Ask the Car People.SM


Suzuki Wagon Electrical Problems

39 messages,  Last post on Nov 29, 2012 at 6:52 PM

You are in the Suzuki Wagons Forum.

What is this discussion about? Suzuki Aerio, Suzuki Esteem, Electrical, Wagon

Messages Page 2 of 4

#10 of 39 Re: Suzuki Wagon Electrical Issues [lynn33] by pychogirlfrien

Jan 23, 2008 (4:01 pm)

Replying to: lynn33 (Nov 25, 2007 3:02 pm)
I'm surprised one of the "real mechanical" types hasn't said anything. But did someone finally mention your alternator? From what I understand your battery has a charge. Then you use the charge to start your car; then in the ensuing time right after that it is re-charged by your alternator converting the turning engine energy into more electrical energy that goes back into your battery. If, your alternator is dead, or not doing it's job, then your battery continues depleting by all your headlight use and restarts until dead. Depending on your battery size, it may only give you one or three starts and that's it. I had a battery issue, I thought, long ago, and that's how my problem solved itself out.
  uh, good luck.ronnie

#11 of 39 2000 esteem elec. glitch by tornspeedo

Mar 15, 2008 (12:58 pm)

Problem surfaced during rain while parked, headlps came on-wont go out,ac blower stays enabled without ign on also.Found fuse cover under dash full of water,Possible that water shorted between batt and ign-on circuits frying what is most likely a ground circuit on/in one of the controll modules.Anybody have experience with this? Which module is afu? Where located? etc... ANY help is GREATLY appreciated.DT My wife doesnt like my temp fix of a 22.00 knife switch on the battery negative terminal.

#12 of 39 Re: 2000 esteem elec. glitch [tornspeedo] by tornspeedo

Mar 16, 2008 (9:32 am)

Replying to: tornspeedo (Mar 15, 2008 12:58 pm)
OK.....Here's the synopsis.Water entered down radio antenna into "A" pillar then flowed inside wire loom to the fusepanel under dash and an elec module at firewall near fuse panel.This shorted something just enough to activate half the ignition circuit.The issue has self cleared after 24 hour drying out period.Fix will include one of following. )an O ring and/or heat shrink seal at base of roof mtd. radio antenna. )OR ........Jack up said antenna and slide a new car under it. DT

#13 of 39 Tail lights and dash lights shorted by work4justice

Apr 16, 2008 (6:07 pm)

We have a Aerio SX 2005. Our dash board lights and tail lights went out. Put a new fuse in and went out again and again. OK I have a short. Brought it to a mechanic who has had it for two days and can not find the short. Anyone have a problem like this one?

#14 of 39 Re: Tail lights and dash lights shorted [work4justice] by carthell

May 27, 2008 (9:43 pm)

Replying to: work4justice (Apr 16, 2008 6:07 pm)
Electrical work, uggh. It is hahd. Some background:
 
1) Residential phone system. Every few months, I would get no dial tone from any of my phones. The solution presented by my phone company was to unplug everything, wait for the company's equipment to reset the breakers, then plug everything back in. One day, the problem got so bad that I went to the local big box hardware store, bought wire, a network wiring book, a polarity tester, new jacks, and junction boxes. Found out that the problem was related to the polarity - the electricity through the 'phone wires were simply running in the wrong way. After running new wire to certain parts of the house and cleaning up the connections (originally put together with electrical tape and plastic twist terminals), everything has worked fine since. I helped a friend solve a portion of his problem when he could not get DSL service.
 
2) Fuse problem. This was a cakewalk: My mom was buying fuses very few days for a certain circuit in the house. I asked around, and realized that the replacement fuses being bought didn't have as high an amperage rating as the original. A purchase of a fuse that had a 10A-difference rating solved the problem.
 
If you want to do this on your own:
The simplest thing to do is to make sure that the amperage rating of the replacement fuses that you're buying matches the original.
 
The other step (and you MUST have a good background in automotive tech), you'll have to find a electrical diagram of your car (time-limited e-subscriptions are available via Suzuki USA's web site) and a powered probe/meter device available from you local hardware or specialty electronics shop. Start testing the connections between the dash and taillight circuits and other circuits that should NOT cross-connect until you find a fault.
PLEASE DO NOT TEST THE AIRBAG/SEATBELT RESTRAINT CIRCUITS UNLESS YOU'VE DISCONNECTED THE DEVICES FIRST!!!
 
Otherwise, please ask the auto shops in your area for a recently-certified ASE tech with a lot of electrical experience and patience. I speculate that your mechanic gave your car back because of either a realization that the problem:
a) has a life of its own, and deliberately hides until you reclaim your car (I've
experienced this w/others for different electronics);
b) probably will exceed your ability to pay for the time and resources needed to fix everything properly;
c) exceeded the mechanic's set of skills and resources needed to resolve the situation.
 
Nope, I'm not an electrical guy. I "play" with technology to see how things work.
 
-d

#15 of 39 A light blew out in my instrument panel. by carthell

May 27, 2008 (10:01 pm)

As a result, I can barely see in the daytime the cruise control and left-side tachometer displays on my 2003 SX. The diagrams I have access to show that a panel above the display and the display's front cover can be removed; the display can then be lifted from where it is after removing 4 screws. I'm a little worried about the force that would be needed to remove the items (I used a finger to poke at the edges of the top and front covers; the seal is tight.) Of course, there's no guarantee that the lights are replaceable even if I managed to free the instrument display.
 
Has anyone tried to do this? If you've changed the tint of the display, your input is valued, also.
 
-d

#16 of 39 Tailgate electrical problem - are there others with this? by Muddycat

Nov 25, 2008 (9:56 pm)

I have a 2001 Suzuki Esteem wagon that has lots of electrical problems... To start with, the rear defroster is automatically "on" (or the light is in the button on the dash panel) every time I turn the car on, until I put the car in reverse, then back into first. Then the light goes off. When that light is on, the rear windshield wiper won't work. When it's off, the wiper works fine.
 
However, that's only a small piece of it. The centre brake light in the middle of the tailgate window doesn't work unless I have the car idling in neutral, then sometimes it does but not always. The brake lights on either side at the back work fine. BUT the reverse lights in the tailgate don't work either. They are on, but so dim they are not useful for anything - you have to cup your hands around them to see that they are on at all. The bulbs in these have been replaced with only a marginal improvement.
 
The car also has a problem with run-on, which I've been told could be connected to my having bought the car at sea-level and now am driving it at roughly 500m above sea level? The car runs fine, but these little issues pile up and start to annoy. The run-on thing can be an issue - I can have my key out of the ignition completely and it will still be running until I take my foot off the brake which causes it to make an unhappy noise and shudder to a stop (which I try not to do). What the?....
 
There are no Suzuki dealerships anywhere near my small BC town, and I don't want to go back out to Vancouver to get it looked at. Any suggestions? I'm also a student and too broke right now to sink much money in. I'm wondering if other people are having these problems and whether or not anyone's made a stink about it. The car is only seven years old - it seems a bit ridiculous to have this many electrical things going wrong in a car so young. Unfortunately, none of these problems were apparent during the test drives or the pre-purchase inspection (we knew about the reverse lights and were assured that it was likely an issue of the bulbs needing replacement which we now know is not the issue.)

#17 of 39 Re: Tailgate electrical problem - are there others with this? [Muddycat] by tornspeedo

Nov 26, 2008 (3:44 am)

Replying to: Muddycat (Nov 25, 2008 9:56 pm)
It sounds to me as if you have a bad ground to tailgate which will cause numerous symptoms due to electrical back feeds from the defroster,rear wiper,backup lights,anything else thats tailgate mounted and electric.Also be sure to run an 8 or 10 gauge wire from the tailgate to ground(any metal surface) as well as the battery to the fender or some other nearby grounded point other than the engine block.This may solve most of your issues.The tailgate ground wire is most likely already in the orig. harness so if you can find that and follow it into wherever that ground ring and bolt or screw (won't be far along) and be sure of good tight elec connection.Usually hidden at floor level maybe under a rear seat? Hope this is helpful. DT

#19 of 39 Re: 2000 esteem elec. glitch [tornspeedo] by tornspeedo

Nov 26, 2008 (8:47 am)

Replying to: tornspeedo (Mar 16, 2008 9:32 am)
Refrence #s 11 and 12,Upon further investigation I found that the rain water from "A pillar" harness had slowly filled up fuses panel cover under dash as well as another unknown module at base of steering column.I drilled two 1/8 dia. holes in lowest corners of fuse cover to allow drainage and I guess the other module dried out on it's own.Car has not repeated issue throughout many heavy rains.Anybody want to buy a knife switch? DT

Messages Page 2 of 4

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement