Ok long story short, bad battery, late night roadside repair and couldn't see what I was doing and put the battery cables on backwards I disconnected the battery very quickly (2 seconds tops) once i realized but did some damage as the car is completely dead and doesn't even try to start (dome light is out as well). When it happened I had some smoke pour out the starter solenod and a spark or two from the voltage regulator none of the wires appeared to be hot even immediately after. Both the regulator and the solenoid are cheap repairs so I will swap those out regardless and I will be taking the alternator and starter out to be tested at my local parts shop. What other things do I need to look for as far as problems go? Could the dash fuses be blown as well? What an embarrasing problem!!!
Most likely any electronic devices - radio, alternator, ignition etc. - fried unless they have reverse polarity protection (rare).
Dont feel bad I just spent some time helping our body shop after they hooked the battery charger/booster up to a 2006 Lexus SUV backwards. They got really lucky and it just blew lots of fuses including a 140 amp charging fuse in the PDC. What a little puzzle to get at it. Its held in with 2 bolts from inside the PDC. The whole fuseblock comes apart in sections like an old snap-tite model. AFter some finesse and brow mopping we got her done and everything seems to work. Told the manger he should go buy a lottery ticket with luck like that.
