Well, the car was running just fine; I thought maybe the battery was getting a little tired (they don't last long here in the Arizona heat). But after tooling around town for a bit, I park the car at home; about an hour later I need to head out again. Turn the key, nothing...nada, zip, zilch; not a single light on the dash, accessory not working either. I try the headlights, kind of dim, interior lights working. I'm hoping this is a battery problem, but I'm guessing something has gone awry in the ignition?

 

If headlights are very dim, could be battery or battery connection. Otherwise, could be the ignition switch.

If needed...http://shbox.com/ignsw/ign_switch_repl.html

 

Check the cable connection on the starter it could be loose!

 

Well, I had the battery tested, and sure enough it was bad. Replaced the battery, still nothing. On a lark, I opened up the fuse box and pulled/reseated each one. While replacing one of the 15-amp fuses I got a bit of a spark and I heard the CD player spool up when reseating it, did it again and bingo, the dash lit up like a Christmas tree, the car restarted.

I wonder if something in the fuse box area might have gotten moist when I had accidentally had the window cracked during some rain; convenient to have the fuse box area so you don't have to crawl under a dashboard, but things like this...