the mysterious wire....

[GSEclipse06]

ok so i had my car up on a lift at my tech school looking for a possible gas leak (which i didnt find btw) when i found a wire. it was stripped at the end and i along with my teachers thought it was a ground. there was a plug coming from the left (pass) side of the alternator with two wires coming from it. there were two inches of wire then they were taped together along with this third wire, which had about eight inches and was a thicker guage than the other two, so im 100% sure it doesnt go into the plug. i started the car and dvom'd it jsut to make sure it was a ground wire...and it read damn near 13.5 volts. so its a live wire and i have no idea where it goes. i taped the end just to make sure ot doesnt short out but now i need to find where it goes. anyone have any idea? this is a 1.8 btw.

 

[oldman]

Does it have a female end? If so, it's suppose to connect to the front side of you ps pump.

 

[Defiant]

Stripped at the end.
Your teachers can't read a wiring diagram? What colors is the wire?

 

[GSEclipse06]

we didnt look at a wiring diagram yet. its black but partially b/c its charred.

 

[4g63t]

the only blackish colred wires with a female end i know of are hanging on lots of dsms, are the ones that go to the oil pressure gouge but those are on the gear side of the engine?

 

[Defiant]

it was stripped at the end

Good thing it's not the reading comprehension part of the SAT.

 

[RyanTSi]

Can you take a pic of this booger? If so Ill look around and see if I can find it fer ya. 13.5 aint sh*t. Ive been hit with 224VAC 400Hz before. Planes are fun

Really though. If you can get a pic, Ill see what I can find. My whole motor is out but the electrical harnesses are still in so it should be easy.

Ryan

 

[GSEclipse06]

two things.

first, its not oil guage cuz that works, although it is around the pan. i dont know if its a plug or not because like defiant and i have both said it was stripped at the end. the alternator was definitely replaced at some point (it says remanufactured on it) so im wondering if the idiot that did the job didnt put it all the way back together because this is what it looks like.

secondly, thanks TSi and ill get you a pic if i can however i have a different mottor than you so you may not have the same wire. i will try to get you a pic.

 

[RyanTSi]

two things.

first, its not oil guage cuz that works, although it is around the pan. i dont know if its a plug or not because like defiant and i have both said it was stripped at the end. the alternator was definitely replaced at some point (it says remanufactured on it) so im wondering if the idiot that did the job didnt put it all the way back together because this is what it looks like.

secondly, thanks TSi and ill get you a pic if i can however i have a different mottor than you so you may not have the same wire. i will try to get you a pic.

Well Ill still take a look. I dont know anybody witha 420A either. An eye out though.
Can you see any wireless connectors anywhere. Like a female end with no wire in it? Or even just a prong somewhere with no female end? Maybe it got ripped out and the terminal is still in place. I see that happen alot, not necessarily on cars, but Its fairly common.

Ryan

 

[GSEclipse06]

ok finally got at a wiring diagram. there is a black/red wire coming from the plug that splits off the black/white wire from the alternator plug. this wires goes to the rear def. we checked too see if this was the same wire because my rear def doesnt work, however we peeled back a whole bunch of plastic cover and here the wire was green, jsut that the end was so charred it was black. i didnt go back to look at it again cuz class was over but i still have the diagram so ill look at it again tomorrow.

oh im also missing a sub fram bolt, it snapped off. fun shit.

 

[RyanTSi]

ok finally got at a wiring diagram. there is a black/red wire coming from the plug that splits off the black/white wire from the alternator plug. this wires goes to the rear def. we checked too see if this was the same wire because my rear def doesnt work, however we peeled back a whole bunch of plastic cover and here the wire was green, jsut that the end was so charred it was black. i didnt go back to look at it again cuz class was over but i still have the diagram so ill look at it again tomorrow.

oh im also missing a sub fram bolt, it snapped off. fun shit.

Well, this isnt the best way to troubleshoot, but you could splice em back together and see if it works then.

Also, look in the diagrom and see if it says wheter or not the rear def runs on 13.5VAC, if so, its safe to say you found your break.

Wonder what burned em up?

Ryan

 

[GSEclipse06]

ok so i cut the plastic cover back its not green either its yellow. theres only one yellow wire without a tracer and i found that wire already so its not that unless its the other end of that wire.

 

[RyanTSi]

Did you look and see how much volatge it takes to run the rear def?

Ryan

 

[GSEclipse06]

no im thinking it goes to a sensor. after investigating it today and discovering it was yellow i jsut kinda left it there and i noticed my idle was bouncing all over the place and i wondered if it had to do with this wire. so while it was running i popped the hood adn took the wire and held it, not touching anything. my rpms finally settled down to about 1500, where it sits on a cold start before it warms up (which i was letting it do.) i took the bare wire on the end to the heat shield as a ground...and my RPMs kicked up (dk how high i wanst in the car.) as soon as i disconnected it the RPMs went back down. i did this several times to be sure. touch the heatshield RPMs go up, take it off they go down.

 

[RyanTSi]

Without seeing a picture of this wires' location, I doubt Ill be able to be much more help. Im still having problems visualizing where this thing is.

So youre saying it seems to run smoother with it disconnected?

Thats odd.

Ryan

 

[GSEclipse06]

i don't know necessarily about smoother just at higher rpm's.

 

[RyanTSi]

no im thinking it goes to a sensor. .

Well, I could be full of it, but if it is power to a sensor, you should have some kind of code in it, or at least a CEL. This is pretty weird. Now your saying that this happens when you touch it to the heatshield. Is this by itself, or with the other two wires still going into. Basically, Im wondering if it still has that tied together Y in it, or if youve seperated them. This is all fairly confusing. Ill try to look in my diagram when I get home. See what sense I can make of this.

Ryan

 

[wolf20043]

so you say it is by the oil pan and Alt. Does your oil LIGHT sensor have a wire going to it. I know the oil pressure is blue and the oil light is yellow. Look at the other (smaller) oil sensor on your oil filter housing and see if it has a wire running to it. If not you found your culprit.
Mike
If that is not it I am still looking throught the chiltons to see what I can find.

 

[GSEclipse06]

Is this by itself, or with the other two wires still going into.

\
this is with both of the other wires in the harnass in the the plug adn the plug into the alternator at idle. no CEL's.

 

[wolf20043]

\
this is with both of the other wires in the harnass in the the plug adn the plug into the alternator at idle. no CEL's.

Let me know what you find out.I still have the chiltons around.
Mike