Im looking into buying this 88 vert non turbo. The owner said the battery went dead from leaving the door open over night. He left it on the charger for a week. Went back out to start it and no dash lights and nothing to the starter. The headlights taillights, int lights and horn work. I was told could be the main fuse but I had looked right at it and saw it was good.. Other then that the car has 113k original miles. Engine is clean and so is the int. Needs a new top, car was recently repainted a purple color and can see bits of red still from the original paint. He wants to sell it cheap. What would be the first things to check to get it started?

Thanks

 

No dash lights would likely be a light switch or harness problem.

You need to test to see if the ignition switch is receiving constant power or not. Turning the key to on and checking to see if the wipers or turn signals work would prove that it is. If it isn't this would prevent voltage from being able to activate the starting circuit which would mean no power to the starter. A bad main fuse would be a possible cause and or a poor connection along the way as the Black constant voltage wire leaves the engine fuse box on its way to the ignition switch. You know this fuse box (engine) receives voltage because of the items you mentioned that were in working order.

 

Alright, Ill run back over there tomorrow and check to see if the wipers or turn signals work. If they do not work how would i go about getting power to the ignition? the main fuse?

 

Since you already proved the engine fuse box receives power, the question remains is the power getting through the Main fuse or not. Lets say the wipers and turn signals don't work w/key to on. Then you need to check for voltage on the Black wire that comes out of the engine fuse box. On one side the fuse box it receives power from the battery and on the other side the Black wire leaves it via the Main fuse. If there is power on this wire then you know the fuse is good. As the wire leaves the fuse box it drops downward about a foot or so to a black connector where the Engine harness mates with the Front harness. If the Black wire has power coming out of the fuse box then make sure it is being passed on to the Black wire of the Front harness at this black connector. It's possible the connector is not fully connected/plugged into each other fully. The Front harness Black wire then goes to the ignition switch and is plugged into it there along with a Black/White wire found in the same ignition plug.

 

Ok, Ill check those things tomorrow. I hope its something simple.