks i should give it a boost, will that help?

[ivymike1031]

check for a fuse or fusible link close (in wire terms) to the battery. If you can't find any such thing, get a test light and start poking wires heading away from the battery, until you find where the light stops turning on.

[Sman]

K I'm new to the whole fixing up car things, so what is a test light??? and how do i use it???can u clear that up alittle,
sorry for being a noob

[ivymike1031]

take a trip to your local auto parts store. A test light is a little stick with a light on the end, and a wire with a clip hanging off the side. You clip the wire to the (-) post on the battery (or any other good ground), and then whenever you touch the sharp end of the stick to something connected to (+), the light lights up.

For you, the first thing to do is look for a big-ass fuse very close to the battery. I'd guess that you have a fuse block under the hood on the same side of the car as the battery, and there will be one or two 40A fuses (and a whole lot of smaller ones) inside. Check those 40A suckers and see if they're still good.

While you're at it, make sure you've got the battery hooked up right. Lights should light either way, but the electronics will be a whole lot less happy if you have it backwards.

[Sman]

thanks for your help man, if the fuses are cheap I will replace them anyway, how much u think they are in CND $. Oh BTW what are those 40a fuses for anyways?

[ivymike1031]

depends on what you mean -

If you mean "which accessories draw current through those fuses," then the answer is "pretty much all of them"

If you mean "why are fuses used," then the answer is "so that ground faults (short circuits) and other wiring failures don't result in fires. When a ground fault occurs, it is not uncommon for the current through the affected circuit to become very high. Small wires carrying the big current get hot, insulation melts/burns, and the problem gets progressively larger. A fuse melts (or breaks) when the current passes a set value, and stops the flow of current through the circuit.

[Sman]

Yea man I get it, thanks alot... well I opened up my fuse box and I unscrewed some and I found out that some had some kinda leak. IT was this grey creamy stuff, not all had it but some did, now I don't know if the ones that have it are wrecked or its nothing to worry about?

[ivymike1031]

Automotive fuses don't usually have anything inside them that will leak out. What you're most likely seeing is a corrosion inhibiting / dielectric gel that was slopped on there by the mfr. It is not usually related to the problem you're having.

[Sman]

well i was talking to a freind of mine and he suggested that I have an alternator problem and told me to think about replacing it. You think it could be an alternator problem too?

[ivymike1031]

not if you have a good battery installed and can't get anything to light up or turn! The alternator maintains the charge on the battery when the engine is running; the battery is supposed to store a charge and allow the engine to start and the lights to turn on w/o the help of the alternator!