Friend's car not starting

[namzsteve]

My friend called me yesterday after he had knocked off work asking me to go help him jump start his car. I get there, he mentioned the battery would die when the car wasn't running so we jumped the car and he was on his way home. I told him when he gets home, he should disconnect the battery and reconnect when he leaves home.
This morning he calls me again with the same problem, after arriving at his place, we tried to jump start but got no response from the car, however dash lights do light up. We then try to kick start the bloody thing and it was just refusing. Which left me wondering, I asked him if he tried to jump the car before I had arrived, and he said yes, but immediately stopped when they saw sparks from the battery. I asked if he connected positive to positive? He said he wasn't sure because there was a guy helping him before I arrived, so obviously they hooked up the battery incorrectly.

If this is the case, I would guess the incorrect connections killed some fuses/relay first before cooking up the ignition itself?

 

[TheChamp]

My friend called me yesterday after he had knocked off work asking me to go help him jump start his car. I get there, he mentioned the battery would die when the car wasn't running so we jumped the car and he was on his way home. I told him when he gets home, he should disconnect the battery and reconnect when he leaves home.
This morning he calls me again with the same problem, after arriving at his place, we tried to jump start but got no response from the car, however dash lights do light up. We then try to kick start the bloody thing and it was just refusing. Which left me wondering, I asked him if he tried to jump the car before I had arrived, and he said yes, but immediately stopped when they saw sparks from the battery. I asked if he connected positive to positive? He said he wasn't sure because there was a guy helping him before I arrived, so obviously they hooked up the battery incorrectly.

If this is the case, I would guess the incorrect connections killed some fuses/relay first before cooking up the ignition itself?

Not necessarily, a spark is just a sign of an intermittent connection, if they connected it the wrong there won't just be a spark, the will be a bang, some smoke and maybe visibly burnt terminals or wires, the guy who helped him would also have issues as a short is a short and it goes both ways, not just towards one car.

Yes, check the fuses and relays, it could also just be a protection feature and the car would self reset on it's own, don't be suprised if it starts okay later.

 

[namzsteve]

Not necessarily, a spark is just a sign of an intermittent connection, if they connected it the wrong there won't just be a spark, the will be a bang, some smoke and maybe visibly burnt terminals or wires, the guy who helped him would also have issues as a short is a short and it goes both ways, not just towards one car.

Yes, check the fuses and relays, it could also just be a protection feature and the car would self reset on it's own, don't be suprised if it starts okay later.

I called an auto electrician for him this morning, guy went directly to the engine compartment fuse box, and 2 fuses were blown, one linked to the ignition side. Jumped started the vehicle and it started, borrowed him my battery for the day. He'll hopefully getting a new battery today, his battery is out...