Sudden loss of electrical power

[A Sharp]

This morning when I went to start up my 95 Talon TSI, every single electrical component went dead. I turned the key into the running position and all the lights came on and the ventilation fans started blowing, but when I turned the key to the starting position everything turned off. I am absolutely stumped as to why. At first I thought that maybe the cold night had taken its toll on the battery, so I tried jumping the car. Nothing happened. The car gave no response at all; the headlights wouldn't even turn on while the jumper cables were connected. Next I decided to bust out the multimeter and run some tests. All of the relevant fuses in the main fuse box and in the fuse box behind the kick panel were good, the battery read a very healthy 12.9V without any jumper cables connected, and the terminals appeared to be solid. I did some searching and some people mentioned an in-line fuse attached to the battery, however I don't see this on my car.

So I guess I'm just wondering what else I could test.

Any help would be great, Thanks!

 

[codym]

Alternator could be shot.

 

[slickers111]

Sounds like a bad connection.

 

[92AWDHX40]

check all grounds.

 

[turbo98eclipse]

+1 on connection

 

[A Sharp]

Okay, well I went out and played with the battery leads and to my surprise I saw a spark after wiggling them around. Afterwards, the car started no problem. I feel really damn stupid for not finding such a simple problem!! The connections appeared solid and it's not like I've done anything to them recently.

Thanks for the tip though!

 

[Blurred Talon]

Replace your battery terminals.

I had this problem with my car when I first bought it and after I replaced the positive terminal, all was well.