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I was redoing the grounds leads on my battery and when i went to start the car everything died as i cranked it over. No caution lights, no headlights, nothing. I have -battery to strut tower (2/0 welding cable) -battery to engine (2awg welding cable). Does anyone know if i need the factory ground cable installed as well?

ive tested all the fuses and they seem good, yes main 80amp fuse is fine for sure for sure. i have 12.9 volts to the fusebox under the hood but nothing under the steering wheel. help please?

 
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So you have it grounded at the strut tower? I don't remember there being a ground point there. Since the car worked before I would say something is not grounded properly. You have clean contact points with no paint, grease or dirt in the way?

 
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Yes, i have a 16-ton hydraulic crimper that i have crimped the lugs onto the wire, also i took a Dremel and removed the paint/primer for the locations. your right its not grounded there from the factory however its a common spot for the big 3 upgrade for electrical. i dont think there is any issue with the cables. i can take pictures when i get home today after work. My coworker suggested putting the battery back in its factory orientation since that is something i changed after changed the grounds.

 
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So you flipped the battery so that the + and - are on different sides?

I can't remember if the trans has a ground or not, if it is suppose and it's missing that could be a problem also.

 
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yeah, i got a remanufactured battery and its posts arent the same as the one i had in there so i figured i would re-run the ground so it would reach.

my theory is that something got fried be it a fuse or a relay, its gotta be something since i had power just before i tried to crank it. im considering getting another factory ground and normal battery so my massive cables arent suspect for concern which will prove my theory that something is burnt.

 
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Use one side of a jumper cable pair and provide known good major grounding.

Large fuses are in under-hood box.

 
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I feel as though you read the title and just spat out a generally useful tip rather than reading what I wrote, my grounds are properly terminalized and the mating surfaces have been sanded down to bare metal before being attatched. I'm 98% positive I blew something somewhere. I have power under the hood but not under the dash, any help would be appreciated I urge you to read what I've typed so far so i dont have to re-explain. I'm trying to get pics of my grounds to show you that the grounds are good

 
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So very sorry..... why don't you spat out what model year we are talking about.

 
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Maybe this guy can help

 
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its an 04 value package, the cheapo car! if the dude with the ball cant cut it i sure hope somebody throws out a brilliant idea.

 
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Do you have dome light operating ??

 
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No sir, no dome light. Could that main relay be possibly stuck open thusly not providing power to the fuse box under the dash?

 
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There are no relays, main or otherwise, in the power distribution schematic CraigW linked.

 
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Bottom righthand corner says main relay does it not?

 
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Sorry, I'm an idiot....I looked more than once and totally missed the relay.

There are no relays that supply power to either fuse box. Main relays supply power to engine and trans components.


I think Craig has posted enough info to solve your issue, the diagram and the idea with the jumper cable. You will have to do the sleuthing though.

 
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the jumper cable thing is for testing continuity with a DMM right?

Also does anyone know where the interior fuse panel gets its power from?

 
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Did you have any events ?? (shorting, sparking, reversed batt connections)

I would start where the voltage comes into under-dash box for the dome/micu and work towards the front.

 
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no events aside from the click i heard when i went to crank it that seemed to come from the fusebox under the hood. dont see any blown fuses, melted wires, etc. (thanks for working with me btw, I was afraid we had gotten off on the wrong foot)

 
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No.
It's to replace all of your ground cables for testing.
Various fuses in the engine compartment fuse box supply different types of power to the dash fuse box.
See the diagram linked earlier.




Voltage drop testing FTW. Google for how tos.

 
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so im looking for the white/blue wire but im not sure where it goes under the dash. the schematic says J8, i assume that means plug j, pin 8 but the J plug doesnt seem to have a white/blue wire

 
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That WHT/BLU can be accessed at the dome, or the trunk light.

 
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So I tested the white/blue wire from the dome light and I got an resistance of 1.8ohm.

 
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Aaaand what does that indicate?

In all seriousness, that ohm reading is meaningless and proves nothing of value.





The question needs to be:
Is there +12v battery power on that wire?

You said the entire car is completely dead electrically?
You need to rethink what you are trying to do.
Take your voltmeter to the engine compartment fuse box and test for battery power there, starting with the bigass fuses that are mounted with screws.

Connect the Black wire of the voltmeter (negative lead) on the battery negative post.
Use the red lead to test for power in the fuse box.

 
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Problem solved, those who voted connection issue today you get a gold star, even though the fuse box reads 12.9v the connection between the lug and the terminal wasn't good enough and the car went into self protect mode. BIG THANKS TO ALL THAT ASSISTED, MUCH APPRECIATION!