How much damage

Ok anyone care to guess on how much damage I did to my vehicle?  It looked like I grazed a wire while drilling through my firewall.  Car would not start, no dash lights, no stereo.  I'm hoping its a couple of fuses or a relay only.

at least you didn't burn the car down Did you disconnect the battery before working on it?

Need more info than that to guess. I'd say anywhere between $.50 and $5000. What do I win if I'm right? Seriously though, can you find the wire? If so replace it, trace it to whereever it goes, and start checkin' fuses.Nik

Jeeputer Progress

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Check it out.

What year and make of car and where did you drill thru?

Well I was not connecting anything yet.  I was running the power wire through the fire wall and down the side of the car and under the seat.  Then I was going to put the connectors on, after I did the ground.  I hit the wiring harness,  as I drilled through the fire wall.  Its really hard to see becuase its buired in the engine but I can see the insullation is damaged on one of the wire.  So I'm assuming the drill bit touched the wire itself.  The battery was still hooked up but the car was not on.  I looked through the owners manual and some of the things that were not working are not on the same fuses.  And I pulled the fuse out for the starter and it looked ok?  I'm assuming if it was blown it would be broken in the middle, or black or something.  The car would not even turn over it was just completly dead.  Radio would not power on.  No dash lights, but the headlights worked, the A/c system worked, turn signals worked, interior lights worked.  I'm hoping for the .50 end of the spectrum

2002 jeep liberty.  Could not go through the existing grommet.  drilled just to the right of it.  Thought I was clear of the wires but apparenlty not.  I hit one of the larger guage red wires.

Not good answers. At first with a lot of ignition swicthed stuff out I would look at the main ignition relay, but the starter not engaging is a bad sign. On a lot of newer cars a simple reset can help in these ground spike situations. Disconnect the battery for 10 minutes and see if it helps.

I already had it towed to a jeep dealer.  Is an ignition relay big $$$?  The dealer mentioned that maybe the starter switch blew?

These Jeeps have a lot of very sensitive electronics in them. Sounds like you hit the ECM wire harness. That may not be good at all. Cross your fingers.Nik

Jeeputer Progress

[|||||||||||-] 90%

Check it out.

Ignition relays is cheap, but the starter switch is not. Wait to get a quote from your dealer.Jeff

Velocity Custom Home Theater

Mobile Audio/Video Specialist

Morden, Manitoba CANADA