Electrical Problems??

[School Boy]

So I got my car up and running and when I first started driving it everything was working properly. Now all of a sudden my auto seat belts do not work, my head lights will not go up or down, the interior lights will not go on (no matter if I open the door/or use the switch), and the light ring on the ignition will not light up any longer. If it makes any difference the battery is relocated to the trunk. I triple checked my grounds. I have 2 grounds coming off the battery in the back, they are both good grounds. Why did all of these things work great when I first started driving the car and now the don't?? Could it be a blown fuse somewhere? Any help would be appreciated!

 

[92AWDHX40]

Yes check all fuses and replace if you need to, check wiring to the battery, could be a short of some kind.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Ok you are not alone. I was driving last night and went down a rough brick road and the same thing has happened to me so it has to be the same problem. Have you figured yours out yet?

 

[School Boy]

No I have not.

iugrad92turbo you think it might be a problem supplying power?

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

School boy I've got your back on this one. Go out and remove the big fuse box cover under the hood. There is a 80 AMP Alternator fuse that is blown. They cost 4 bucks at oriellys. I jumped mine from one side to the other with a paperclip andviola, everything worked. It is bolted in with a 10mm bolt on each side. That should fix you up!!! I ddon't know why mine blew yet so I bought two while I was at the store. You will be smiling in ten minutes!

 

[Mischif]

Also check the 30 or 40 amp fuse under the hood labeled belt. That is for the seat belts and a few other things i think.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

True but when EVERYTHING stops working like mine the 80 amp one was the culprit.

 

[School Boy]

School boy I've got your back on this one. Go out and remove the big fuse box cover under the hood. There is a 80 AMP Alternator fuse that is blown. They cost 4 bucks at oriellys. I jumped mine from one side to the other with a paperclip andviola, everything worked. It is bolted in with a 10mm bolt on each side. That should fix you up!!! I ddon't know why mine blew yet so I bought two while I was at the store. You will be smiling in ten minutes!

Hell yeah! Thanks man! I will give that a try frist thing in the morning. I will post back up and let you know my results!

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Please do. Just tryin to help like everyone helped me.

 

[School Boy]

So i tried swapping the relays and it didnt do anything. I can hear the relays click when i parshally plug it in. Even though its clicking could that still mean the relay is still bad?

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Check that 80 amp "fuse" that looks kinda like a relay in the fuse box on the passenger side. It is the one on the right towards the engine bay. It has two 10mm bolts that hold that puppy in. Take a large (thick) paperclip and touch it to BOTH 10mm bolt heads and see if your headlights and seatbelt retractors work (it will be immediate so you will know it that 80 amp fuse is blown). It might get a hot so wear gloves or use a pair of pliers to hold the paper clip with. You are jumping across that fuse to test if it is bad or not. Now if your headlights go shut, take that fuse out and put a new one in. I didn't have any "relay" problems, it was all that darn big fuse and I still don't know why I blew it but I do know my alternator bellied up after that so I am upgrading to a GVR4 (gallant) alternator today and will be replacing the 80 amp one with a 100 amp one because the new alternator is a 90 amp model not the stock 75 amp one. Try this out and I hope it helps. I don't mind answering anything about this problem since I am experiencing it myself but think I have it solved now.

 

[School Boy]

Thanks man! So I haven't had a chance to mess with that fuse yet but I changed 2 fuses under the dash and now the ring around the ignition comes on, my head lights go up and down, and my seat belt works. The weird thing is only the driver side seat belt works. The passenger says stationary. Do you have any ideas? Still that 80amp fuse?

Another problem I am having is my fan will not turn on. I bought a brand new tempature switch for the radiator and it didnt change anything. The relay for the fan works but it wont trigger the fan to switch on. If you take the relay out and connect a wire to each pin the fan will then turn on. It seems like the relay doesnt have enough power to trigger the fan? What could this be?

Sorry for all the questions. Im have a few issues .

 

[renovatdkitchen]

My 1g had lots of weird electrical issues similar to that when the alternator fuse blew. I too would check that, and if it isnt that, possibly check the battery voltage while off/running to check the voltage and see if your charging system is working properly.

 

[School Boy]

My 1g had lots of weird electrical issues similar to that when the alternator fuse blew. I too would check that, and if it isnt that, possibly check the battery voltage while off/running to check the voltage and see if your charging system is working properly.

I will check that fuse tomorrow.

I already checked the voltage going to where the relay pluggs in. The fan relay is getting 10-12 volts. Could the relay be bad if its still "clicking"?

 

[renovatdkitchen]

From what I understand, relay's rarely go bad. I don't see why it couldn't be broken, however I doubt it is.

10 to 12 volts? While on or off? Either way, 10 volts is VERY low.

 

[1G Eclipse94928]

I will check that fuse tomorrow.

I already checked the voltage going to where the relay pluggs in. The fan relay is getting 10-12 volts. Could the relay be bad if its still "clicking"?

I would check every fuse in the car if I was you, and if you dunno how just replace every one. (its easy though just look and see if the metal is connecting in the fuse.)

 

[School Boy]

From what I understand, relay's rarely go bad. I don't see why it couldn't be broken, however I doubt it is.

10 to 12 volts? While on or off? Either way, 10 volts is VERY low.

I was seeing 10 to 12 volts when the car was off. I did not test it while the car was running. Whats weird is it can remove the relay and plug a wire into it and the fan will turn on.

I would check every fuse in the car if I was you, and if you dunno how just replace every one. (its easy though just look and see if the metal is connecting in the fuse.)

Yeah I know how to check the fuses. I did not see any that were blown. I only replaced the 2 that looked bad.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

The fan switch that goes in the bottom of the radiator is what GROUNDS the fan relay so that they come on. You are jumping the 2 terminals that run the fan and that will make the fan come on, but the switch only closes and grounds when the motor is at its normal operating temperature so you are not normally going to have it work while its cold. On mine, even tho the A/C is deleted, I can turn on the A/C and the fans instantly come on for on demand cooling but they will turn themselves on when that "switch" in the radiator gets hot and flows the ground wire to a ground thus making the relay turn on and that kicks the fans on. Just so you know how the fans are meant to work. Glad you have some of your electrics working. If you have to replace the big 80 amp fuse, you don't have to remove the 10mm bolts, just loosen them and pull up on the square fuse and it will come right out. If you jumper across the two 10mm bolts and things start working like magic then that fuse is definately bad. I didn't know that the fuse would come out with the bolts just loose and I took them all the way out.....you don't have to do that to replace it, just loosen them and the little bugger will come right out. I put a Galant 90 amp alternator on mine last nite and changed the fuse from a 80 to a 100. Keep at it, you will get it all fixed, just keep asking and doing what the good people on here suggest!! Good luck.

 

[School Boy]

Thanks man. I have pretty much everything worked out other than the passenger seat belt thing and the fan not wanting to turn on thing.

I know how the radiator fan works, I was told that if you turn the A/C on that it will automatically turn the radiator fan on. When I have the relay in the fan will not turn on by the A/C switch or when the car is up to temperature. I have no idea what this issue could be.

I know the fan works because I can jump the relay with a wire so I know the fan isn't faulty. Why wont the car trigger the fan to turn on when its up to temp or when the A/C switch is on??

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Check the two wires on the temp switch on the radiator with a ohm meter or test light to see and MAKE SURE that one of them goes to ground. I can't remember which color it is but I can look tonight. ONE of the two wires on that switch will go straight to ground and the other to the fan relay so check that. If niether wire goes to ground then that is the problem with the fan thing. Also just switch out one of the other relays with the fan relay and see if that does anything. I will try to post which wire goes to ground as soon as I can. We will get you all fixed back up and you have done a good job too!

Relays can get corroded on the points that contact when the relay energizes so do the relay swap and try your A/C switch again to see if they come on. If so its simply a bad relay, go buy a new one and pop her in. You said you could hear it click so it is functioning but may be old on the contacts so grab any other one from the fuse box that isn't running a critical device, like the fog light relay and see what happens when you swap them. I have done that before myself.

 

[School Boy]

Check the two wires on the temp switch on the radiator with a ohm meter or test light to see and MAKE SURE that one of them goes to ground. I can't remember which color it is but I can look tonight. ONE of the two wires on that switch will go straight to ground and the other to the fan relay so check that. If niether wire goes to ground then that is the problem with the fan thing. Also just switch out one of the other relays with the fan relay and see if that does anything. I will try to post which wire goes to ground as soon as I can. We will get you all fixed back up and you have done a good job too!

Relays can get corroded on the points that contact when the relay energizes so do the relay swap and try your A/C switch again to see if they come on. If so its simply a bad relay, go buy a new one and pop her in. You said you could hear it click so it is functioning but may be old on the contacts so grab any other one from the fuse box that isn't running a critical device, like the fog light relay and see what happens when you swap them. I have done that before myself.

Beat you too it. I already tired swapping the relays around with no luck. I appreciate all your help. I'll look forward to you letting me know which wire goes where. That why I can check them at least. Thanks a lot!

 

[GST with PSI]

I know the fan works because I can jump the relay with a wire so I know the fan isn't faulty. Why wont the car trigger the fan to turn on when its up to temp or when the A/C switch is on??

If you can jump the relay and kick the fan on, then you aren't getting a signal to the fan relay. When the thermo switch sees ~215 degrees, it grounds the fan relay coil thereby activating the HI fan relay. With the fan relay activated, it grounds the radiator fan motor, activating the cooling fan (in high speed mode). The fan motor is ground side switched, and is always powered. You need to figure out why the motor circuit doesn't have a clear path to ground.

Unplug the fan temp switch (located on the bottom of the radiator), and ground the blue/black wire of the plug. With the blue/black wire of the connector plug grounded, you can have one of a few conditions:

-If the relay activates and the fan kicks on, then you have a bad temp switch.

-If the fan doesn't kick on, you need to trace the wiring from the temp switch to the fan relay.

-If the relay activates (you should hear is click), but the fan does not, then you need to trace the ground side of the relay throw (i.e. the radiator fan motor ground circuit).

Does that make sense?

I've posted the fan diagram below for diagnostics. You need to become familiar with how the circuit works, and where the proper test points are located.

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[School Boy]

Ohhh I see. I had no idea the coolant temp sensor in the thermosat housing had anything to do with the fan circuit. I thought that was only a dummy switch for the gauge in the car. If it makes any difference both the coolant temp sensor and the switch in the radiator were replaced about 6 days ago. That was the first thing i did when i noticed i had this issue.

So i dont think i am understanding this right. Why would i need to ground the blue/black wire? Does that complete the circuit? Sorry for the dumb questions. Im just trying to get an understanding.

 

[GST with PSI]

Sorry, I made a mistake. I edited my post. The sensor of interest will be the fan temp switch (not the CTS), located at the bottom of the radiator. Everything I said still applies, the tests will just be preformed at the fan switch temp sensor.

The temp switch completes a path to ground for the fan relay when it reaches 215 degrees. By grounding the blue/black wire, it is simulating the fan temp sensor seeing 215, and completes the path to ground for the fan relay. As soon as the fan relay's coil has a path to ground, it activates, and closes the throw on the relay, giving the fan motor circuit a path to ground. With a good path to ground through the fan relay, the fan motor begins to run.

Keep in mind, there are 2 relays that can control the fan, a HI and a LOW fan relay. In all cases here, I'm referring to the HI fan relay. The two relays work independent of one another, the HI relay being activated at a higher temperature. Once you have the fan working through the HI circuit, you can troubleshoot the LOW side.

There are actually 3 sensors in regard to engine temp (technically 5 I suppose).

-CTS, located on the water neck/T-stat housing: Gives the ECU coolant temp reading
-Temp sensor for the gauge cluster located on the water neck/T-stat housingrovides the temp gauge a signal
-Thermo sensor/Fan switch: Activates the fan relay (not pictured)
-EGR & A/C temp sensors/valves

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[School Boy]

Sorry, I made a mistake. I edited my post. The sensor of interest will be the fan temp switch (not the CTS), located at the bottom of the radiator. Everything I said still applies, the tests will just be preformed at the fan switch temp sensor.

The temp switch completes a path to ground for the fan relay when it reaches 215 degrees. By grounding the blue/black wire, it is simulating the fan temp sensor seeing 215, and completes the path to ground for the fan relay. As soon as the fan relay's coil has a path to ground, it activates, and closes the throw on the relay, giving the fan motor circuit a path to ground. With a good path to ground through the fan relay, the fan motor begins to run.

Keep in mind, there are 2 relays that can control the fan, a HI and a LOW fan relay. In all cases here, I'm referring to the HI fan relay. The two relays work independent of one another, the HI relay being activated at a higher temperature. Once you have the fan working through the HI circuit, you can troubleshoot the LOW side.

There are actually 3 sensors in regard to engine temp (technically 5 I suppose).

-CTS, located on the water neck/T-stat housing: Gives the ECU coolant temp reading
-Temp sensor for the gauge cluster located on the water neck/T-stat housingrovides the temp gauge a signal
-Thermo sensor/Fan switch: Activates the fan relay (not pictured)
-EGR & A/C temp sensors/valves

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Oh ok. I think I understand now. So the blue/black wire is the ground wire going into the connector that plugs into the fan switch in the radiator?