Help - Electrical Problems!
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 14,358
Likes: 1
From: Medford NJ
Help - Electrical Problems!
Well I'm about to hit the sack however I wanted to ask some advice in a post since I may be busy tomorrow. Lately I have been noticing some quirky electrical issues. At night whenever I apply the brake or turn signals, the head lights flicker a bit dimmer for an instant. Also noticed the same thing when I hit the window switches. Yesterday during the Kerbeck run my passenger window would not go down and tonight I turned the car on and the headlights would not pop up. I tried twice and nothing. Then I turned the car off and tried and they came up - no problem since. Only other thing I noticed once the radio display sort of twitch. I'm guessing electrical short? Anyone have this happen? Is there a popular issue with the C5s related to this? Not sure if it makes a difference but I have a '97 MN6 coupe. I appreciate any help or advice and though I am about to turn in for the night I'll try and check in at some point tomorrow at least for a "TTT". Thanks all! 
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 16,270
Likes: 30
From: "It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-‘18-'19
NCM Sinkhole Donor
So many of the weird electrical gremlins always turn out to be either battery or ground related. The simplest thing to check is the connections to the battery. Then I would look at the battery itself - what kind and how old is the battery?
Grounding is a more complicated issue - but it can cause a lot of problems.
Maybe that will plant a seed for someone else more well versed like Bill Curlee to chime in and offer some suggestions.....
Grounding is a more complicated issue - but it can cause a lot of problems.
Maybe that will plant a seed for someone else more well versed like Bill Curlee to chime in and offer some suggestions.....
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 14,639
Likes: 39
From: Winston-Salem North Carolina
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Hey Charlie, after you left the other day I thought about you're problem. You may want to have the alt checked, might not be putting out full power causing a slight dip in power output at times? The headlight problem/window....the only common denominator I can think of is grounding
Last edited by GeorgeZNJ; Nov 13, 2005 at 10:30 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 2,558
Likes: 0
From: rochester n y
Originally Posted by blacksedan87
So many of the weird electrical gremlins always turn out to be either battery or ground related. The simplest thing to check is the connections to the battery. Then I would look at the battery itself - what kind and how old is the battery?
Grounding is a more complicated issue - but it can cause a lot of problems.
Maybe that will plant a seed for someone else more well versed like Bill Curlee to chime in and offer some suggestions.....
Grounding is a more complicated issue - but it can cause a lot of problems.
Maybe that will plant a seed for someone else more well versed like Bill Curlee to chime in and offer some suggestions.....
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Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 14,358
Likes: 1
From: Medford NJ
Tried the headlights again. They only pop-up when the car is off. Picked up some electrical cleaner to clean the chassis grounds. My mechanic said to bring it to a dealer since it sounded quite a bit odd. My GF's dad is a GM at a local dealer so probably bring it there tomorrow if the electrical cleaner doesn't do anything and I don't get any addl. ideas here....but dealers make me nervous....