My car doesn't seem to start., Please Help Options

[Eazy6G]

Hey guys, I've been trying to figure out why my car won't start for a few days now. I first came to realize it had a problem when I was driving in on the freeway and made my way to the lane right of me. When I did that the car just shut off completely lights and all. Tried turning it back on nothing. Open the hood and realized the battery cablel was loose and since I was close to my house already and didn't have tools to tighten it I just put it back and it turned on and drove off. Left it parked.

Next day I decide to take it out, I opened all the windows and sunroof (since it was hot) and open the hood to tighten the battery down and thats where the problems started. I tighten it fully but it wouldn't start nor would any lights go on (dash board or any lights). But if I would turn the negative cable to a certain side you would hear things go on. If i tighten it, it would go back to sending no current. You would only hear things go back on if i held onto the cable at that exact angle, if i slightly moved it, nothing would happen. And when I tighten it at one point it threw a whole bunch of sparks.

So here's the deal, I need to move this car, and all my windows are stuck open.

I have changed -

- Battery Terminals
-Fuses 100a, 60a, and either a 50a or a 40a. ( don't remember what they are right now, but i know one was for the alternator)
- Checked the other fuses and all seemed good
-Battery is new, and I tested the battery of another car as well and no luck

What should I check now? Are there any fuses that I might have skipped over and should double check? Could it be the alternator? Maybe the cables have gone bad?

Please help guys, I've tried the best I can but I know very little about this sort of stuff. Thank you ahead of time and appreciated.

and if it helps at all, I drive an 96 ST model.

This post has been edited by Eazy6G: Jun 20, 2011 - 4:58 AM

[m4dm4n]

You said earlier that everything turned on when you held the battery terminal at a particular angle, and also that sparks were thrown out when you tried to tighten it down. Sounds like a short somewhere to me... Especially since everything died again once you tightened down the terminal. The time it sparked when you tightened it - were you tightening the +ve terminal and accidentally shorted to the chassis or other gnd point somehow? I've done that before, almost crapped myself!

If your spanner didn't touch anything but the terminal then I reckon there has to be a bad power lead somewhere... grab a test light/multimeter and check for continuity. Electrical problems can sometimes be a nightmare to figure out so take your time, be patient and think it through.