Weird electrical issue, Bill Curlee, help?!
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Weird electrical issue, Bill Curlee, help?!
Leaving work tonight and went to crank up my '02 coupe when the dash starts flicking on and off rapidly in synchronization with what sounded like a relay in the battery area. I turned the key back off and then on again and all was well. She cranked right up (not slow) and I drove home without issue.
Battery seems to check out fine, putting out 12.5 volts with the car off. I also hooked up a charger to it, and there was very little draw (< 1 amp) after a few minutes. I'm going to get it load tested tomorrow just as a sanity check.
Charging also seems fine, 13.7 with the lights on & jumped right up to 14 when I turned them off.
Ignition switch was cleaned and the guts coated with silicone grease about half a year ago.
No codes whatsoever.
I pulled the accordian tubes out the doors, and there no bare wires. Actually my wires were well bundled up with thick, orange electrical tape. This isn't what I expected to see after looking at the pics in the big electrical thread.
Soooo am I looking at a dieing relay? Is there any one in particular that likes to go **** up?
TIA!
Battery seems to check out fine, putting out 12.5 volts with the car off. I also hooked up a charger to it, and there was very little draw (< 1 amp) after a few minutes. I'm going to get it load tested tomorrow just as a sanity check.
Charging also seems fine, 13.7 with the lights on & jumped right up to 14 when I turned them off.
Ignition switch was cleaned and the guts coated with silicone grease about half a year ago.
No codes whatsoever.
I pulled the accordian tubes out the doors, and there no bare wires. Actually my wires were well bundled up with thick, orange electrical tape. This isn't what I expected to see after looking at the pics in the big electrical thread.
Soooo am I looking at a dieing relay? Is there any one in particular that likes to go **** up?
TIA!
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From: Horncastle Lincolnshire, England
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You've been pretty thorough with your checks and those are certainly where I would have started. The relay is definitely the sign that power is being interrupted but I'd say it's a symptom not the problem. I'm surprised you're not getting random U history codes. That's often a good sign of a power issue.
A few things to check.
Check the battery leads are clean and tight. Check the ground. The battery grounds to G104
Check under the battery while you're in there. Make sure there hasn't been a battery leak in the past onto the area below the battery tray. The old AC Delcos were prone to leaking and the PCM sits below the tray. Acid down there has been known to throw up electrical problems
I'd say its a power fluctuation but you just need to track it down. That said, I've had the odd electrical gremlin in the past which has not reoccurred.
HTH
A few things to check.
Check the battery leads are clean and tight. Check the ground. The battery grounds to G104
Check under the battery while you're in there. Make sure there hasn't been a battery leak in the past onto the area below the battery tray. The old AC Delcos were prone to leaking and the PCM sits below the tray. Acid down there has been known to throw up electrical problems
I'd say its a power fluctuation but you just need to track it down. That said, I've had the odd electrical gremlin in the past which has not reoccurred.
HTH
Last edited by DeeGee; Nov 11, 2009 at 01:39 AM.
