electrical problem

[sphinx0nine]

yesterday before goin to the track.. i re threaded a bolt on the left side of the exhaust manifod.
I shorted the alternator, but i didnt think it was gonna die.
So the car worked fine.. but there was something kinda strage, the deck will go off when i pushed the break..
none of the fuses are bad..
but the battery is staying at 11.59 v.

any ideas..

 

[talontsi01]

Wow. Thats very similar to what I'm experiencing. When I apply even moderate braking, my stereo skips out. Also possibly related to my problem, my lights (interior and exterior) pulsate. My voltage is steady at right around 14. Any ideas?

I also pulled my alternator and had it tested. It tested fine.

 

[dsm4life]

did you guys try starting over ? pull the cables from battery , start again.

 

[sphinx0nine]

for me to be able to replace the alternator i had to take the battery cables off...
so yah.. and it still does it with the new alternator..

 

[talontsi01]

did you guys try starting over ? pull the cables from battery , start again.

Yep.

Since I know its not the alternator acting up, I'm thinking its an engine ground. But my question is, how do I go about checking if all my engine grounds are fine?

 

[sphinx0nine]

ive tought about that too.
Today i ran the car for a little bit and then looks like the battery is not holding the charge.
When the battery is done charging up im goin to turn the car on and see the amps that the alternator is putting out, then if the alternator is fine i might think that the battery got ruin after being SO dead?

i dont know
any ideas are welcome..

 

[eclipse90gsxt]

There are a few grounds

1)Battery to the firewall
2)Front of Transmission
3)Starter Ground
4)Top of transmission, off of wires going to starter, and reverse light sensor
5)One behind on the Intake Manfiold
6)I think one the alternator

Think thats it, idk its late and I am tired.

 

[talontsi01]

ive tought about that too.
Today i ran the car for a little bit and then looks like the battery is not holding the charge.
When the battery is done charging up im goin to turn the car on and see the amps that the alternator is putting out, then if the alternator is fine i might think that the battery got ruin after being SO dead?

i dont know
any ideas are welcome..

Yea, your problem sounds similar, but different at the same time as mine. You said previously that your voltage is steady at 11.59volts. Thats pretty low. My problem has the same symptoms it seems like, but one thing is different. My voltage is at about 14volts. 11.59 is quite low.

 

[sphinx0nine]

yah
im waiting still for it to charge it might be that the battery was really low..

theres a cable tht at comes from the alternator that goes up to the power stering pump..
what is that?


i will check all those grounds...

 

[sphinx0nine]

have u guys figure anything out?

 

[BUCK]

Dead Alt - or dead Alt Fuse - Make sure you have no Power Steering Fluid leaks on your Alt as that will kill the new one FAST!

 

[sphinx0nine]

wheres the alt fuse?

 

[jpk2379]

I'm having the same problem as you guys. Heres how mine goes though...Car will start up, run fine whatever...charging from 13.5-13.9 volts with headlights, radio, etc. on. Could come out to my car at anytime....engine cold or still warm from driving, hit the key and the batt. acts like its dead. Lights go dim, radio on and off, power seatbelts slowly move. Put a jump box on it, gives signs that the alt. is not charging. Lights on, radio, A/C full blast, everything dims down and slows down and eventually kills the car. Tested battery and from charge output above...everything charge system wise is fine. Disconnect the battery, smoke a cigarette...about 5 mins....hook it back up and everything will work fine, start up, drive, all accessories going full blast. It did it to me tonight. The last time it did was about 4 days ago. Now when it happens, I just disconnect the battery for about 5 mins., hook it back up and everything is fine.

Have you guys tried any of the above and/or found out what the problem is???? Its really starting to piss me off. By the way, when it first did it and I used the jump box, if I left it hooked up, it would run everything fine, disconnect it the car would die. Disconnect the battery and hook it back up...its like the problem was never there. I have 2 DSM pros at my work that know just about anything and everything about the car, but never heard of it and don't know how to figure out...of course its never done it with them around.

Also...I have a 1993 TSI with the 6 bolt JDM swap. When the stock radio was in, sometimes it wouldn't work. Now that an aftermarket is in, this problem occured. Check all connections at radio and amp and battery. No parasitic draw, no ground out. Check battery cells...all even. All connections at alt. good. ground at battery good.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the novel description, but wanted to be very detailed.

 

[sphinx0nine]

in mine it ended up being the alt fuse..
changed and it works fine now..

 

[BUCK]

I had my Bumper to Bumper guy look up the Highest Amp Mitsu Alternator that would fit a 1G:

- Max amperage 121 amps

- 100 amps at 3000rpm

- Max 1548 watts

- Manufacturer Ampere - Ampere P/N 21491

- Cost was about $150.00

- I run a 1 Farad Cap too with an El-Cheapo Battery that pushes a 500 Watt Sony Amp & head Unit no problems - no dimming, etc.

I put it on Car Ramps & come from underneath so no need to remove Fan - It's still a PITA...

Make sure you have NO Power Steering Fluid leaks dripping on your Alt - that will kill the Voltage Regulator in a Heartbeat & can toast your ECU...

 

[hewhoisknot]

ooooooooooooook... i have almost the same problem and i do believe that i have a power steering leak.... how do i check if the alt is bad?.. and where is the alt fuse?

 

[BUCK]

Voltmeter - Mitsu has a Seal Kit for P/S Pump or just pick up a good O Ring set, the teeny-ass O-Ring on the ECU Sensor Connector on Front of P/S pump will leak too - Mine were all baked hard as cookies, I went ahead & flushed system & swapped to Synthetic P/S Fluid - Typically the Voltage Regulator fails to open but mine failed to closed & Alt was putting out like 18 Volts - it cooked a rebuilt ECU.

 

[jpk2379]

I checked my alt. fuse, and its fine. My problem seems to be a lil' bit different from you guys but close enough to find somewhere to start. I check all my wiring and cleaned the batt. terminals. My problem sucks cause it does it without warning. Will be fine for a couple days, then all of a sudden it acts up.

 

[jesster84]

History: Never had any problems at all, then one say the alternator died (killed the battery too) about...6 months ago. I got a new alternator and battery, and didnt have any problems until about a month ago. ALL of my lights (interior, dash, headlights, etc) fade in and out, but at a relative speed to my RPM's. At idle, no fading...I noticed the engine power fades in and out too at lower speeds and feels really jerky. Also, at almost exactly 4000 RPM there is a loud chirping sort of noise coming from somewhere in/near the engine, but it doesnt happen at 3900 or 4100, just 4000. Anyone know what the problem is?

Another thing: Whenever I go over a bump or turn my steering wheel there's a lout squeaking/rubbing sound from the front driver side wheel area...do I need a new strut?

Last problem: My cruise control stopped working, and I noticed a small hose loose near the driver side firewall that I'm positive is for the cruise...but I can't find where it's supposed to connect to, can anyone help me with this? Thank you for any help.

 

[jpk2379]

The squeeling and grinding type noise could be caused by loose belts, which would cause under charging of the alternator causing your lights to dim. The grinding noise while turning could be your p/s pump getting ready to take a crap, of which in turn, would also slow the rotation of the belts, equaling low charge coming from the alternator. Check your belts and check your p/s fluid.

 

[tsigrl2016G]

{theres a cable tht at comes from the alternator that goes up to the power stering pump..
what is that?}

it's the power steering switch,

question: the hose that feeds the ps pump where the nut that has the crusher washer and fits on the double ended screw, is there a lil' sealing gasket or washer, aside from those o rings on the actual screw, that fits on? I had to take my ps pump off numerous times to get to a dead alt. (ps fluid kept leaking on it and regulator kept dying).Pump keeps leaking from that bolt. I couldn't find o rings small enough at dealer, but i took bolt off another pump.

 

[jesster84]

The squeeling and grinding type noise could be caused by loose belts, which would cause under charging of the alternator causing your lights to dim. The grinding noise while turning could be your p/s pump getting ready to take a crap, of which in turn, would also slow the rotation of the belts, equaling low charge coming from the alternator. Check your belts and check your p/s fluid.

The noise is a squeaking/grinding, and I'm 100$ positive it's not a belt, pretty sure it's some part of the suspension system, which is stock. I do have over 175k miles on the car, too. I also have no power steering, so the grinding/squeaking sound couldn't be from that. My belts need to be changed sometime in the near future I think, but even the engine itself is slowing when the lights fade.

Also, it's more of a pulsing with the electrical problem...the lights fade from bright, to dim, to bright, to dim indefinitely, going faster when I rev, slow when it's idle, and stay bright when it's idling. Any other ideas? Thanks =)

 

[kingk]

I had this SAME problem and then my car started smoking one morning. I didn't know what it was and the car kept smoking and when i pushed the clutch down it stayed down. I was scarred out of my mind and ran for cover........ But I went back to the car after about 20 min cause my all my hazard lights and all the lights and stuff in the car had gone out so i assumed my battery was grounding out somewhere. I disconnected the battery and looked through and through, and what happened was the wires from the battery/alternater to the fuse box was scraping against the metal piece that held the stock IC pipes down. And there was a metal rod from that metal piece to my tranny. I killed the master and slave cylinders and my tranny was due for a rebuild anyway. But all i did was wrap some electrical tape around the wires again and the car started up just fine. So I would suggest looking at any big clusters of wire and if you don't know what burning wire smells like, take some spare wire and burn it... then start you car and see if you smell any wire burnin up in ur engine, its a distinct smell but i really can't describe it. GOOD LUCK!

 

[jpk2379]

The squeeking noise going over bumps and turnings....Check the area where its coming from. Struts usually leak when they have gone bad. Squeeking could be from a dry ball joint thats never been lubed. Where I would look really good is at the control arm bushings. It seemed to be a common thing getting replaced from the guys I know, especially with that many mile on it. Rarely, but could be, the piece of rubber that sits between the mount and spring could be completly rotted and gone and as the weight transfer up and down, the load on the spring changes and you could be hearing the metal to metal contact. Its somewhere to start for the squeeking problem with bumps. Jack it up, take off the wheel and check all of those things out. I would say the noise is coming from the bushings though. Let us know what you find.

 

[jesster84]

How do I check the brushings? I just got a new control arm on the other side after hitting a curb pretty hard...could it have affected the left side as well? Thanks so much.