Hello, ive got an 02 r53. i recently unhooked the battery cables from the battery after a short drive to take the battery out and clean the battery compartment. reason being, im selling the car to a buddy and wanted to thoroughly clean it for him. upon putting the cables back on and tightening them down, i realized i have no power. none. not the gauges, turning the ignition, no dome light, not even the fob will open the door. i took the battery cables off and cleaned the contacts and the posts on the battery. nothing changed. i hooked a battery charger to the posts under the hood to see if i could jump the power and open the hatch back up (i accidentally shut it without thinking) and... STILL nothing. no power to anything, and i made sure there was good clean contact with the charger. what on earth could this be?? any help is appreciated since im scheduled to sell this beauty tomorrow!!! thank you!

 

Sounds like you popped the big fuse by the battery

 

So that could cause it to not get power, even if i jumped it from the front? does the positive post in the front run to the back of the car where the battery cable is or something?

 

That post is a direct link to the battery, which does you no good if the battery can't get that juice back to the rest of the car

 

Okay i appreciate it, ill check that out as soon as i get home in and get back with you with results.

 

Okay i checked and my fuse is good. is there any other suggestions?

 

How did you check it? Visual inspection won't give you any clues, if it pops it's an internal break.

Just to clarify, I'm talking about the big fuse inside the black box inline with the positive cable right at the battery.

You will need a multimeter to check it

 

Yes i checked it with a multimeter and it checked out okay. there was a small amount of corrosion but i cleaned it afterwards. ive cleaned all connections back there and still no luck.

 

Not trying to insult anyones intelligence or anything. Are you positive you connected the battery cables to the correct posts on the battery? Maybe put it back backwards?

 

Oh no, you're fine. i understand where you're coming from. but to answer your question, yes i made sure.

 

Okay give me a bit, I'm gonna dig out the shop manual

 

So with your multimeter, how many volts do you read from the jump post in the engine bay?