weird 96 civic dx no start issue

HI Guys- I was hoping you might be able to help me out with this weird one.

Back in December, I bought a 96 civic dx hatch. I have not driven the car since then. It has been buried in snow for quite a while. This week I managed to get all the snow off of it and try to move it. The battery seemed to be stone dead. I wasn't able to get any function and all jumping the car did not help. I figured that I will pick up a battery this weekend.

The only other thing to note is that the car has a remote starter and alarm. The alarm & key fob was no longer working as well.

Today I replaced the battery and it still had no power to anything in the car except the horn. I checked the fuse for the alarm that was on a cable attaching to the battery. The 25 amp fuse there was blown. I replaced it and still nothing in the car works. I am not able to get any of the dash to light up at all. The only thing that seems to be working is the horn. The remote starter and key fob controls are dead.

Any leads on what I should be checking would be greatly appreciated!

Replace the battery in the key fob.

The alarm and functions of the key fob are not working at all right now. If I turn the key of the car, nothing at all lights up in the dash, or even clicks.

terminals, all fuses, see if something is grounding onto the frame maybe, i don't know my le sabre had an identical problem and I can't remember what it turned out to be.

when i say fuses i mean fuses and relays.
good luck!

When I parked the car in Dec. everything was fine so nothing would have changed in the mean time besides the battery running down if it was shaky in the first place. The past two months here in CT have been very cold and snowy.

Sounds like one of the maxi fuses is blown. They'll be in the underhood fusebox. Or perhaps an animal got in and started chewing wires?

Main relay is a big problem on these cars. Give it a look-see.

I agree. Main relays are pretty notorious for having the soldering separate from the circuits. Since it has an auto start as well. I would check those wires for a shoddy ground or poor wiring connection. One of my peeves is having to fix someone elses bad wiring job.

Thanks for the help and suggestions. I looked up "main relay" on honda tech and am not sure that is it. I was in the fuse box today. Everything looked normal in there.

Is it odd that the aftermarket 25 amp fuse for the alarm that tied into the battery was blown?

I am confused seeing the car has a new battery in it and despite this nothing is still getting power. There is no power to the radio, lights, alarm, key fob features, or ignition. The only thing I could find that functioned was the horn.

It's not going to be the main relay if you're not getting anything other than the horn. The main relay only powers the ECU, injectors and fuel pump.

I'd advise getting a test light or DVOM, a wiring diagram and start checking where you are getting power and where you aren't.

You should be able to download a PDF of the factory service manual by googling around. The file I have is called "civic_ej6_ej8_96-00_service_manual.pdf" and looking at page 1537 I would say fuse #41 (80A) is worth checking out. You will have working hazard lights, brake lights and horn if this fuse is blown but pretty much nothing else.

Run_Away wrote: looking at page 1537 I would say fuse #41 (80A) is worth checking out. You will have working hazard lights, brake lights and horn if this fuse is blown but pretty much nothing else.

You hit the nail on the head. I just took a look at that fuse and it is blown. The hazard lights worked as well.

I am guessing by the look of this fuse that I will have to source it from the dealer??? It doesn't look like a off the shelf blade fuse.

Which leads to an obvious question: why did these fuses blow during storage, or did they?

Not to insult your abilities, because I did this once by accident, but ANY chance you got the cable polarity reversed when you jumped the vehicle, even for just a moment?

That fuse you're looking at might go under the name of "fusable link" and found in most auto parts stores.

If it's 80 amps, it's a fusable link.

No insult taken here. I am fully capable of making a mistake! It is possible that I goofed when trying to jump the car. I was in a rush to do it before dark earlier in the week. I will hit advance auto later today and see if I can find it the fuse.

Thanks again- Cory

Sounds very familiar, Cory.

Many, many thanks to everyone.

I installed the new fusible link. Once I reconnected the battery, the alarm started sounding and I nearly pooped my pants. The alarm was like 2 feet away from my head. I was frantically fumbling around my pockets looking for the key fob.

The car started right up and all is well!