Car wont start.. if i jump start... still problems.

[bbray]

A couple of days ago my car wouldnt start. I jumped my car and then it ran fine. If i try to turn on the headlights my radio turns off and my lights turn right off and my dash lights turn off. But if i just put my parking lights on then my radio and dash lights work fine. It only happenes when i turn on my lights. My alternator i bought about one month ago from Kragen. I know they are crap but i needed it right away. I brought my battery, whis is a yellow top optima, to kragen and they tested my battery. They said the battery is bad. I bought a new red top optima and i should be recieving it in a couple of days. But i have the problems when my car is already started. So the alternator is running everything in the car. I dont understand why my battery would have any thing to do with it. Has any one ever had any problems like this? Do anyone have any ideas on what could be causing this?


Also the day before this happened was a very hot day. My a/c fan melted over and got stuck and the fuse for the fan blew. I searched around in my engine bay for any other damage and i couldnt find anythng. I have replaced the fuse but i know that would have nothing to do with it.

To me it seems like there is a short in the wiring. So when the lights come on it sparks the short.


THanks for any help.

 

[jose_99gsx]

try checking the alternator plug for melted wires, and all wires leading to the battery. my car did this and i found that over time my wires turned to crap so i replaced all of them. also check the ground wires they can cause lots of problems when not working right.

 

[Black Venom]

Speaking of that part of the engine bay, I recently had a small section of melted wires causing problems with my headlights.
The front lower crossmember holds the wires, so I had to remove my radiator to get to them.

The crossmember is only open on one side which happens to be the radiator side. From what I could tell it was heat over time that caused the melting.


I hope this helps. It's just an idea to look underneath the car, looking at the wiring harness sandwiched in the crossmember forward of the radiator at the bottom.

 

[bbray]

i checked all of my wires.... i checked them all around the alternator and battery... i have aftermarket ground wires and they were all fine.... i dont know what the problem is... after i get my car started it works fine until i turn on the lights...



I will check the wires around the crossmember tomorrow... thanks for the help...

 

[Black Venom]

Oops, Sorry I forgot there may be differences between 1g and 2g harness locations.

If there isn't a harness there then disregard.

 

[bbray]

I looked all over my car for any damage to my wires. I could not find any problems with any of the wires. I really do not know what is causing my car to do this.

The people at kragen said that maybe my alternator is putting all of its power into trying to charge my battery and that is why my lights and radio turn off when i turn them on.

Could this be the problem?... i have never heard anything like this before....

 

[bbray]

Well i got my red top optima battery today and i put it in an now everything is fine... i didnt know a battery could cause those problems...

thanks for your help.

brandon