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Honda CR-V 2007 I parked this car on Friday. It would not start on Sunday and the cd changer changed a bunch every time I tried and a few other dash lights came on. It was cold during the 2 days (between 23 and 0 degrees F).

Jumping the car (Monday morning, 20 hours from the time I tried to start it on Sunday) failed ,resulting in some sparks and then the running lights coming on and this thing with 6 black wires coming out of it making a running noise. Everything faded (took 4 minutes) back off when the donor car was disconnected. Now Nothing would come on in the interior at all during this attempt or after. Here's a picture of the engine: http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Honda/2007_Honda_CR-V_Manu-07_e01-1024.jpg (the black wired thing is upper left, the battery looked like the picture)

It was towed to a dealership and their mechanic claims someone hooked up the battery backwards and that fried all the fuses and could have fried the whole electrical system if it hadn't been dead.

No one (that I know of and I had the key) has messed with the car or unhooked the battery between Friday and it arriving at the dealership other then trying to jump start it Monday. It was towed 2 hours after the attempted jump start.

Any thoughts on what really happened to it? Is it even possible to hook up the battery backwards in the picture? Can I prove the dealership is lying about the battery being 'sabotaged'?

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It isn't very plausible that the battery was hooked up backwards. I believe what the mechanic was trying to say is that when the jump was attempted, the jumper cables were put on incorrectly and damaged everything. This sounds more than plausible to me. I'm not sure how you applied the jumper cables, but it can be done wrong very easily, especially if you aren't paying attention or if another person connects one side while you connect the other.

Here are some questions on the proper way to jump start a dead car:

Is it necessary to have the good car's engine running when jumpstarting

Jump starting a dead battery: Connect black wire to negative pole of battery or grounded metal?

Is it possible to harm your car by giving someone a boost?

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  • Hm. I didn't touch the jumpers cables (as I can never remember the order those should be done in). I know the donor was hooked up first (to both cables, but I didn't look at them) then the red cable on the honda to the battery with the big red cover, then the black to the other battery attach side. It let out a big shower of sparks, but the guy got a good connection on the second try. Could jumping it wrong fry the dead cars system? Or fuses? and cause the weird noises and lights to happen?
    – xgo
    Jan 15, 2015 at 18:50
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    I will almost guarantee you the guy who put the jumper cables on your car put them on the donor car backwards. There should NOT have been a large shower of sparks, only maybe a small spark as it attaches. The second time when it got connected and you tried to start it, it fried everything.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Jan 16, 2015 at 2:58

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