Help Diagnosing Electrical Problem
08-20-2007, 12:57 AM
#1
Staging Lane
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Help Diagnosing Electrical Problem Ok, about 50% of the time when I come to a stop, my interior and exterior lights will dim and my voltmeter will go down until it is just touching the red section on the gauge. I know it's not my alternator because it is brand new and the car has been doing this for probably a year now. I thought the new alternator would fix it, and while the lights don't pulse anymore, the voltage seems to be dropping when it shouldn't. It only does this when the car is stopped, never when I am moving.
And no I don't have any subs or anything, stereo is stock other than the head unit.
Any ideas?
And no I don't have any subs or anything, stereo is stock other than the head unit.
Any ideas?
08-20-2007, 02:22 AM
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Teching In
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Have Your Battery Checked Even With A New Alt If Your Bat Is Getting Old Or Has Low Amps It Will Make That Happen, Also Do You Have Any Thing Done To Your Car Such As Cam, Heads Any Thing That Would Pull More Power
08-20-2007, 04:05 PM
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Staging Lane
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Nope, no mods, my car is pretty much stock.
My battery is only 2 years old, it's an Optima Red Top. I would think that it would last longer than that... Don't they have like a 5 year warranty or something like that?
My battery is only 2 years old, it's an Optima Red Top. I would think that it would last longer than that... Don't they have like a 5 year warranty or something like that?
08-20-2007, 04:30 PM
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Test your battery with the engine off, engine at idle and engine at say 1.5k rpms.
Do you have good grounds?
Is your positive cable clean?
Do you have an underdrive pulley?
Do you have good grounds?
Is your positive cable clean?
Do you have an underdrive pulley?
08-20-2007, 08:22 PM
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I been having this problem for a few months now. I just replaced the alternator for the second time and same problem. I gave up and brought my car to the stealer ship today. They said it was another bad alternator. Well they changed it. Guy calls me up to tell me the alternator has been replaced but the gauge is still jumping but only when the fans turn on. So they kept my car until tomorrow so they can run more tests on it. Man this is costing me an arm and a leg.
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08-22-2007, 04:31 PM
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Well another day at the stealer ship and issue is still not fixed. I purchased the upgraded battery cables and drop it off to them today to have them change it I hope this fixes the issue.
08-25-2007, 05:27 PM
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Just want to post my status on my car. It still at the stealer ship. So far they chnaged out the alternator, battery cables to the upgrades ones I gave them. Voltage still jumping but now it looks like it's when the car get hot and only jumps while it's at idle. Once the car starts rolling are is given gas the guage stops jumping. They can not seem the find the cause.
08-27-2007, 05:42 PM
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Camaro Z28 Dude, Did you ever fix your problem?
I called the Dealer ship to check the status of my car and they still ca not find anything. The guy told me it might be the computer and they will check that tomorrow.
I called the Dealer ship to check the status of my car and they still ca not find anything. The guy told me it might be the computer and they will check that tomorrow.
09-11-2007, 06:15 AM
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Help Diagnosing Electrical Problem Well not to much to say, But Hear it is. Dealer ship change out the connector to the IDLE control motor. Still did not fix the problem. I will be bring back my car to them tomorrow. I'm thinking it;s the alternator but they are saying no.
09-16-2007, 11:31 PM
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Help Diagnosing Electrical Problem Any one know how I can turn on my fans and test all speeds with out having to like drive the car to get it to turn on? I'm think one of my fans might be causing the issue.
09-18-2007, 06:01 PM
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Help Diagnosing Electrical Problem Well it's not the fans. Brought the car back to the dealer ship this morning. They still can not find the problem. Guy telling me it might be the PCM. I don't get it. Why it's only happening when the car is at idle for a while and the second fans kick on. O well, we will see what they tell me tomorrow....
09-18-2007, 10:18 PM
#17
Originally Posted by kraemer94
Well it's not the fans. Brought the car back to the dealer ship this morning. They still can not find the problem. Guy telling me it might be the PCM. I don't get it. Why it's only happening when the car is at idle for a while and the second fans kick on. O well, we will see what they tell me tomorrow....
09-19-2007, 06:23 AM
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Help Diagnosing Electrical Problem Yes DRL is working. Problem I have is when the car in idle, say waiting in traffice for a while enough for the fans to kick on. Voltage guage jumps all over. So much that I can tell it affects the engine,lights etc. But if I give the gas the voltage goes back up and once I just driving again everything is back to normal. Sounds like an altenatr problem but they all ready changed it and it's doing the same thing.
09-25-2007, 11:03 AM
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Help Diagnosing Electrical Problem Problem solved... Dealer ship finally fixed my problem... It turned out to be the alternator exciter wire not the connector but the wire itself was getting shoted behind the block. It was exposed from the harness. They replaced the wire and everything is back to normal. I purchased a scanguage II nice unit now I can monitor my car better.
