Weird Electrical Issue ... Need Some Help.
01-29-2006, 12:40 AM
#1
Weird Electrical Issue ... Need Some Help. Okay, yesterday my RPM gauge started to not work intermittently. It seemed to stop working if I hit a bump in the road, then start working on the next bump, etc. I have an LS2, which has the cam sensor on the bottom front of the motor, and needed wire extensions to get there (basically spliced the wire, added some more, soldered of course, and called it a day), so I went out today and checked all the connections, everything seemed okay. I took the car out again tonight, and it was doing the same thing.
On my way home after about an hour of driving around, all of a sudden my entire dashboard lit up (all the warning lights), my radio went off then on, and my gauge needles swept across the gauges. The car sputtered a tiny bit, but other than that was running fine. It started doing it more and more frequently, again seeming to do it if I hit a bump, or applied the brakes, or shifted gears not smooth enough … but was fine if I stayed going a constant speed without hitting anything. I also noticed that while this was happening the RPM gauge was not even remotely working anymore, never once coming back on … and oddly enough, the sporadic power outages didn’t affect my headlights or interior lights, just the dash and the radio.
I am assuming it has to be a loose wire or something somewhere, but I have no clue where I would even begin looking. Any ideas as to what could be causing this, or a suggestion on where to start?
On my way home after about an hour of driving around, all of a sudden my entire dashboard lit up (all the warning lights), my radio went off then on, and my gauge needles swept across the gauges. The car sputtered a tiny bit, but other than that was running fine. It started doing it more and more frequently, again seeming to do it if I hit a bump, or applied the brakes, or shifted gears not smooth enough … but was fine if I stayed going a constant speed without hitting anything. I also noticed that while this was happening the RPM gauge was not even remotely working anymore, never once coming back on … and oddly enough, the sporadic power outages didn’t affect my headlights or interior lights, just the dash and the radio.
I am assuming it has to be a loose wire or something somewhere, but I have no clue where I would even begin looking. Any ideas as to what could be causing this, or a suggestion on where to start?
01-29-2006, 12:56 AM
#2
I would get a multimeter, put it on continuity mode, then start checking every wire.
What I did is I unplugged both of the connectors on my PCM. Then I connected one lead of the multimeter to a pin on the connector. I looked up where that wire went. Then I unplugged it and connected the other multimeter lead and connected it on that other end. The multimeter told me if the wire was working with a beep and a low-ohm read out. Like .2 for example.
It was a lot of work. I brought out some print-outs to the car and just checked them off as I went down the line. If you get some print outs and just take your time it wont be as bad.
What I did is I unplugged both of the connectors on my PCM. Then I connected one lead of the multimeter to a pin on the connector. I looked up where that wire went. Then I unplugged it and connected the other multimeter lead and connected it on that other end. The multimeter told me if the wire was working with a beep and a low-ohm read out. Like .2 for example.
It was a lot of work. I brought out some print-outs to the car and just checked them off as I went down the line. If you get some print outs and just take your time it wont be as bad.
01-29-2006, 01:53 PM
#3
Originally Posted by 2002_Z28_Six_Speed
I would get a multimeter, put it on continuity mode, then start checking every wire.
What I did is I unplugged both of the connectors on my PCM. Then I connected one lead of the multimeter to a pin on the connector. I looked up where that wire went. Then I unplugged it and connected the other multimeter lead and connected it on that other end. The multimeter told me if the wire was working with a beep and a low-ohm read out. Like .2 for example.
It was a lot of work. I brought out some print-outs to the car and just checked them off as I went down the line. If you get some print outs and just take your time it wont be as bad.
What I did is I unplugged both of the connectors on my PCM. Then I connected one lead of the multimeter to a pin on the connector. I looked up where that wire went. Then I unplugged it and connected the other multimeter lead and connected it on that other end. The multimeter told me if the wire was working with a beep and a low-ohm read out. Like .2 for example.
It was a lot of work. I brought out some print-outs to the car and just checked them off as I went down the line. If you get some print outs and just take your time it wont be as bad.
Yeah, that's a good idea, but the only prob is that it is an intermittant problem, as if a wire was connected most of the time but coming off when I hit a bump or shift or something. So chances are if I tested them all they would test out OK ...
I can tell this is going to be another project ...
