Head/Tail Lights turn on but nothing else will including engine

[Giroux8]

My 03 2.0 protege has been acting fine as of late until today. Came home from work real quick, when I came back out nothing would happen when I turned the key. It has all the symptoms of a dead battery, but when I put in a new battery I get the same results.... Nothing. However I can turn on the head and tail lights which I find strange. If you have any idea of what is wrong with my car please let me know! Ofcourse this problem happens on the eve of me making my last car payment haha

 

[StealthWyvern]

Have you checked all your fuses?

 

[Giroux8]

yeah checked fuses, they all looked good. Is there any specific ones I should go back and check. I made sure to take out the ignition fuse and that looked fine. All the others I looked at quickly

 

[StealthWyvern]

Does the radio and all that work just wont start right? Do you hear any noise when you try to start the car? IE clicking? Does the needles on the cluster go nuts?

 

[Giroux8]

Does the radio and all that work just wont start right? Do you hear any noise when you try to start the car? IE clicking? Does the needles on the cluster go nuts?

Literally nothing works except for the head/tail lights. When I turn the key there is nothing, no clicking or any other noises at all.

 

[StealthWyvern]

Damn man then I have no idea where to start looking...

 

[Giroux8]

me either man! I am going to go through today with a voltmeter and check all the fuses and if that all are fine I guess I am going to have to get her towed to the shop. I have run out of ideas, unless its a ground issue somwhere.

 

[Giroux8]

Alright, I figured out and fixed the problem last night. It was a fuse issue. A screw on the back of my alternator was grounding causing my main fuse to blow. Naturally my alternator was cooked, so I replaced that and the main fuse and now she runs like a dream.

 

[StealthWyvern]

Alright, I figured out and fixed the problem last night. It was a fuse issue. A screw on the back of my alternator was grounding causing my main fuse to blow. Naturally my alternator was cooked, so I replaced that and the main fuse and now she runs like a dream.

I thought you said you checked all of the fuses. Either way thanks for updating the thread in-case anyone else has the same issue.

 

[Wedge95]

New guy here. I just had the same problem happen to my 02 ES. Only headlights would work, nothing else, no running/brake lights, no radio, no dome, no sounds when trying to start.

 

[Wedge95]

Mine did the same thing. One shop couldn't find the problem, though they had it all day. Took it to another place; turned out there were two bolts securing the fuse box that were missing. They replaced the bolts and problem fixed...so far.