Chrysler Repair: car wont start even after replacing battery, resistance ohms, volt ohm meter

Question
I have a 94 Chrysler LHS I was driving along and suddenly the headlights dimmed, the radio shut off and the interior lights came on in that order.  The car stayed running.  I pulled into the driveway and turned the car off then tried to restart it and it wouldn't start but it was clicking.  The next a friend try to charge it but the battery wouldn't hold a charge so we rplaced the battery when we installed the new battery all of the lights came on but the car still wouldn't start.  Later my friend looked at it and had to put a charger on it to keep the lights on but when he pulled the charger away the lights went out.  I don't know anything about cars and am not wanting to pay a ton off money to have it fixed I was told that it could be something to do with the ground wiring or the battery cables or something I'm wondering if this is a possibility or what else it might be.

Answer
Hi Heather,
The ground wiring or battery cables would be a good thought, except that your friend could keep the lights on with a charger and that would indicate that the battery cables are still attached to the power distribution center (+ wire) and the chassis (- wire). None the less it doesn't take much current to maintain the interior lights so I would advise checking that the ground is good at the chassis for the - post wire, and the the + post wires are good where they attach to the + post clamp.  It sounds to me rather that you have short to ground that is draining off the charge from the battery. My suggestion would be to get a volt-ohm meter at an electronics store and then after removing the clamps from the battery put the leads of the meter between the clamps and measure the resistance (ohms) between the two. It should be at least 100 ohms. If not, then I would begin removing the fuses, one at a time located in the power distribution box under the hood near the battery, to find which fuse that when removed causes the resistance to rise to more than 100 ohms. Then let me know and we can go on to test the other fuses supplied by that fuse and the devices it powers, in an attempt to find where the short is.
With the battery disconnected you might also want to check the large red wire from the + post clamp that goes directly to the starter motor (which is not fuse protected) to see if it might be touching the the engine or the frame of the car and have a opening in its insulation at that point that is shorting to ground.
You will also want to charge the new battery if it has been left connected to the car as it will have drained away its charge too much to start the car.
Roland