I hate DSMs! Electrical Problems. [Merged 2-9]

[NJGSX96]

Well the other day I went out and bought a new alternator and battery for my 1G. Of course the bolt for the alternator was in backwards and couldn't come out without removing the turbo/manifold/O2/exhaust, but thanks to my friend Phil and his Sawzall, that was a minor issue. Anyway, when I went to the parts store, they had a 75AMP and 65AMP. The 75AMP is for automatics, but was identical to the 65AMP, which was for manuals, so I went with the 75AMPer. Why not, right? Get it installed, everything plugged in, clean up the battery connections, install the new battery, fire it up, all good. This was Monday. Tonight after work I go back to the car and figure I'll add some goodies I got for my b-day while the car is down. About an hour later I have installed my nice new cockpit adjustable hallman MBC and I swap out my plug wires for the NGK wires I had on before since my Magnecors bit the dust... again. That is it. I do nothing else. Plug up the laptop, start the car, fire up TMO, log battery. 5 seconds into starting the car I hear a high pitched occillating whine and with it the lights are dimming and brightning. TMO battery log looks like I am logging O2 dipping to 11v and rising to 14.5v over and over. Finally steadies at 13.9v and the whine becomes constant, whih is coming from the alternator. I let it idle for 10 minutes. All looks good. I got out for a little test drive and as soon as I get to the bottom of my hill the log shows 12v and i can see the lights dim! Every time I come to a stop it dips to 11v and the dash lights for battery, coolant come on, then go off. I get back home as quick as I can, and park it. At this point the lights are all dim and the log shows 11.6v.

Is this for real? Is my alternator already f#cked up? In all my years of driving I have NEVER had to replace an alternator. is this common for them to die or come bad out of the box? Is the 75AMP not compatible with my car? Where the f#ck do I start to check now or is it just the alternator?

 

[Iluvskanks]

I think smuckles post should have been enough and then it should have been closed. There is more than enough threads when ecu caps is searched for.
Read Vfaq and use the search.

 

[goingDSMsoon]

He didnt know that it was ECU caps though. Not trying to pick a fight.

 

[oldman]

ok, so im driving down the road about a week ago and from inside the dash come a ticking sound like when you take two wires with an electrical chararge and rap then together, also when it does this the car acts like it dies for a split second and the gas does nothing. over the next few days it gradually gets worse until one night im going home and it starts doing this every few seconds until the car is barely running an it dies. now, if i try to start it it will fire once or twice but wont start up. if anyone has an idea about what might be wrong your help is greatly appreciatly and if this helps about a week before it did this i put a new alternator in it and it is a 90 plym. laser

http://www.tmo.com/howto/ecu1g/caps.html

 

[allstockdsm]

undefinedTHANK YOU! ddavisaf for trying to be helpful to me and yes it is the caps. they are burnt so i ordered a new ecu and i am going to sell my old one so if anyone wants to buy it leave me a message and an offer because i dont know how to repair it and to the rest of you guys i am sorry for being new and not being familiar with the site.

 

[Sleeper_DSM_817]

I have a problem..my fuse keeps on burning out..it looks like the overcurrent one because it splits it right in half..and it is always the taillight one under the hood (taillights and dash lights never work)..i checked the wires and it looks fine to me..battery is still good..can anyone figure it out?

 

[ddavisaf]

Pull the fuse box out and check the wire bundle underneath.

 

[TotalEclipse112]

If it repeadadly blows fuses fuses then there is something else worng. Sounds like something else is drawing current from that circut. Check for stripped wire casings or a short to ground either on would do it.

 

[spyder97gs]

So I get back to school, go to put up my windows, NOTHING. I have power and the car will start. I go and wiggle the fuse box and they go up? Start the car, drive it a bit, get to my parking spot and it has no power. Shut the door and open it and it has power. Keyless entry wont work. Windows wouldnt go down with the cd player on.

Any likely cause for this? It's got a brand new battery and im at my wits end with this car. Bout to sell it for half the KBB.

 

[luv2rallye]

A loose connection or partially broken wire. Where is going to be difficult. Wiggle wires/fuses/fuseboxes to see which affects windows power. You can always run another wire to the same place any partially broken one goes to help locate it or to fix it (example: run another wire from power to windows relay or from windows relay to windows).

 

[spyder97gs]

Yeah, I wiggled all the alternator wires, and the fuse box again. The interior and dash lights were dim. Car started fine though. One of the alternator wires that grounds to the power steering pump isnt grounded, as the connector came off. I dont see that causing it though, its been like that for a while. I took it out and drove it, as soon as I got back to the parking lot the CD player shut off. Hmmm. I'm gonna have to take it home and work on it.

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

check your relays in the box on the passenger side. if one of the relays (i believe it's the black on on the right side) goes bad nothing will work. I had a very similer problem and my doors, windows, cd player, seatbelts, and overhead lights all quite working and it was as simple as 2 blown relays in that box.

 

[spyder97gs]

I've never dealt with a bad relay. Could it be a relay on its way out, or would it go all at once? Since they are black, whats the best way to check them? I know which ones your talking about...

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

i wish that i could be more specific but my car is in the shop right now and i can't just go out and look at it. I know that there is one relay which sits off to the right side which if it goes nothing will work. i'm not really sure how to check a relay but i think you check it just like a fuse, pull it out and use a multimeter to check for continuity between the prongs. I just got a handful of relays at the junkyard where i work and i replaced the main one off to the side and the one for the windows and everything started working again. I hope this helps you.

 

[spyder97gs]

Just drove home from school. Radio dies at stop lights, car died once. Starts back up. Got home with lights on, got out and my horn went off and wouldnt stop. Lights were stuck on. Had to remove the battery cable. Hmm, ideas.. 100amp alternator fuse cause that maybe? Bad door switch? Voltage regulator?

I'm gonna go sand all my grounds and make sure they are all good, put new battery cables/connector on, tape off any loose wires and double check my alternator connections. The battery light came on twice on the way home and went off within 3 seconds. Car starts up perfect every time. Ah the woes of owning a DSM

 

[spyder97gs]

I fixed it.

I sanded all the grounds. The wire that had been cut off had bare wire showing on the end, the one from the alternator to power steering pump. I added wire to that and put it on the little grounding post, and put a clip on to hold it. Went to remove the 100amp fuse. Bolts came out, went to pull the fuse and it wouldnt come. It still looked good, but upon chipping one side out, the other side had been welded to the plastic

One bolt was loose on that too. But all is well now. Thanks for the helps guys

 

[93jdmlaser]

Digging up an old thread but I have the same problem after welding. I had my battery disconnected but the alternator was not. I can understand that the ecu would be damaged but I cant see the explaination for everything else being dead. What else is there to check to fix this. Thanks

 

[kris_leblanc]

Hi, I own three talons and have had two motors blow on me (no I wasn't bagging them) but anyways I just bought a 1993 turbo awd talon. I go to college for automotives and today I took it into the shop. We did a bunch of things to it, it was running fine, all belts fine. One of my fellow students decided to clean my car, and I think he bumped the battery terminal cover off. There was too large of a battery in the car and it hit the hood. My car now surges and the computer behind where the stereo used to be clicks and makes wierd noises whenever I hit the brakes. Also, my lights fade whenever anything electrical is turned on. My turbo timer also messes up then my car dies. Please help, I am currently reading everything I can about electrical systems in my talon, and I am desperately in need of my car tomorrow, if anyone could help me A.S.A.P. that would be GREATLY appreciated. I have a 1992 turbo awd talon in my back yard for parts, so I can swap anything out (if it is compatible). Please give any info you know. Thankyou very much,
Kristopher

 

[kris_leblanc]

I have spent many many hours swapping parts from my 92 turbo awd talon to my 93 turbo awd talon. I replaced the ecu and all the units surrounding it behind the dash. When I hit the brakes, this gold-colored metal mitsu cube made a clicking noise, so I unhooked it, but the lights still dim whenever I use ANY electrical device. When I turned on the headlights, something under the dash was clicking, so I took off the whole underside of the dash to notice a MESS of wires. I am still trying to figure out what wires go where, and am making sure that all wires are properly insulated and are connected securely. I think whoever wired in the auto start did a messy job, I don't have the clicker, so I unhooked it all. I have been reading all day and all night, and have finally given up at 2 am. I need my car fixed ASAP and I don't know what to do. Please help, I am trying so very hard and am getting no results. I even replaced all the relays and the battery. I tried individually unhooking any sensor or electrical cable I could find, but nothing has stopped this problem. The car runs fine until I turn something on, even the doorlocks and windows and heater stall the car and dim the lights. I am contemplating just swapping the engine back to my 92 minus the electrical, but there has got to be something I haven't checked or replaced yet. Please help.
Kris

 

[luv2rallye]

Sounds like you fried something - possibly the alternator (disconnect it to see what happens). But first check the 80/100A alternator fusable link. Also check if your grounds are still intact. You may also have a short. Look at the mess of wires underneath the engine fusebox to see if any are fried or touching. For short finding see: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179481 And ALWAYS keep an insulator on the + battery terminal! Also keep the battery tied down - even the stock ones will touch the hood when accelerating if not tied down.

 

[steel_3d]

I bought a 2g with a 6-bolt swap that doesn't start, and having had a 1g before I don't even know how things are supposed to be hooked up on a 2g. This car is a hackjob. If anyone could come by and take a look with me, or just bring by a 2g turbo that I can look at for comparison, that would be great. I'd provide booze and food

I could really use some help tomorrow (Sunday the 18th) since this is my last day I can work on the car before the new year.

Please reply here, private message me, or give me a call at 818-430-8779 if you can help. I can't check this email from home, so email's no good.

If all else fails, if you guys can recommend a shop in the area that can figure out dsm electrical problems, I might break down and go for it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[trapspeed]

Here's the problem.

All the lights on my car started to pulse a few weeks ago. The lights on my guages, headlights, sidemarkers, tails, everything pulses in sync with each other. And to top it off my Battery and Brake light on my HVAC blink as well. I've never had a problem like this before. My alternator was changed less than a year ago, I put a new battery in and changed the terminals yet it still pulses. Even when I'm idling! Anyone have any idea? WTF

 

[92awddsm]

The voltage regulator inside the altenator is failing. Take it back and have it replaced under warantee.

 

[trapspeed]

The voltage regulator inside the altenator is failing. Take it back and have it replaced under warantee.

I had it done at a shop, hopefully the warranty isn't over.

 

[DSMonstah]

hello everybody, im a newb when it comes to DSM's. I drive an FC, so i actually know more about rotaries than i do about piston engines. Im here to ask you guys for some help. My uncle is going to give me his 1st gen eclipse (93 base i believe) but the thing is that it cant hold an idle when cold and some of the warning lights come on and stay on (ebrake, coolant, and some others) but no check engine light.
We replaced the battery, but that didnt work. We're thinking that it may be the alternator, but not very sure. Dont want to mess with it yet.
The weird thing is, everything works (radio, lights, power seatbelts, etc...) but once the car is turned on, the engine dies after a second. I actually have to keep my foot on the gas to keep the car alive. But when the car is all warmed up, it'll hold its idle like normal.
So if you guys can help a kid out, it would be greatly appreciated.

THANKS!
-Jed

 

[GSX93DSM]

Sounds like it can be many things. You can try by checking you alternator. I would also check for any vacume leaks of any sort. I would check for electrical parts like you ecu. Also check you air idle control valve. It is under your throttle body, it can cause idle surge.