strange electrical problems.. please help asap

[jott5555]

ok im sorry if this end up being long. but here it goes..

while my battery is located in the trunk of my 1g tsi, i ordered a dist box for the engine bay side but have yet to get to so there is a open connection, i know i know the fused distribution box is on the way
so the car has been down for a week i stripped the interror pulled my safc2 and got dsmlink, installed a apexi avc-D boost controller and went to start it up and nothing happened. no power at all

so i measured voltage at the battery and the my multimeter picked up 12v on the ground wire and at the grounding point.. so i was thinking a short in the wire.. so i disconnected everything from the engine bay side.. and i had a good 12v not in the engine bay on the battery feed so i tried jumping the starter with the hot lead from the battery with the ignition switch on. and got nothing.

so im stumped and need some feedback and imput from you guys at palces to look.. the avc-d is removed and even tho the ecu harness is hacked up from the safc2 install every connection has been soldered and shrink wrapped so tey are all good

the one time i got power it was for a second then it flickered on and off then a heard what sounded like a pop from the rear of the car (where the battery is) but there is no fuse.. also btw no fuse's are blown. there is no shafeing or shorting in the battery lead wire i visually inspected every inch of it and its good. im just lost.

thanks in avance and please give me some help.. i hope i didnt fry my link ecu..

 

[steve]

my battery is located in the trunk of my 1g tsi, went to start it up and nothing happened. the one time i got power it was for a second then it flickered on and off then a heard what sounded like a pop from the rear of the car (where the battery is) but there is no fuse.. also btw no fuse's are blown. now power at all

so i measured voltage at the battery and the my multimeter picked up 12v on the ground wire and at the grounding point.. so i was thinking a short in the wire.. so i disconnected everything from the engine bay side.. and i had a good 12v not in the engine bay on the battery feed so i tried jumping the starter with the hot lead from the battery with the ignition switch on. and got nothing.

There should always be a fuse in the positive wire right off the terminal, close enough to the battery that the wire couldn't touch ground if it came loose. Without it you have a fire hazzard and the possibility of an exploding battery.

How could you possibly measure 12v on the ground wire and at the grounding point.
What were you measuring to?

If it was the other terminal on the battery then it seems like you installed the battery backwards and lots of stuff is going to be fried.

Steve

 

[jott5555]

i know about the fuse and ya its my ass for not doing it but it was a job i did at night in the cold shopless ect... so one is going in before the car runs on the street any longer..

as far as the voltage that is what is what i cannot figure out.. its like the battery polarity is reversed but i have the battery installed correctly. tried a second battery too just to make sure..

i put the ground lead of a my multimeter on the chassis.. then the hot lead goes on the negitive battery post or cable. the mutli meter reads 12.XX volts. now when everything is disconnected form the battery it reads properly when everything is disconnected from the battery lead in the engine bay the lead reads 12.xx volts in the engine bay like it should.

when i connect the ( 20 30 30 amp) fuse block and the starter power line the reading go back the way the were origionally ( 12.xx at the grounding point, 0.00 at the positive side of the battery and on the positive battery feed)

i know my way around cars pretty well. i built my dsm and a few before this. but for some reason its stumping me.. i think there is a short in the harness somewere but none of that has been touched for litterly months while the car was running and during this recent down time.. the only thing i can think of is when i put in the avc-d which i disconnected and still have this issue. im going to swap the ecu tommrow into my gst and see what the outcome is so i can rule it out..

Please keep the feedback commin.

 

[steve]

i put the ground lead of a my multimeter on the chassis.. then the hot lead goes on the negitive battery post or cable. the mutli meter reads 12.XX volts. now when everything is disconnected form the battery it reads properly when everything is disconnected from the battery lead in the engine bay the lead reads 12.xx volts in the engine bay like it should.

What else do you have in the car that could be applying a voltage when the battery is disconnected? I would expect you to read 0v on both leads to chassis with the battery disconnected.

Steve

 

[jott5555]

theres nothing else takeing power.. that isnt the the issue.. there is enough power the issue is that with the battery hooked up and everything in its proper position there is no power going to the car.. no dash lights. no ignition, to clicks nothing.. just like if you were to have the battery cables unconnected or a dead battery..

 

[Laguna739]

is your ignition fuse blown in the engine bay. mines been doin that and giving the exact same symptoms you are describing.... dunno i know you said you didnt blow anything. if you want to know if you ahev a short pull out the ignition fuse and put the + multimeter to the top and the - to the bottom ... just a thought. trying to help.. if you figure it out post it up so it may help me

 

[jott5555]

Hey man i fixed the issue thanks for postin thou, i fixed it by accually grounding the batt to one of the seat belt holes and i did it wiht a fender washer and sanded it down for perfect contact. that solved the issue.

try it.

 

[dyablo]

Im having the exact same problem. After a clutch swap I keept bowing an igniton fuse(30A). After the install I went to start the car and saw sparks come from the positive battery cable and looked at the igniton fuse and it was blown. Replaced the terminals and tried again this time the sparks came from the negative post and the cable was hot along with another blown fuse. This only happens when i tried to start the car with the key, but when i pushed start it it would idle fine. After i went to autozone to get my starter tested it turned out to be not working so i got a new one and went home got it installed and tried to start the car agian but this time it only did the same thing but there was no blown fuse and still had no guages turn on. I checked the fuses inside the car along with the ones out side and they all look good. Now when i put the key in and try to do anything with it, it is as if there is no battery conected. Could I have possably fried the cars computer? Is ther any way of actualy testing the computer to see if it is still in working conditon. Looking at the starter for a m/t on a 96 gst there is the clip on wire and two other towers for a neg and a pos. The negative is the cable that has a little black wire going to the starters body and the positive is the other tower right?