Electrical problem - positive feed through chassis, confirm my thoughts...

VT944 · 07-19-2003, 09:34 PM

Hey guys,

Well I was finishing up the car today and I'm working on something and I must have touched my arm agenst some bare metal near the fender, cause I got a shock! I couldn't believe it, but instead of trying to shock myself again I took a test light, hooked it to the + terminal, and grounded the other end.

Sure enough, the light comes on. The PO mentioned the car would sometimes drain the battery, but I haven't really driven the car yet so I haden't looked into it.

So I leave the test light hooked up and lit, and pull each fuse one by one. The light does not go out. The PO had installed a CD player, so I took that out. Unhooked the connector from the radio, and the light stayed lit.

I also noticed there had once been a cell phone in the car, as there is a huge bundle of wires (musta been from the early days - lots of wires).

So my plan of attack is: re-wire the radio correctly, remove the cell phone wiring in it's entirety. If this is not the problem I'll continue sniffing abound from there.

Any Ideas???

Thanks,

VT944 · 07-19-2003, 09:37 PM

Another interesting point,

I noticed that with the battery hooked up and all power off (key out of the car) the blower motor is on low. Turn the switch (with the key on) and it speeds up, but turn back to 0 and it is still on low.

What the hell is that???

Thanks,

TCMdocs944 · 07-19-2003, 10:13 PM

Gremlin.

Sounds like your on the right track

SoCal Driver · SoCal Driver's Garage

Should not be any noticeable drain on the battery with the exception of the mili-amps the electronic digital clock draws.

If you are talking about the fresh air blower up under the back of the hood in front of the windshield then that should have stopped with the key off. If it's running then the cell phone or the CD/radio installation may have crossed over the wiring behind the dash where the controller is (just above the radio).

If you are talking about the fan on the radiator then the problem is with either the temp switch in the side of the radiator or again behind the radio installation where the ballast resistor is for very slow speed of the radiator fan motor or the fan relay is faulty.

In any case you need to get a hold of the correct wiring diagrams for your car year and in some cases exact chassis number. The PDFs of the factory manuals floating around have these diagrams.

If your car had an electric antenna and not the one in the windshield I would have suggested that it is stuck and the motor inside is jammed drawing current.

carsontc · 07-20-2003, 06:02 AM

if you are saying that you put the + lead of the test light on bare metal (chassis ground/earth)

and the - lead of the test light on the battery's negative (-) post

and the light comes on...

it would mean you have a very poor connection between the battery post ( - ) and the where it is bolted to the firewall (chassis)

my negative cable was corroded beyond belief and I replaced it. while doing this I changed the bolt to one twice as long and got a matching nut

this new bolt now extended out through the firewall. Here I added another new cable (a short one with an eye at each end) and attached it with the matching nut on the new bolt (that was now protruding out from the firewall) and ran this to where the braided ground strap from the engine attaches...which btw, I also replaced

use dielectric grease on all of these connections before you tighten down the nuts and bolts

this fixed lots of weird problems for me

SoCal Driver · SoCal Driver's Garage

Amazing how far a little effort in cleaning the grounds goes.

Adds 150 HP! (Keeps the battery charged so you can start the car)

VT944 · 07-20-2003, 05:09 PM

Found the problem - seemed to be a door switch.

Thanks,

ronin · 07-20-2003, 05:29 PM

Door switch? Aah, you mean the light switch? That would make sense as far as a logical short.

BlueQuestTSi · 07-20-2003, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SoCal Driver
Amazing how far a little effort in cleaning the grounds goes.

Adds 150 HP! (Keeps the battery charged so you can start the car)

Funny Hugh,

I replaced the piddly 6g ground wire to the battery, with a beefier high stranded 8" section of 4g. But......... I noticed no increase in throttle response or top end.....

MrPants · 07-20-2003, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by VT944
Found the problem - seemed to be a door switch.

what exactly was the problem?

carsontc · 07-20-2003, 07:01 PM

Yo...I'm glad I'm not the only one

SoCal Driver · SoCal Driver's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by BlueQuestTSi
Funny Hugh,

I replaced the piddly 6g ground wire to the battery, with a beefier high stranded 8" section of 4g. But......... I noticed no increase in throttle response or top end.....

The car starts --- right?!?!

150 HP!!!!

SoCal Driver · SoCal Driver's Garage

P.S. IceShark has heavy gauge fine strand cables. Does one bang up job making these too.

Search the past posts for his e-mail address.