I really messed up

Most likely the dome fuse in the kick panel by left knee.

But ......turn on the headlights and see if they work. If not you most likely smoked the main 100 amp fuse in the engine fuse box the one under clear plastic. That’s not good.

Highly unlikely those sparks blew the fuse. Sure it’s not in backwards?

To lurkers this method of installation is not how to do it. There are 2 connectors on the battery positive mounting Assy. One connector is big black wire the other is thin black wire. Compress the white plastic clip lock on the connector and pull them both out one by one that disconnects the battery from the car. No sparks no issues.
Reinstall after bolting battery back in.

 

Is this also the procedure to follow anytime you want to temporarily disconnect 12v from the car for performing work? In so many other places I've read to just unscrew the negative cable from the body. Does the way you mentioned achieve the same desired effect without the risk of sparking/blowing a fuse?

 

Yes jay it does. It completely disconnects the 12 volt battery from the car no sparks no smoke no regrets. Recently had to do it a few times when my combo meter kept going bad and could not shut the car off. So I left the little red plastic cover off. Its still off.

Its a little bit difficult to figure out how the clip releases. You depress the lock tab and then gently pull the wire out. If the wire does not come right out the clip is not yet released.When you plug it back in it clicks back in.

The big black wire is the wire that is bolted to the front jump point in the front under hood fuse box. Its the main battery 12 volt B+ cable to the car.

 

Since the car is inoperable, is it possible that you reversed the battery polarity?

As Ed suggested, see if the headlights turn on. Will the dome light in the passenger cabin turn on?

 

Maybe just the 12 volt battery is bad? Or am I missing something. Once it's jump started, it runs normally, you can drive it?

Check the voltage on the 12 volt for starters (with a digital mulimeter). And then maybe do an electronic load test, see what the verdict is.

 

Where are you connecting the jump cables - at the battery or at the jumpstart point next to the inverter?

If you can jump the car successfully at the jumpstart point but not at the battery, then you probably have to replace the 120A MAIN fuse at the battery positive terminal.

 

Hey pat doesn’t the jump point go through that 120 fuse also?

 

No

 

I'm lost!!

What else is new?

So, when I replaced my 12v, I connected the positive cable to the new battery and then connected the negative to the point on the car body and got lots of sparks, which scared me, but did no damage.

I really did not understand ETF5's way of doing the connection that he detailed earlier in this thread, but that method avoids risk and the sparking, which seriously came close to making me lose bladder control when I did it 7 years ago??
kris

 

I always heard negative is the first to disconnect, last to reconnect, is safer. Don't much care to understand the why's and wherefores, above my pay scale.

 

You get paid?

 

The explanation is simple.

If you were to short a battery terminal to body ground with the wrench you could cause lots of damage if you shorted the positive terminal (while the negative terminal is already connected to ground.)

If the negative terminal is not connected then there is no harm in shorting the positive terminal to ground.

Hence, disconnect the negative side first, and reconnect that side last.

 

A small amount of sparking is normal. If you find that the 120A fuse at the positive terminal has blown then you did something abnormal.

 

I was just about to chime in, but @Patrick Wong beat me to it. I've always disconnected the negative first and connected it last for the reasons he explained. I've always gotten a little bit of a spark because there's always something low power that runs whenever there's power. And it's never been a problem, even on the five Prii I own or have owned.

What is alarming is when you're wiring up a 480 volt three phase motor contactor and some meathead millwright starts a weld right behind you the instant you put a wire in its terminal. Doesn't matter that you know the panel is dead, the blinding flash of light rules out all thinking. You jump a mile and may need new underwear.

 

Yes that big box the positive battery terminal is bolted to is a fuseable link (fuse). Part # 82620-47040. Check your battery on the terminals then on the jump points, they should be similar. If the jump points are 0 and you have power at the battery then that fuseable link could be the problem.