94 Civic Electrical problem
 

My friend has an electrical problem I'm trying to help diagnose on her
94 Civic LX. After having some transmission work done, the mechanic
told her there is an electrical problem where she has to connect a
wire between the two terminals on the right edge of the under-hood
fuse box in order to get it to start.

So basically, when she turns the key to the on position it appears
completely dead. She connects the wire between the two terminals
and the dash lights come on, the car can be started. At which point you
can disconnect the wire and everything is fine until you shut off
the car, at which point you have to go through all this again
to get it started again.

Any ideas on what is going on?

Thanks in advance!

Main fuse blown (often due to mechanic neglecting to disconnect the battery before taking car apart). That's the case if the two terminals are the ones with a big white wire on each. Or are the two terminals where a fuse should be? The big fuses in the underhood box are secured with screws.

Its actually two black wires that are connected to those terminals with
screws. If its the main fuse, would the car continue to run when she disconnects the little bypass wire she is connecting?

Yes it would. Have you checked the fuses in the box?

I'm having a similar problem with my 94 LX. I can get it jump started, but it will not start on its own. Replacing the 80A "battery" fuse in the under-hood fuse box didn't do the trick. Any other suggestions?