1998 Saturn won't crank over, no pw. locks, radio, or cig. lighter

Customer called me to look at their car thinking they had an issue with OEM security system. I looked at the car but found out it didn't have OEM keyless so therefore doesn't have security.

Noticed that when you try to start it, it has power at the yellow wire but nothing at the starter. Power locks don't work. Cig. has no power. Radio has no power. I jumpered a wire with a 10 amp fuse to the cig. lighter power wire. When doing this, the car will start along with the radio and power locks. Instrument cluster doesn't show rpms, coolant, or gas gauge. Also, the signal lights in the dash flicker whether you have the signals on or not. While the car is running and I take the jumper off, it'll stall out and CEL light comes on.

I need to know where the radio, power locks, and cig. lighter circuits get there power from. Could there be a short in the instrument cluster causing issues? I've checked the obvious issues that can be but everything is fine. ALL fuses are accounted for and are good. Anyone have any ideas?

Check for a blown fusible link under the hood.

Check for a blown fusible link under the hood.

I was using AllData but it didn't show any fusible links. All of the MAXI fuses are fine along with everything else that was fused.

Check for a blown fusible link under the hood.
You don't even own a saturn do you?

Here this might help you. I know you say you checked all the fuses... yada yada and it sounds to me that you are not overly fimiliar with saturns. Let me know what the results are.

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135171&highlight=car+won%27t+start

You don't even own a saturn do you?

Here this might help you. I know you say you checked all the fuses... yada yada and it sounds to me that you are not overly fimiliar with saturns. Let me know what the results are.

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135171&highlight=car+won%27t+start

You guessed it, sorry if I gave some bad advice there I just thought maybe they might put some under the hood on a saturn, hell I have three vehicles in my yard now, all different makes and models, nissan, buick, ford, and everyone of those has fusible links of some type under the hood.

Check the battery cable connections at the battery. I don't mean check that the bolts are tight but make sure the wire is tight as well. I see it all the time. Side post batteries where the bolts are tight but the wire is loose as a goose.

/hates side post batteries

Thanks SC2. I'm a little more advanced than most people. I'm actually MECP certified so I can get around electrical things a little better than most. I like to investigate though before really diving into things. That link I think will help me in the right direction. I haven't read the whole thing yet. My guess is a bad fuseblock but we'll see.

hates side post batteries Ello Cat fuzz. Probably don't even recognize me since I have a different sign in. It's ODG from saturnfans. Trust me, I think all of us who have side posts hate them. It's nice for my sound system setup, but other then that it's just a pain.

Thanks SC2. I'm a little more advanced than most people. I'm actually MECP certified so I can get around electrical things a little better than most. I like to investigate though before really diving into things. That link I think will help me in the right direction. I haven't read the whole thing yet. My guess is a bad fuseblock but we'll see. Just take your time and try not to over look things. You will find it eventually.


You guessed it, sorry if I gave some bad advice there I just thought maybe they might put some under the hood on a saturn....
It's all gravy dude. My number one rule is to avoid comparing a different car make to another. That is the same for even if they are. Say you have a same year and model saturn with similar symptoms to one identical, they could still be different problems, thus causing you to over look things.

You don't even own a saturn do you?

Here this might help you. I know you say you checked all the fuses... yada yada and it sounds to me that you are not overly fimiliar with saturns. Let me know what the results are.

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135171&highlight=car+won%27t+start

Ended up being a short just like in the link above. Thanks!