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| Only Daily Driver Down - Major Electrical Problem - HELP! (video inside); Dash lights always on, won't start, no brake/headlights (video) | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 8 2014, 09:16 AM (1,728 Views) | |
| mwebb | Apr 8 2014, 11:58 PM Post #16 |
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FOG
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stop you have no clue what you are doing before you touch your car again read the first two pinned threads in this electrical section of the forum then get the wiring diagrams out and color them , to the best of your ability FOLLOWING the instructions in the Jorge Menchu Articles DO NOT omit this step < read the articles , if you do not comprehend them read them again and again until you do voltage drop is the answer it is possible for you to learn it is also possible to fail and chase your tail .as you are doing now .... do not fail ..... no more videos , dust off your DVOM study and learn report your progress |
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| HUTCH_IND | Apr 9 2014, 12:05 AM Post #17 |
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old fart with new project
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don't guess you have a DC clamp on amp-meter? great for finding big draws on your electrical system.. if not, just the very basics to get motor running and get full voltage... then add circuits back until you see voltage drop... |
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| mostcallmerob | Apr 9 2014, 07:30 AM Post #18 |
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Backyard Mechanic
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I wasn't kidding when I said I had no idea what I was doing with electrical. I was hoping you'd chime in mwebb! I know you're probably the most knowledgeable about electrical here, so I'll take your advice in moving forward. Thanks, I'll report back later after reading those threads all day at work and applying that to the car. |
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| yiffzer | Apr 9 2014, 08:11 AM Post #19 |
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Forgot His Manpurse
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I hope you at least had a ride to work! Reading this was painful. I wouldn't know what I would've done in your shoes if I had no ride. |
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| mostcallmerob | Apr 9 2014, 08:26 AM Post #20 |
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Backyard Mechanic
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I've been carpooling in with a coworker that has to go a little out of his way to pick me up, but it looks like it'll only be good for up til Thursday, so I'm out of a ride on Friday. I work a 7-5 schedule, so I have to try and get as much done by the time I get home til the sun goes down. |
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| crankcase | Apr 9 2014, 02:32 PM Post #21 |
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It is likely that a short caused by a piece of metal in the cabin caused the melt. The cabin side plug looks to have exposed pins that could come into contact with metal. Was the cabin side plug covered? It would be nice to look at the other end of the hood side plug. |
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| mostcallmerob | Apr 9 2014, 08:07 PM Post #22 |
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Backyard Mechanic
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You guys are never going to believe this, and yes I am probably the biggest idiot to post in awhile, but it was the absolute simplest thing. Looking into electrical problems, I saw over and over again from people to KISS (Keep it simple stupid), and that's exactly what was my solution. I cleaned off the terminals and battery posts, and before looking at connections for voltage drop, I decided to clean the ground from the negative terminal. After taking it off I saw that it was awfully corroded under the washer and bolt, as was the tab. I wish out my wire wheel, and ground down the paint to the metal where it came in contact with and wired the washer and bolt. I tighten her down, put the negative back on and heard beeping from the cabin. Everything on the dash looked good and she started right up. I couldn't believe it. Everything is working as it was before and everything is also brighter. The dash, lights, everything looks good and it's hold a constant current. Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions, I learned a lot. |
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| yiffzer | Apr 9 2014, 08:55 PM Post #23 |
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Forgot His Manpurse
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That's what happened to me! I was driving on the highway, pulled over for gas, and then suddenly the car wouldn't start up again. I was completely stumped. I opened the hood, tried to see what I could do. I found out that the wires connecting to the terminal was completely corroded. With what limited tools I had on hand, I began just rubbing it with a metal filer I had on hand. I crimped it back together to the terminal and it started up easily! Let that be a lesson! I highly recommend you to treat the ends using dielectric grease so you can prevent the issue from happening again! |
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| mwebb | Apr 9 2014, 11:25 PM Post #24 |
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FOG
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very good you located your voltage drop but the condition you found does not explain the burned up DLC or scan gauge POS |
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| Hanuman | Apr 10 2014, 12:00 AM Post #25 |
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"The Almighty Grounds Cleaner"
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now go clean the rest of your engine grounds. even if they look clean, disconnect and clean the grounds, use a dremel tool, sand paper what ever. make everything shine! your car will thank you for this. period. just do it! ...........A# the ground wires on the back of your intake manifold VERY IMPORTANT! ...........B# battery cable ground to tranny. ...........C# battery cable ground to chassis near top of radiator. also there is another ground behind the engine fuse box. ...........D# distributor ground. black wire with a clip in the middle. runs from below the distributor to the coil on the fire wall. clean distributor ground. remove coil and clean wire mounting point, and clean where the coil bolts to the firewall (both fire wall and coil) |
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| mostcallmerob | Apr 10 2014, 08:39 AM Post #26 |
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Backyard Mechanic
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I plan on looking further into those other two problems this weekend mwebb, I'm just happy to have the car running again. I will more than likely be getting rid of the ScanGuage all together since it was inaccurate and not really worth the money, but that reason for melting the plug is a concern. Thanks for the ground location Hanuman, I will be taking my Dremel and wire wheel to take everything down to raw metal. It's unbelievable how much brighter my lights are and how much more powerful my heat is, with just cleaning that negative ground. I'll report back with my findings. Thanks again everyone. |
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| idmetro | Apr 10 2014, 10:25 AM Post #27 |
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With that much corrosion on the battery ground it very well may be time for a new cable - you can't see the corrosion on the wire strands under the insulation... |
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| mostcallmerob | Apr 10 2014, 04:54 PM Post #28 |
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Backyard Mechanic
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You do bring up a good point, idmetro. It's be a easy and cheap replacement, plus the ends that were exposed looked like they've seen better days. |
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