jumped wrong

[ceveister1]

My girlfriend killed the battery in her car and her friends husband tried to jump it. The car was in between two other vehicles so they couldn't get her cables to reach. The guy had a jumper box and tried that but it didn't work (I don't think he had it on the right setting) so they hooked his cables to his car to the box then her cables from the box to her car. She said the cables got really hot which tells me they probably hooked them up backwards. Now when she turns the key nothing happens. She has headlights but no brake lights, door chime, gauge lights etc. I have a friend who told me that it probably kicked the main fuse. Is this the case and if so where is the main fuse located? If not, what else could this have fried?

[mustang302]

(depending on your year, mine are 93 and 95) the main fuse should be in the engine compartment, near the battery, there is a hinged door covered fuse panel with a few fuses, mine have 100A main fuses in there.

Have you resolved the reason the car needed a jump yet? Was something left on that drained the battery? Was it during this cold snap and perhaps the battery froze during its low charge state (mine did that very thing, when the battery has a low charge on it, it will freeze at a higher temperature). You mention all the things not working on the car now, but will it start and run? Did that jumping technique work and start the car?

I ask all this because I suspect the original culprit remains a bad battery. If it did not start off that jump, or started briefly and then died, and is now back to not starting (which brought on the need for the jump), I am guessing the battery is toast or needs to be charged, at the very least. Like I said, I just had a battery go on me and the door chime worked, the interior lights worked (even somewhat bright!), the automatic seat belt even worked, but once the key was turned, everything went dead. It was a battery that had frozen and /or internally shorted.

Good luck.