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Maintenance & Repair Electronic Gremlins: Electrical Problems That Are Driving You Crazy
1085 messages, Last post on Oct 29, 2009 at 11:41 AM
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Replying to: kiawah (Oct 23, 2008 4:10 am) You should have everything you need to isolate and fix your problem. |
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I have had problems with the interior lights flashing, then I couldn't turn them off, so I took out all the bulbs so my battery wouldn't be drained. Yesterday I was driving and all of a sudden lost power, including my steering. I coasted to the side of the road. My headlights and dashboard still worked. (I do have plenty of gas in tank.) I waited a minute or so, then restarted the car. I drove it home but now I don't know what to do. Why would the car lose power while driving? This is the worst piece of crap car I have ever owned!  
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Replying to: grandmascar (Nov 09, 2008 2:16 pm) But, no idea if this your problem. Oh, and a battery cable that failed will also shut the car down. |
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Replying to: grandmascar (Nov 09, 2008 2:16 pm) |
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| The problem I have is a battery drain. First the DRL stopped working, narrowed that down to the diode under the dash (removed diode, jumped the terminals with a fuse). I disconnected the negative battery cable and clipped a test light to the cable and put the pointed end on the neg battery terminal making sure no contact to the cable and battery directly except through the test light, viola I had light that fluctuated from dim to off, quickly, in no appearant rhythm. Next I kept hearing the remote function activation module clicking. When fuse 19 was removed the clicking stopped and the light went out, so I removed the RFAM, no change. The fuse controls the radio/battery as per the fuse cover. Everything works fine, door locks, windows, seats, mirrors, radio, cd player (when fuse is in place), dome lights, head lights, A/C, heater blower motor. Any ideas what would cause a low level "short" that won't blow the fuse but drain the battery down? any help is appreciated. P.S. the fuse is a 15 amp rated fuse which is what called for in that socket. Thanks. | |
Ok, so I just gifted myself a swank new Z2. Was wondering if I need to buy any expensive accessories to protect it? You know like a leather pouch or plastic screen shield.
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Replying to: typethree (Jan 06, 2009 9:41 pm) |
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My '91 toyota celica keeps blowing alternator fuses. I took the alternator to advance auto and they said that its fine. I also tried replacing the fuse with the alternator unplugged, but when I reconnected the battery, the fuse blew right away. Sounds like a bad ground or a short, but does anyone have any idea where it may be?
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Replying to: email4kh (Oct 22, 2008 1:26 pm) 
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Replying to: swnkylaxplyr (Jan 31, 2009 10:27 pm) The alternator fuse does usually protect other circuits besides the alternator, let me try to give you an analogy which isn't the greatest, but you may get the concept. Lets assume you have a savings and checking account at a bank. Your paycheck normally gets deposited into your checking account, and you pay your utility bills each month directly from your checking account. In a normal month, you may have zero dollars transferred between your savings and checking account, but lots of activity within your checking account. That fuse is between the battery (your savings account), and the checking account (your alternator). Hanging off on that alternator circuit side could be a number of different fused circuits, all capable of drawing off current (those utility bills). As an illustrative example only, lets say one of them might be a fused headlight circuit. When those headlights are on and the engine is running, the power is coming directly from the alternator, it does not pass thru that 90? amp alternator fuse. Only if the engine wasn't running and the alternator wasn't making power, would the required power come from the battery. So the current going thru that 90? amp fuse, is more like the current that is charging back up the battery. Back to the analogy, when you buy some furniture you withdraw money out of your savings, and then over the course of the next couple of months you slowly fill your savings account back up. In a vehicle, some circuits are wired on the battery side (typically like the starter motor), and some are wired on the alternator side of that fuse. So if you had electrical schematics, you'd be able to see which fused circuits are on the alternator side of that fuse. You should be tripping the individual fuses first before being able to draw the 90? amp and blow that alternator fuse. If it was my vehicle without electrical schematics, here's the stuff I would probably do: - would suspect first, anything added electrically to the vehicle, where someone might have spliced into some wires (added in a new stereo, trailer hitch, alarm system, HID lights?) - inspect for corrosion on cabling, either on the positive or grounds, at battery connections, starter connections, fuselink box connections. - I would then suspect electrical things that 'wear' with age. The ignition switch, which on an old vehicle has seen many cycles of turning off and on, and may have developed an internal short. The cig socket, which can get prongs bent inside, wiring on the drivers door jamb or trunk which goes thru bending opening and closing, etc. - the next diagnostic technique I'd try is to carefully label and pull all the fuses I could find (both engine compartment and cabin. Make sure you know exactly which fuse came out of which slot, and take close up pictures if need be. Once all the fuses were out, replace the 90A alternator fuse and hopefully it won't blow. Begin putting the fuses back, starting up in the engine compartment first as those tend to be the main circuits. If your 90A fuse then blows, then you have focused in on the problem area. This can be a very labor intensive approach. A set of electrical schematics could save you hours and hours of work, so personally, I'd be buying that first. The real point of this post, expand your diagnostics beyond thinking you have an 'alternator' problem. |
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Maintenance & Repair Electronic Gremlins: Electrical Problems That Are Driving You Crazy
