So my battery was on its dying breathe and I went to get a new one, In my haste i accidently grabbed a battery that although looked like the one I had, but had its terminals reversed. Well stupid me plugged it in and cranked the Engine once. Well seeing my car didnt start I looked at the Battery and seen I had the terminals backwards. I exhanged it for the right one and welli figured the damage was done. I replaced several fuses that had burnt out, thinking that it maybe i was lucky enough to only have that done but well most of the fuses i replaced are ok but a few burn out the moment the terminals touch. After towing my car home I asked some friends and family what might I need to change. My dad says the whole Alternator cuz the regulator might be blown but i just wanted to get some honest opinions on what damage am I looking at?

And yes I realize I am a complete moron for rushing

Check the fuses in the engine bay as well as the ones inside the car to the left of your steering wheel.
You really cant damage anything, as every connection is fused.
If you had somehow damaged your alternator, then you would still be able to start and run your for for about and hour just off the battery, so I dont think thats your problem.

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really, well what happened was my car would start and run fine, but nothing in the caban would work, no guages, power windows, locks, radio, none of the lights would work and the shifter wouldn't move even if i pressed on the brakes. I don't know what it could be? maybe a relay?

Check the fuse under your hood with the label "X", that sounds like it to me.

yeah again, check the rest of the fuses.
there are some really big 100amp ones in your main fuse box that you should check too.

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the 100amp alt fuse is probably the one blown. It's not simple to change, it's bolted into the box. Check if it's blown, then buy a new one at autozone and take the fuse box apart

A friend of mine shorted his tercel by boosting it and inverting the cables..one fuse needed to be changed and it was those big one that you need to take almost the entire fuse box appart to replace. They look like boxes with really long legs and you need a screwdriver to remove, there are transparent so you can see if they are blown or not. It might be different on the celicas but just to say, check alll the fuses.

This post has been edited by Rayme: Dec 20, 2008 - 10:21 AM

So the big 100amp fuses? are they the big ones with a clear top or the Big solid color ones with diagrams on them? anyone got a picture that might help?

the clear ones are what you are looking for, the solid things with diagrams you speak of are probably factory relays located in some fuse boxes in the vehicle.

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Yes. You should be able to clearly see through the little window if its blown or not.

ok so the 100 amp fuse is burned, i can see the bridge connection is gone. how am i suppose to go about taking it out? is it bolted to the fuse box?

oh and will replacing the 100 amp fuse keep the smaller fuses from burning out the moment i put them in or do i have a short some were?

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I think it is the same because I had to take the fuse box apart, and unscrew to bolts the locked the 100amp fuse in place, its a pretty complicated job but it seemed to work, everything seems to be working fine although i think the brand new battery lost its charge while the fuses were blown cuz its starts rough and idles very low.

Unfortunately i made this same exact mistake when i got my new battery. I had to get all my fuses replaced too.

you have to be careful when installing a battery and take notice of which ones are + and -. My old battery had the + on the left and - on the right when the label on top the battery was facing forward. My optima is the opposite, so the label appears upside down when you are standing in front of the car. Its easy to hook it up wrong if you arent paying attention.

yeah its a very hard lesson I've had to learn
Thankfully I'll take notice every time I change my battery from now on