Last month I went on vacation for 3 weeks, during this time it rained like
heck on my civic. When I returned from vacation, I started my Civic and
immediately got a "Charge System" light, and "ABS" light and a "SRS" light.

The next day the car wouldn't start. I pulled out the battery and it
wouldn't charge with an automatic charger. I thought that the problem was
the battery (6 years old) and I went ahead and replaced it. I placed in the
new battery and now whenever I connect the battery the following fuses burn
instantaneously and the car wont start (it'll turn over but I don't hear the
fuel being injected prior to the starter and I don't detect any smell of
gasoline):

Underhood Fuse Relay Box:
Fuse # 44, PGM FI main relay
Fuse #47, Audio Unit
Fuse #51, Door Lock

Underhoos ABS Relay Box:
Fuse #62, ABS Control Unit

Under Dash fuse Relay Box:
Fuse #15, Alternator SP Sensor, ELD unit

The car is a 2000 Civic Coupe SE, D16y7 with ABS brakes.

I've tried:
Replacing the fuses
Disconnecting the alternator
The whole to no avail.

I'd greatly appreciate any help you can give me.
I would tow the car to the nearest dealer but it's going to cost me a small
fortune (over 40 kilometers away).

I'm not an expert at this sort of thing, but if fuses are blowing, it's
for a reason. Something is drawing too much current, and it sounds like
that something is a short to ground somewhere. You can get a multimeter
and look for continuity between those fuses and any chassis ground. If
you find any place where a "hot" wire has continuity with ground, you
can trace that wire and find where it's connected.
Based on what fuses are blowing, that should give you a clue as to
where the fault lies--something has to be common between them. Try
checking a wiring schematic and see if you can identify what's common
between them.
I have a wiring problem with my Civic right now, too...
Good luck!

"EDSD" <dario (AT) canada (DOT) com> wrote in
news:OjIrg.42924$gC3.604565 (AT) weber (DOT) videotron.net:

Hi
The only time I had a problem similar to yours was when the battery
polarity was wrong. I know it should not happen but when the common things
are eliminated, you must look for uncommon things.
In my case the car owner had a add-on electrical fuel pump that he forgot
to turn off and once every two months he brought it in to have the battery
charged back up but would not pay to have the pump rewired to a switched
hot connection. After three times he tried to do it himself, disconnected
the battery, charged it up, and every time he hooked up the battery it blew
the fusible link. Long story made short, he had charged the battery in
reverse, I did not think it was possible but I checked it with a volt meter
and the + and - terminals were now - and +. New battery, worked fine.
Possibly the fuses that are blowing have reverse polarity protection
diodes in them- they short to ground if polarity is reversed- and unless
your starter is a permanent magnet type, even with reversed polarity it
will crank just fine.
Good luck with it
Scott

Burt wrote:
Thanks for all of the replies,

I am usually a very careful person and will check and double check
things before installing, I am certain that the battery was placed in
its proper form, in fact, I've taken a voltmeter just to be sure. Last
weekend was the first time I had a bit of time to look over the car,
this is what I found:

the following fuses continously burn:
Underhood Fuse Relay Box:
Fuse # 44, PGM FI main relay
Fuse #47, Audio Unit
Fuse #51, Door Lock

Underhoos ABS Relay Box:
Fuse #62, ABS Control Unit

Under Dash fuse Relay Box:
Fuse #15, Alternator SP Sensor, ELD unit

The car beeps 6 times whenever I insert the key.

The following systems work:
headlights
parking lights
horn
brake lights
emergency lights
wipers
the A/C fan comes on
the interior dome light
starter motor

The following systems do not work:
Radio
Door locks
aftermarket car alarm (with fuel pump cut-off)
I still do not hear the fuel pump engage for the 2 seconds after I
insert the key into the ignition.
The automatic transmission will not shift out of PARKING

I used a self-powered light test (actually it beeps) and fuse #51
(underhood fuse relay box "keyless door lock") makes contact with both
ground, on one side, and positive, on the other. I traced back the
origins and by removing the car alarm (disconnecting the harnesses) I
found that the fuse would no longer go to ground but all the other
fuses still burn.

So far I have disconnected all of the harnesses in sight, including
under the dash, the abs, keyless door lock and in the engine
compartment, I have cleaned and left them to dry for several days, the
whole to no avail.

I know that somehow everything is probably connected to either a bad
ground or a bad wire, the problem is that the wiring diagrams in the
"Chilton" manual are not specific enough.

Any of your comments and recommendations would be greatly appreciated
and if I do find the problem, I will happily post a very detailed
message to the benefit of other people who might experience a similar
problem.

One last note, for the past two years my fuel gauge has been erratic,
out of the blue and while at a red light, it will stop reading the
amount of fuel in the tank. Five minutes later, everything will be ok.
This happened perhaps 6 times in the past year or so.