Super Strange Electrical Problem

[AG 305]

ive ran into a very strange problem. EVERYTHING in the car only works if its ON. when the car is off the only things that work are the cluster (gauges and everything light up) and the headlights light up but they do not flip open. im able to start the car like nothings wrong.

when the cars OFF i CANT lower my windows, turn the radio on, pop the headlights up by pressing the button or turning the lights on, turn any lights inside the car on and my seat belts dont retract.

it doesnt even make the BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPP noise when i put the key in before i start the car.

anyone else had this before or knows anything about it?
WHATS GOING ON HERE!? any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[AG 305]

now while im driving my radio will turn on and off randomly.

im guessing messed up battery or alternator... SOMETHING!

 

[crash89]

The radio turning off randomly is deffinately a short. That could be part of your original problem as well.

 

[AG 305]

yeah it must be a short cause as soon as i put the key to ON itll make a fast clicking noise.

 

[twalters09]

It seems that you have a bad connection on your battery, the fast clicking noise is what made me think that plus your radio cutting in and out. Try to take off your connectors and clean them up along with cleaning the terminals themselves, baking soda and water work the best, coke will do the trick to, or just a wire brush and some good old scrubbing. Hope this helps some.

 

[AG 305]

It seems that you have a bad connection on your battery, the fast clicking noise is what made me think that plus your radio cutting in and out. Try to take off your connectors and clean them up along with cleaning the terminals themselves, baking soda and water work the best, coke will do the trick to, or just a wire brush and some good old scrubbing. Hope this helps some.

will do all that in the morning and post results. thanks

UPDATE: cleaned the terminals on my battery and all the connectors. theyre shinning like new! the problem is still there. i also made sure everything was connected and grounded. ALL THE FUSES ARE GOOD ALSO. i dont know what else it could be

 

[AG 305]

now the battery is completely drained out. car all of a sudden died while driving.
my guess is a bad alternator and battery

 

[AK Maniak]

I would check for a short. I had symptons similar to yours and it was because the wires coming off the top of the alternator were rubbing against the o2 sensor which made my car do some wacky shit. Like whenever I would turn on my air conditioning my radio would turn off and my windshield wiper would start going.

 

[AG 305]

I would check for a short. I had symptons similar to yours and it was because the wires coming off the top of the alternator were rubbing against the o2 sensor which made my car do some wacky shit. Like whenever I would turn on my air conditioning my radio would turn off and my windshield wiper would start going.

LOOL that is pretty crazy. since ive bought the car about a year ago ive had this tiny cut wire that ive never had a clue where it went. its coming from under the alternator.

WHAT IS THIS WIRE!?

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im sure my problem has nothing to do with this because my cars been running fine without it till now.

 

[AG 305]

i found out my alternator is completely dead. i did the good ol fashioned "disconnect the battery while the car is running" thing and my car shut off completely.

time for a new alternator and relocation kit!!

 

[AG 305]

UPDATE

my alternator and battery are good as well as every fuse. my car is STILL having this issue. ECU is in perfect condition as well.

only thing the car does is a very fast clicking noise as soon as my key hits the ON position. clicking only lasts for about 2 seconds and it wont do it again for a few minutes meaning once its done clicking i can pull the key out and put it back in and turn it to ON and it wont do it. it isnt a battery click cause thats alot slower.

i am at a complete loss here and dont know what else to do...

 

[fourgsixthree33]

Just to clear this up, are you having these problems when the car is OFF and the key is in the ACC spot? Or when the key is in the OFF position as well? Because if your key is in the OFF position, nothing like that will work. Just the gauges.

If you are reffering to these problems happening when the key is in the ACC position, I would definitely suspect a short somewhere. Do you have an aftermarket CD player? If you do, it is very common for weird problems like this to occur since the wires were tampered with at one point. I have a short somewhere too as I have to pound on the center console head unit area to get the CD player and lights on the head unit to work. But it still wont read CD's.

 

[91-gsx]

Check the caps in the ECU.

Good luck

 

[AG 305]

i had forgotten all about this issue on my car since it doesnt bother me too much. now i really just want to fix it.

i remember that i had hit the alternator with a wrench and it sparked like crazy. i immediately assumed i blew a fuse some place but when i checked all the fuses were visibly in tact. maybe a bad relay or something... idk

what else can be the issue here? can it be something to do with my ignition switch!?

 

[GsxMan98]

change your alternator fuse it might look good but the same thing happened to me.

 

[AG 305]

change your alternator fuse it might look good but the same thing happened to me.

thanks will do that now. lets see what happens

 

[gofer]

GsxMan98 is correct about the fuse. Even if a fuse appears to be good you should check it for continuity, if you get a reading of 0Ω the fuse is still good.

Moved to Electrical Tech forum.

 

[AG 305]

GsxMan98 is correct about the fuse. Even if a fuse appears to be good you should check it for continuity, if you get a reading of 0Ω the fuse is still good.

Moved to Electrical Tech forum.

awesome! well ill do that once i put my car back together. new battery, new alternator, might as well get a new fuse to go with it