Need with with a Chevrolet

[toddy]

My moms van is broke down and Im leaving Tennessee to head back to phoenix on saturday.

Heres whats going on. My mom noticed the carpet was damp a couple weeks ago but she shrugged it off. They went camping last weekend and the battery died on the van. MY dad went to jump start the van and it started smoking behind the battery. The battery tested fine and all of the wiring under the hood is in good shape. I did some testing with a test light and found that the fue box under the dash only has power in some spots. The left side of the fuse box has power running thru it. The second row has no power, the third row has power in a few spots and the 4th row has no power. Can anybody help me out here? I cant seem to figure it out.

[2006PSDSD]

What's it do when you try and start it, without the jump?

[toddy]

No power to the starter or ignition. Has power to the ecm though.

[2006PSDSD]

Does it do anything when you turn the ign switch? Could be a bad battery, cells shorted inside. Be careful, cause they can explode when you turn the key. That happened to me once, glad I was in the car

[toddy]

No nothing comes on at all. The battery tested good.

[2006PSDSD]

The battery can test good still I think, but power is not able to flow through it. Take it out and have it load tested. You should at least get a click from the starter if it didn't work. It is weird that you have power in some places though. Did you check ALL the fuses, even the big ones?

I had a friend call me a few weeks ago, stranded with the same problems (minus the smoke), and I had them put a battery in it, and they drove it home

[rorybellows]

its a chevy. but seriosly, what year and model is it

[APEowner]

It sounds like one or more of the fuseable links has burned. There are typically located on either a junction block or the starter (or both). You often can't tell that their burned because the insulation is designed to not burn when the link does. If they are burned then they'll pull apart with a fairly gentle tug. Just repairing them won't fix the underlying problem of whatever caused them to go in the first place (water in the fuse box ?)

[toddy]

Its a 96 Chevy Astro AWD. I was thinkin the fuseable links burnt up. There are 4 running into the back of the fuse box under the hood which would explain the smoke from behind the batterey. How can I test these to see if they work or not? I think water got into the back of the fuse box. With all the rain I think the water ran down the windshield and along the firewall.

[APEowner]

I think you're on the right track. It's not a very sophisticated test but I just yank on them. If they're burned then all that's holding them together is the insulation an they'll feel springy when you tug on them (or they'll come apart). If they're OK then it'll feel like yanking on a wire. You could also use a 12v test light and pierce the insulation after the link to see if there's power. If you do that then you should seal up the hole with RTV afterwords.