Reversed Jumpers, Now Fuse Always Sparks Out

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

Here’s the background: After recently leaving my tc parked for too long, I returned to find the battery dead. A young fellow tried to help me jump my car, but he had mixed up the positive and negative cables for several seconds before I was able to remove the clamps.

After that afternoon, I was eventually able to get the car to start with a new battery, but the OBD2 reader gave a p2118… I found my ETCS fuse was blown and replaced it which seems to have resolved that part of the problem. Now I’ve noticed my radio won’t turn on. The radio fuse is dead too, and replacements instantly spark out and die when inserted. Does that mean that there’s a short somewhere in my electrical system? Is the car safe to keep driving and keep connected to the battery? I hadn’t noticed the problem with the radio for several hours, are there any other non-obvious components that I should check for damage?

2

A lot of components could have been damaged, aside from the radio. But if the car is running fine, then you are golden … and lucky …

Assuming nothing else is broken, and there are no trouble lights.

3

You definitely have a short somewhere if the radio fuse continues to blow. I think you will have to have the radio repaired by a qualified electrinics specialist.

I would think that the radio is your only problem if the car runs fine and there are no other codes when you erase the P2118 code and as long as the control by wire throttle works properly.

Yosemite

4

Thanks for the tips! The car had been in fail safe mode and limited acceleration, but replacing the blown ETCS fuse resolved that. No other indications that anything is wrong now besides the radio. I’ll get that looked at and try to remember to update here with results afterwards.