serious electrical problems

[civic eater]

I am having some serious electrical issues. I was driving along everything was fine then all of a sudden my turbo timer said it was reading 17v all the lights came on in the dash and my fuse box started smoking so i immediately shut off the car and now my blower motor none of the interior lights or my radio are working. I have tried to look for fried wires, bad grounds and i have not found what could be doing this. The alternator is 3 months old and the batter was replaced last month. I need some ideas on what is happening.

 

[doctor_shock10]

I am having some serious electrical issues. I was driving along everything was fine then all of a sudden my turbo timer said it was reading 17v all the lights came on in the dash and my fuse box started smoking so i immediately shut off the car and now my blower motor none of the interior lights or my radio are working. I have tried to look for fried wires, bad grounds and i have not found what could be doing this. The alternator is 3 months old and the batter was replaced last month. I need some ideas on what is happening.

do you have a strut bar and maybe its touching the postive terminal? something is def grounding out tho!

 

[civic eater]

Nope no strut bar any other ideas i can look at i have checked out the the alternator feed to the fuse box and the wires looked fine no damage i checked all the radio connections and couldnt find any cut or damaged wires, the wires going to the fuse box are not damaged i am completely baffled by this all of a sudden problem.

 

[silentscreamer]

sounds like the regulator failed inside the alternator, has there been any oil or power steering fluid that leaked on it in the past? it destroys the regulators unbelievably quick.

 

[doctor_shock10]

sounds like the regulator failed inside the alternator, has there been any oil or power steering fluid that leaked on it in the past? it destroys the regulators unbelievably quick.

+1 good call!

 

[civic eater]

The alternator is completely clean i can did not see any evidence of any fluid on the alternator. I am going to remove the alternator tomorrow and have it tested.

 

[rlmeskimen]

I overcharged and tore up my battery and ECU. I still have a wiper issue and an ABS issue. It has taken me quite a bit of time and money to fix this one.

Here is my thread. Good luck.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/maintenance-repairs/362232-wipers-fans-abs-fuse-blows-srs-light-help.html

Ryan

 

[GSXSixteenG]

Check for corrosion on the back side of the fuse box located under the dash.

 

[WannaBeBoosted]

Take it to an electrical repair place. Its their job to diagnose these problems. I know it might be a decent amount of money but you might spend 2x as much replacing things you "Think" are wrong..

 

[97gst_spyder]

Check for corrosion on the back side of the fuse box located under the dash.

+1, If your missing your inner wheel well this will happen.

 

[GSXSixteenG]

+1, If your missing your inner wheel well this will happen.

Yup, exactly why I know about it.

 

[diablo03]

I overcharged and tore up my battery and ECU. I still have a wiper issue and an ABS issue. It has taken me quite a bit of time and money to fix this one.

Here is my thread. Good luck.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/maintenance-repairs/362232-wipers-fans-abs-fuse-blows-srs-light-help.html

Ryan

same thing happened to me. it was a heck of a time figuring it out.

in retrospect, i should have taken it to an electrical shop to figure out, i spent too muchmoney replacing parts i thought were blown.

 

[WannaBeBoosted]

same thing happened to me. it was a heck of a time figuring it out.

in retrospect, i should have taken it to an electrical shop to figure out, i spent too muchmoney replacing parts i thought were blown.

Agreed!

 

[civic eater]

I took the alternator to have it tested and it was bad the new will be here tomorrow. I am going to take out the fuse box and see if there was any damage on the back.

 

[Squirrel8811]

Jeeze like my automotive instructor in college said "keep it simple stupid" Sounds like the reg failed (Ie the failed alternator) and because of the voltage spike (smoking fuse box) it killed some fuses and maybe some wires. I dont see anywhere about checking fuses. I would do that first.

 

[WannaBeBoosted]

Well of course, I think most of us neglected to say that due to the fact that its a given. Good call though.

 

[Orangedsm95]

+1 on the failed voltage regulator. They are plastic and cause of the heat from being so close to the exhaust tend to go bad often. I have put 3 alternators on my car in 4yrs czuse of the regs going bad in them.

 

[civic eater]

I got all the interior stuff to come back on by replacing some relays, fuses and the interior fuse box. I am now having an issue with the alternator not charging at all. I tested it on the car and it read around 3v I took it to have it tested and it reads 14v. What could cause the alternator not to charge at all I have checked and double checked for wires grounding out, fried wires and can not find anything wrong.