Electrical issues, Help please.

[LiquidX]

Car was driving fine (just got it back yesterday from engine rebuild) until I was on my way to store. What happened is my idle was set at 1100rpm but it would sometimes go up to 1500-2000 when at idle. Also the rpm would drop a bit when the clutch is pushed in as well. I was a little unsure of the higher idle at the time until everything else started to happen.

My rpm in neutral was going up to 2800, holding and then dropping back down after a few seconds. My radio was turning on and off, my AC started to decide when it wanted to blow cold air or just have the fan on (AC switch was pressed in and still lit up). At the stop light my tach dropped to 0rpm and when I put the turn signal on, the tach needle bounced a couple hundred rpm in sync with the turn signal. My stock boost gauge needle was at the half way point as well at idle. SRS light turned on too.

At Autozone (where I was heading to already) I did my business and went to turn the car on only for it to attempt to crank over. Tried a few more times and it wasn't moving at all. With the key to the Acc position the boost gauge was at half way still and the temp gauge was 3/4 the way up (slowly coming down).

Battery wouldn't read so I got a jump and the employee stated there is a problem as the car should have started up right away instead of hesitating. Both the battery and alternator are new (napa battery, autozone alt).

Drive home everything was fine except the idle going a bit higher than 1100 and dropping back down. Temp stayed where it should and radio was working fine. The voltage for the battery when I was home ended up being 11.3

I'm stumped on why all of those were affect at the same time. I called mechanic and I am to drop the car off tomorrow for them to look into it. Any advice now would help out.

That should cover the bulk of it.

Thanks
Scott

 

[1995gsx20g]

if you had a very poor connection at the battery, it is possible that over night the capacitor in the ecu would loose charge and reset the ecu and fault codes.

if you had a bad connection at the terminals the alt would "charge" the battery enough to bring the voltage up to a semi normal level but in reality it is just a surface charge and once you put any load on the battery it will be in a discharged state again..

 

[LiquidX]

What you said does seem to make sense for what was going on. I just don't know why everything acted up and then once the car was off, the battery was completly dead (yesterday). Once I hear some more information on it I'll get that posted.


I did get a new radiator cap from the parts store 1.1 bar and it made a big difference. Guess old cap was bad. Also got a new fuse for my multimeter so I'm back in business for that at least

 

[1995gsx20g]

sounds good, let us know how everything goes..

 

[LiquidX]

I have news from the mechanic.

First off he stated that by putting on new terminals and ground for the batter it raised the voltage by 0.3 which is a good thing. Also he managed to re create the issue I had .

What happened according to him is that the issue only presented itself when the car was idling for a long period of time. Dash lights would start coming on and other abnormalities happen. Power transistor is fine as well. Apparently the new alternator is bad but it's not the voltage regulator. He said that every alternator is built with a thermal cut of switch of sorts. When the temperature gets too hot internally it starts to shut down to go into a protection mode. When the car was idling it was getting too hot and caused the issues I mentioned. Also said it's a bit of an issues with remand units as well. This was his first time witnessing it too.

I'm to go return the alternator and pick up a new one and go from there. More updates tomorrow.

 

[1995gsx20g]

hmm...


the reason i hate dsm alternators is because of their locations, put it where the a/c compressor used to be and it will make life simple..

btw i wasn't the genius that came up with this idea, JAY RACING has a kit for this simple mod.

 

[LiquidX]

I'm aware of the relocation kit from them but I do use my AC still . I just need to find a way to make the blower fan blow more air out of the vents. Seems pretty weak as my GFs car blows the air out faster on her lowest setting compared to my high setting.

Back on track though, somewhat, I went a picked up a new alternator at Autozone. The first place I called didn't have any so I went to the next location that did. They had 1 in stock and told them my situation on how it was faulty. They grabbed the new one off the shelf and failed all 3 tests. They were shocked about this whole situation. So they called another location that had one and it passed all 3 tests so that will be getting put on later today.

So as a lot of you have said already, remanned alternators seem to be a hit or miss. Just be sure to get it tested before you walk out the door or even before you get to the store.

The first alternator I purchached back on friday is now being replaced as I type. I took it back to Autozone and it failed. Had a bad power rectifier.

Last update:

After changing the alternator all the problems went away. As stated the old one had a bad power rectifier and also my battery terminals were bad as well. The terminals were re done, ground wire from battery was replaced and put on a clean mounting point and another ground was put on the driverside motor mount to the body.

I'm happy and my car seems much better as well. Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

[LunarEclips]

I'm aware of the relocation kit from them but I do use my AC still . I just need to find a way to make the blower fan blow more air out of the vents. Seems pretty weak as my GFs car blows the air out faster on her lowest setting compared to my high setting.

Back on track though, somewhat, I went a picked up a new alternator at Autozone. The first place I called didn't have any so I went to the next location that did. They had 1 in stock and told them my situation on how it was faulty. They grabbed the new one off the shelf and failed all 3 tests. They were shocked about this whole situation. So they called another location that had one and it passed all 3 tests so that will be getting put on later today.

So as a lot of you have said already, remanned alternators seem to be a hit or miss. Just be sure to get it tested before you walk out the door or even before you get to the store.

The first alternator I purchached back on friday is now being replaced as I type. I took it back to Autozone and it failed. Had a bad power rectifier.

Last update:

After changing the alternator all the problems went away. As stated the old one had a bad power rectifier and also my battery terminals were bad as well. The terminals were re done, ground wire from battery was replaced and put on a clean mounting point and another ground was put on the driverside motor mount to the body.

I'm happy and my car seems much better as well. Thanks for all the help everyone.

BTW the "power rectifier" is the Voltage Regulator that i was talking about. Just a fancier name. Glad the problem is fixed though.

For future reference, battery terminals with bad contact will just cause bad lower voltage which would cause simple problems like dim lighting and battery fatigue. .3 volts is nothing compare to losing 1-2 volts. I wish my car had this easy of a diagnosis.

 

[LiquidX]

With the terminals, they were able to be turned and pulled up by hand while "fully tightened". The positive terminal needed copper wire over the terminal and around the post to keep it on tight.

I asked at Autozone if it was the regulator, I guess they didn't realize it was the same thing.

 

[1995gsx20g]

a/c is overrated. at least that's what i tell myself when im sitting in traffic in the summer. must be nice.

glad you got you problems solved but my blower motor has plenty of kick to it on high, enough to make thinking a little hard. maby one of the vent doors are stuck or broken?

 

[LiquidX]

a/c is overrated. at least that's what i tell myself when im sitting in traffic in the summer. must be nice.

glad you got you problems solved but my blower motor has plenty of kick to it on high, enough to make thinking a little hard. maby one of the vent doors are stuck or broken?

I don't know what the issue is right now. I'll look into it more when I have the dash off to put on the black dash. I know where was a mouse living in my car while it was at the garage over the winter. Possibly put some "stuff" into the blower area and is slowing it down, or it's just going out.

All vents work btw.