Electrical issues after bodywork

Shuie · 08-07-2004, 03:46 PM

Just got my car back from the bodyshop. Had a new doorjam and driverside rocker panel installed. Paint matched and blended nicely. The guy does good work fast. It looks great. Im so happy. The car is almost done.

Went to back it out of the shop, turned the key, and nothing

. No problem, they forgot to reconnect the battery. Popped the trunk and looked in. Battery is still connected. Oh ****!

Asked the guy if he disconnected the battery before he welded anything, confused look followed by 'everything was working fine when we finished it last night'.

Hooked up a super battery charger. Horrible buzzing sounds through the cabin when I turned ignition to the on position, couldnt even hear the fuel pump running. My parking brake light is clicking and blinking 4 times as fast as normal. There is a horrible sound coming from the Crane breakerless conversion trigger inside my distributor. Wonderful. Im so sick to my stomach.

We got the car started with the charger. The tach bounces just like it did before I removed my points

. Made the 30 minute drive home without having to shut it off. Good thing becuase it wont start now.

Either my battery is smoked and wont take a charge from the alternator or my alternator is smoked. My CD box is not whining so I guess its smoked also. I know the tach usually gets smoked when this happens. Great. I almost had this ****ing car sorted out. It never ends.

Any thoughts on where I can start looking and what else can I look forward to replacing?. I have a spare alternator and a spare CD box. Im trying to charge the battery right now.

Any help is appreciated. TIA.

Quicksilver · 08-07-2004, 07:21 PM

If your battery is dead I suspect that it is unrelated to the welding. A battery is the perfect device to absorb current surges. I can't see how you could get straight welding voltage to ground out through the battery either (about 40 volts).
I could imagine the current (or the jump start) eating the diodes or regulator in the alternator though. Also the ignition could have a problem but it still should crank.

I would recommend that you take the battery and have it checked on a real battery tester before connecting other components up. If the battery is stone dead then jumping and running the car from the alternator is hell on the alternator. You don't want to eat an alternator just because you are testing.

When you have a battery that tests ok and is charged, I would take a test light and check for current across all the fuse curcuits to make sure nothing is draining that shouldn't. Expect drains on clock, stereo, trunk light, etc...

Good luck,
Wayne

Zeke · 08-07-2004, 10:48 PM

You know I smoked my tach welding. I welded on and off for weeks w/o a problem just disconnecting the 3 pin CDI connection. But, when I welded on the muffler, it smoked the tach. Not enough ground from the engine.

What I'm saying is consider what welding was done and how it was done. That will point to the problem.

Battery needs to be checked out as previously mentioned. Put some points back in for the hell of it. One by one, you'll find the problem(s).

Hopefully, the major components are OK.

Zeke · 08-07-2004, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shuie

Hooked up a super battery charger. Horrible buzzing sounds through the cabin when I turned ignition to the on position, couldnt even hear the fuel pump running. My parking brake light is clicking and blinking 4 times as fast as normal. There is a horrible sound coming from the Crane breakerless conversion trigger inside my distributor. Wonderful. Im so sick to my stomach.

He had the charger set on *start.* Too much voltage.

Shuie · 05:14 AM

Just brought my Odyssey PC680 lightweight drycell battery to the O'Reilly store for testing. It's done like a dinner. I'll try a new battery this evening.

Edit:
New battery fixed everything. Car is running again.