Electrical Problem

[Timon]

Well about 10 minutes ago I turned the car off and left it for maybe 5 minutes. When I went back out to it I noticed something odd. My turn signals on the dash were both lit up when I turned the power on. I started the car and it runs fine, but here are the issues I'm having, note everything ran wonderfully before turning the car off.

1. No headlights, they come up, but do not turn on.
2. The dash lights are extremely dim.
3. The voltage meter shows just over half when the lights are all off, but jumps down to only a few volts when I try to turn on the headlights.
4. When turning on the defrost I get a whole new set of issues
a. The tach goes down instead of up.
b. The dash lights do not work at all.
c. The turn signals do not work.
5. When the dash lights/tail lights are on the turn signals do not work at all, but they do work when the lights are all off.

Right now I'm really confused. Everything worked only minutes ago. The engine still runs fine, but now I have electrical problems up the ass. Also to note, the tail lights, brake lights, side markers all work without any problems that I've noticed yet.

Any suggestions? I've checked all the fuses I can (I can't check the big boxy fuses like the headlights since they have no clear plastic).

Edit: After posting this I of course went out and started playing some more. I found what I believe to be the relay for the dash/headlights. I turned the dash lights on and I got the same problem, dim, turn signals were lit up, however, when I turned the lights up I heard a grinding noise. Turns out it was coming from under my dash, right above the fuse box where I found a relay, part # 90987-02004.

When the relay is plugged in it makes a grinding noise and the above problems occur after pushing up the switch to turn on the lights. When the relay is pulled out, the grinding noise goes away, the dash lights turn, side markers, and tail lights all turn off, but the headlights turn on.

On a side note when the relay was plugged in and making the grinding noise my tachometer went to 6k and bounced, but the car was completely off.

Could this relay be causing all of these problems?

[mr2tim]

It's not the relay, that same # relay is used in several fuse boxes on the car. Pull one off and use it instead and see what happens.

That location BTW is the your tailight relay at R/B No. 1.

Check to see that your alternator is outputting 14 volts at startup too, most Advance auto stores will do this test for free if your desparate.

Your N/A car has an internal voltage regulator inside the alternator and it could be faulty and you might not need a entire alternator just the regulator. A rebuilder could save you $50-100.

Find out what's really wrong, just don't throw parts at the problem. Dig?

If this doesn't lead you to a solution PM me I have steering column parts to correct wiring shorts if needed.

mr2tim


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[Timon]

Update: Still not working

[Timon]

Update: The problem was solved for about a day and a half by replacing the relay, but now the exactly same problem is occurring. The only difference now is that when I pull the relay from under the dash the headlights still do not work - with this relay pulled it forces the relay for the head lamps (in the frunk) to make the constant grind noise.

I replaced the headlamp relay at $55 with no solution thus far.

Anyone else have any idea? I pulled apart the column and everything seems fine.

Does anyone happen to have a diagram or a link to a diagram for the wiring?



Well here's an update on it:

I believe it is a short, but I'm not sure where. The reason I believe it is a short is that the dash lights go back to normal when both headlamps are unplugged. As soon as I plug in a headlamp and attempt to turn it on the dash lights go out completely and the voltage meter for my battery shows a major draw. Then if I remove the headlamp and turn the switch off and back on (keeping in mind the headlamps are both disconnected again) the dash lights work as normal, and the battery shows no major pull.

So with that in mind, I'm looking for common places for wires to break (I don't know of any), a wiring schematic, or some other type of advice that will help point me in the right direction.

[muffinman]

I know it's been about a week now but did you ever get the alternator tested?