ok, my girlfriend has an '02 tribute and her mom took it the other day while she was at work to jump start her frineds car. well her mom decided to hook up the positive to the negative and vice versa. well needless to say she realized it after the fact and has sumwhat avoided major problems. except for the fact that she has no interior lights, she cant use her key fob, she cant unlock the doors with the power locks without the car running, and her radio doesn't work. well question being what else can i check? i looked at the fuses and didnt notice any popped so is there any fuses on the back of the radio? or what else should i look at? or is she **** out of luck? she has the radio with the 6disc changer just not sure if it has cassette player too. and yes i've already smacked her mom one for doing such a stupid thing. any help u can give me would b greeeeeeatly appreciated!!!!!!!! thanks!

 

I would personally take it immediately to have the diagnostics read and action accordingly.
What she did is exactly what all the jump start instructions have warned NOT to do. It's like she forced the reverse polarity thru the entire electrical system, which it is not designed to accommodate. Consider it lucky the vehicle didn't explode and no one got injured!
Good luck - cheers, Mark

 

thanks man, i told her to just get another car but she loves this thing with all her heart and she cried for 2 days after it happened about it cuz she couldn't afford to fix it if needed. but anyway. im gonna see what i can do then take it to my mechanic 2 double check, im just wondering what else i can do b4 that. ugh! worst thing u can do is let a female mess with a females car. lol no offense

 

You might try what I have come to call, 'the "everything" fix?'
Try resetting the PCM/ECU by disconnecting a battery cable, turning on everything you can think of for about 10 mins, then reconnecting the cable to see if that resets everything.
Just a guess, but this has solved a number of other strange problems in the past. And only costs you about 1/2 hours time to try.

 

ooo so i turn everything on for 10 mins while its still disconnected and then connect it with everything on, or turn everything off first? this sounds like a really good idea, exactly what im looking for, and another question. does anybody know off the top of there head if theres any other fuses i need to check other then the fuse panel, IE> in line fuses, fuses on the back of the radio like on my aftermarket radio? i want to get everything straight in my head b4 i start because our schedules are so messed up that i might only get her car for one day and i want to do everything in one day and if i dont fix it then i will have to get it to the mechanic.

 

Don't diconnect the batt w/everything on. It could cause an arc that may possibly cause the battery to explode.
No, turn everything off, then disconnect the battery, then turn on the ign, lights, etc....
Just to make double sure, leave it that way for +/-10mins, shut everything off and reconnect the battery.
This may, or may not have the desired affect, but its worth a try and doesn't cost anything.