Need Urgent Help! My guages and speedometers arent working! Options

[Mannyrav]

Here's the situation. I went to buy a new battery because my old one was bad. My father and I went on replacing it, (we're not the most car-literate people), and we accidentally put the battery on backwards. A few sparks flew, but nothing big. So when
we installed it properly, we turned on the car, and it ran smoothly and all of the lights work.

Problem is, the guages, speedometer, fuel indicator, all of that stuff doesn't work; including the radio, but the radio is the least of my worries. The battery light stays on too. First thing that comes to mind was that there was probably a bad fuse. We tested all of them in the car and under the hood, all but one were good. I replaced that fuse (20v fuse under the hood), and still nothing! What creeps me out the most though was when I proceeded to drive the car, the shift knob wouldn't get off of 'park', so I had to force it in order to drive to Autozone. The second concern was that there was a delay when the car was shifting from first to second. Whatever the problem is, it's pretty important that it's fixed.

So to summarize, here's the problems specifically:
-Gauge doesn't work (speedometer, gas indicator, ect)
-Battery light stays on
-Windows don't work (power windows)
-Cd player/speakers don't work
-Shift knob stays on park
-Car delays when shifting (it's an automatic too...)

Guys please help me! This is my only car to get around and I can't afford to have it in this condition. Any tips are greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
-Manny

By the way, the wipers don't work either. Which is pretty crucial here in South Florida during Hurricane Season

This post has been edited by Mannyrav: Aug 22, 2008 - 8:21 PM