Once again, NO start, wierd idle... need some input.

[Blitzeclips]

Well , once again my car randomly decided NOT to start this morning. It ran and drove great the night before, I didn't even build more then 5 psi the whole ride home. Drove it less than 20 minutes. Now, the first time I tried crankin er' over there was a brief effort to kick over. But nothing. Tried again, and there was NO response, just dead. As if I was turning the key for fun of it.

Anyways, I check the battery terminal, and the negative side it VERY snug, but with a effort, it can move MAYBE a 1/8 of an inch. Not sure if that matters or not, but I'm going to buy a new terminal anyways.

So, I;m thinking of where the power loss/shorting can be... Only place I can think of is where I hooked my gauges up to. I used the interior light for BEHIND the AC/climate control console. Now, my gauge lights are ALWAYS on, even in the day. I never thought this would be a problem, but I wanted to run it by you guys for some suggestions..
If this IS the problem, I'm going to add a resistor between these to distribute power differently and more conservatively... Oh and BTW, I STILL have NO interior light at nights, because EVERY SINGLE TIME I buy a rheostat to hook it up, my $20 frys up in smoke within a second. I;m not sure what is burning it up, but this all seems electrical...

Someone help if possible. Thanks guys/gals.

 

[Shadow98]

When you turn key to start it you should hear a click, even if it not turning over. If so, it more than likely your starter. If it doesn't even click, your battery might be dead and/or the alternator isn't charging your battery.

 

[VelocitàPaola]

So, I;m thinking of where the power loss/shorting can be... Only place I can think of is where I hooked my gauges up to. I used the interior light for BEHIND the AC/climate control console. Now, my gauge lights are ALWAYS on, even in the day. I never thought this would be a problem, but I wanted to run it by you guys for some suggestions..
If this IS the problem, I'm going to add a resistor between these to distribute power differently and more conservatively... Oh and BTW, I STILL have NO interior light at nights, because EVERY SINGLE TIME I buy a rheostat to hook it up, my $20 frys up in smoke within a second. I;m not sure what is burning it up, but this all seems electrical...

You used an interior light as the power source for your gauges? Bad idea...

The best method for installing gauges, hands down, is to run a direct line (12-16 gauge wire) from the battery through the COM and NO ports on an automotive relay. Then, tap (not splice) the appropriate wire from either the cigarette lighter (switched +12V) or illumination wire from the stereo harness (illumination), run it through the coil on the relay, and ground the other end. The coil has enough resistance to prevent those wires from shorting, so you'll retain function in each of the tapped wires. The main benefit is that you can basically use this main line to power 5+ gauges without worry.

The dash/instrument panel wires just weren't meant to handle a lot of current running through them... adding a resistor won't change that. You should really have a moderate understanding of electricity and electronics to begin screwing with the electrical system unless you're following a how-to or other instructions/schematics verbatim. No offense...

I'd go back and revert everything to stock, then start over. Electrical shorts are no fun.

 

[Blitzeclips]

Yeah I think theres a parasitic draw somewhere, whether from those gauges or not.

I'm going to start checking the voltage of my system with some plug and play, fuses, etc.. See if the voltage drops when I pull out any individual fuse or not.

As for the wiring to my gauges, well, my buddy actually hooked those up, I just gave the OK for where this power source would come from. Now that I think about it, the light source does come from the cigarette lighter. But only one of them. Not both. I was kind of busy installing alot of other things at the time.. He is a VERY, VERY good electrical person, and claims strongly that the distribution box would solve my gauge problem. BUT, maybe I'll run this stuff by him and see if he thinks differently...

If we can't find the power draw ourselves I'm taking it to a buddy's shop to see what else we can find. I think he's got a device to measure this stuff, and locate the shorting, or whatever is causing this..

Paul- How sure are you that this set-up for my gauges is causing the problem? Confident or an idea? Thanks again...

 

[Blitzeclips]

Well, it didn't start yet again. Got er fired up Saturday and SUnday JUST FINE and ran even better. So I leave my house around 9:15AM for a 10AM class. Go to start the car and yup, no click, no fire, no nothin. No radio, lights, NOTHING. Random. Caught a ride, came home to check it out.

Battery terminal is loose. No big deal. Tighten them up and check for other random things that could cause this, nothing. Check the voltage and there's power, but not much, sparks fly when the jumpers hook up and everything.

So I jump the car and go in for an hour for dinner. Come out and it starts right up. Leave for Pepboys to pick-up a red-top (assuming bad battery) and find they're 169.99 now! I paid $100 FLAT 2 years ago. Since when did the demand for batteries double? So I seriously want to know what is causing this before I spend $170 for something I may not even need. Problem may be elsewhere ya know... Called a buddy, jumped the car again, and drove straight to the shop and parked in the bay. Nice surprise for my uncle to find tomorrow, eh?

So I tried checking everything the best I could, but finding the line(s) responsible for the shortage or parasitic draw is NOT something I'm trying to do. The weather here is cold, wet and brisk. Screw that.

I'm thinking this is a power draw or just a bad battery issue. It seems that this has started since the conversion but I cannot see what would cause it. The only electricals we touched were for gauges, and downstream o2. Doesn't make sense.

It's at my uncle's shop and he's been trying to find it all day. Nothing found yet.

ANY IDEAS???

 

[VelocitàPaola]

Paul- How sure are you that this set-up for my gauges is causing the problem? Confident or an idea? Thanks again...

Based on this statement...

The only electricals we touched were for gauges, and downstream o2.

...pretty sure it's your gauges. What gauges do you have installed exactly? At the very least, the boost gauge doesn't really need electricity to function. So, if I were you, I'd disconnect everything and see if there's any difference.


By the way, don't bump threads!

 

[Blitzeclips]

I only have oil pressure and boost. So I cannot see how the gauges would effect the power draw enough for no start...

 

[VelocitàPaola]

I only have oil pressure and boost. So I cannot see how the gauges would effect the power draw enough for no start...

It's not necessarily the gauges themselves, but rather the wiring that's causing the power draw. If that's one of only two things you touched, then that'd be my first bet...

 

[Blitzeclips]

It's not necessarily the gauges themselves, but rather the wiring that's causing the power draw. If that's one of only two things you touched, then that'd be my first bet...

Well, I hope it IS the problem because I'm snagging my car back from my uncle's shop tomorrow morning. I'm going to add a distribution box in the mix and see what happens... As well as what you suggested. Revert to stock and re-wire according to your previous set-up. I have wire from my battery run back to the hatch for a system when I feel I want one. Well, I took the fuse out but it never crossed my mind to use THAT(wire) for the power source to my gauges. It runs right underneath my center console so I'll see what can work out..

I hope you're right Paul!

On a lighter note, I've found a belt for my power steering! It works again!

 

[95'clipseRS]

I have a similiar problem with my car. I jumped it, and it was running just fine, but then, about five minutes of idling, the car died. It would not turn over, in fact, it doesn't even "try" to start. I haven't tried to start my car for a while, if I can, I will try again this weekend. I haven't really done anything with my car, so I'm wondering if it's the battery or the alternator. I post more on Saturday.

 

[BigRand]

Same issue, I check all my gauges because a long time ago they were flickering, they are fine.

Everytime I go to jump my car it starts right up using a jump box.

I replaced the battery with a new optima,but I wasn't sure if they come with a charge or not, and well I still haven't had time to charge it up if need be. (I'm a take care of that this weekend). I replaced my alternator recently but it could be the problem. I"m gonna take it to a les shwab or autozone/shucks or whatever and have them do a load test on everything. Last thing to check is the starter. If its none of those I'm in for a real treat taking everything apart to trace a draw.

 

[Blitzeclips]

Same issue, I check all my gauges because a long time ago they were flickering, they are fine.

Everytime I go to jump my car it starts right up using a jump box.

I replaced the battery with a new optima,but I wasn't sure if they come with a charge or not, and well I still haven't had time to charge it up if need be. (I'm a take care of that this weekend). I replaced my alternator recently but it could be the problem. I"m gonna take it to a les shwab or autozone/shucks or whatever and have them do a load test on everything. Last thing to check is the starter. If its none of those I'm in for a real treat taking everything apart to trace a draw.

Well guys, I fixed it. It was exactly what I though it was. I added a distribution box from a local audio store and re-wire the gauges completely. Now I have a toggle switch for the lights and I can adjust the voltage output later on when I get more gauges. From here on out I can add 6+ gauges and be A-OK. I also changed the terminals and pulled about 7 feet of 4 gauge wire out of my car. The previous owner had a system hooked up..
PAUL- Thanks for the tips on that wiring set-up. I used your reference in the re-wiring, but I altered a couple of the things for the dist. box. Regardless, you are mucho appreciated.

I took it back to the shop and they checked it on spot. The mechanic looks at me like, WTF , "there's no more draw.. what did you do?"

It was priceless. Worse part is I owe them about $80 for 3 hours of diagnostics.. But even then it's still a deal! I hate when that shit happens. I'll look for a problem a couple days then get pissed and take it to a shop. After I cool down I usually figure out what's wrong with it then kick myself later on... Oh well..

Hope that helps..

 

[BigRand]

Well after some doing, I went back to lesshwab and had them check out my charging system, everything was A-OK (blitz), except for the brand new optima battery I bought from car toys.

So I headed back down there with a note from shwab and they changed it out, I also payed a lil extra to get the yellow top. (expensive as ###k).....

I'll probably replace the terminals just cause they've been used for a while, at least the ground, probably a good time to do a ground wire system.


NOw just to figure out what the other rattles and clanks are in my car that I'm not used too, gotta love dsm's