Jumper cables hooked up backwards/Aveo screwed up.

My daughter left the headlights on in the Aveo when she got to school and ran the battery down. She then let some other teenage boy at school try to jump the car off. This idiot hooked the jumper cables up backward and blew alot of fuses in the car. Took awhile for me to figure this out and why the car wouldn't start. Anyway I replaced all the fuses and now have problems.

For one thing, now the radio won't come on and the fuse is fine. The clock keeps going back to 1:00. Also the clock will only come on if the dome light switch is in the center position. If you move switch to the left or right the clock goes off, or atleat dims so you can't see it.

The most pressing problem from all this though is that the wipers won't work. I checked the fuse and it was blown so I replaced fuse but it just keeps blowing them. Any ideas on what to check. This is the worst problem cause she can't drive it when its raining. Thanks

I feel for you, really I do. I think you're going to have to get it into a dealer and let them run a thorough diagnostic on the electrical system. God only knows what got cooked, fried, melted or otherwise screwed up by this. I hate to say it's probably not going to be cheap.

The Aveo, at least the current ones, come with GM roadside assistance. I'd think yours would have as well. Might want to have a talk with the young lady about the wisdom of calling someone who knows what they're doing vs trusting someone you don't know... You may also want to explain to her how jumper cables work and how they should be connected lest this happen again.

Im betting you got some melted wiring harneses. If the car is under warranty try to pawn it off on that, lol. Sorry to hear about that though. Smell around for melted plastic.

Yeah, I was pretty ticked after I found out exactly what happened and very kindly explained the harsh consequences that would follow if she ever let another kid under the hood of her/MY car. I am gonna try and get a better look at it this weekend. I'll let yall know what I figure out. LOL, I am thinking some stranded wire and a toggle switch!!

I am thinking some stranded wire and a toggle switch!!

There ya go, problem solved!

I remember when I was a teenager, I didn't always do what my dad said, especially if I could think of anything that was faster. I would explain to her that the battery can EXPLODE and spray sulfuric acid everywhere if the cables are hooked up and there is any charge at all in the battery.

What kind of idiot hooked the cables up backwards? Red-->Red, Black-->Black is about as simple as it gets :screwy:

Oh man that does bite. :banghead: I'm not sure how the Aveo is setup, but most 'domestic' GMs use a "body control module" (BCM) that basically is the computerized brain of all electrical accessory function. Even just arcing a jumper cable on a battery post (with proper polarity) can jumble the software in the BCM or cause hardware problems. I'd try to isolate one circuit at a time by pulling individual fuses to see if you can isolate this.

Joel

yep, u got alot of shit fried. i bid you good luck. also if i can add, try testin your motors for voltage with a volt meter, if nothin then the motors are fried or the connections were melted.

u know what, just check your whole damn car with a volt meter.

Did you happen to figure out what happened and how to fix it? I just had the same thing happen to me.