Funny Electrical Problem
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 111
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From: Houston/Lubbock
Funny Electrical Problem I have a 99 SS that is doing something very strange. This started last night. I went down the street to get some ice cream and when I came back to the car the head lights would not come on. The driving light and fog lights are on but not the head lights. Also it started making a strange clicking sound every 10-20 seconds. Its coming from under the dash somewhere behind the gauges/fuse box. When ever there is one of these clicks the voltage at the battery drops from about 12.5V to 10.5-11V. This is with the engine off. The clicking is still there when the car is on or off. I am not sure what to think. I have checked all the fuses and pulled off the cover under the steering wheel and can not see anything out of the ordinary. I would love if you guys could give me an idea of what this mite be. Also I am not sure how to get either the fuse box out or the gauge cluster off to check for something behind them. Sorry for the long post.
Thanks
Adam
Thanks
Adam
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2002
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From: Houston/Lubbock
Yes I do. I wired in a sub and replaced all of the door speakers but still uses the stock head unit. I also did the push button start mod. I put that in 3 years ago so I don't know if people even still know what is or not. I can't find a link to it but I already went over all of the wires for that and did not find any problems. There is a relay in there but it seems to be fine. I will go pull out he head unit and look around back there real quick and see if I see anything.
Thanks,
Adam
Thanks,
Adam
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 111
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From: Houston/Lubbock
Ya checked all of the fuses. But after pulling the radio out and seeing nothing out of place I just sat there for like 15 min to try and find exactly where the sound was coming from. It worked the sound was coming from the switch for the head lights. When I unplug it the clicking stops and everything else acts normal. So I guess something whet wrong in there. Which makes sense why the head lights stoped working. I will just replace it and hope it will fix the problem.
Thanks for helping
Adam
Thanks for helping
Adam
yeah if you pinned the noise down to the switch then something prolly got messed up in there somehow, just buy a new switch and see if that fixes it. you could get it for cheap prolly at gmpartsdirect.com or possibly ebay but i dont trust ebay.
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Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 111
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From: Houston/Lubbock
Ya I looked on gmpartsdirect.com and can't seem to find it. If one of you by chance knows the part number that would be cool but I will probably just go get it at the dealer. I can't wait to long as it is my only car and as of now I can't drive at night.
Thanks,
Adam
Thanks,
Adam
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here you go just select 97-02 switch and you should be all set
http://www.fbodymotorsports.com/inc/sdetail/8898
http://www.fbodymotorsports.com/inc/sdetail/8898
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 111
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From: Houston/Lubbock
Thanks a bunch for all of your help but that is actually not the same part that is in my car. I don't know what that switch is on the right side (fog lights??) of the headlight **** but its not there on my car. The rest of it looks similar but not exactly rite. Don't worry about it though I will just go get it at the dealer. I really don't want to wait for it get shipped here.
Thanks,
Adam
Thanks,
Adam
thats just a pic of the 93-86 style, they have the one we have in our LS1s it just doesnt have a picture of it, if you cant wait that long best bet is to go to your local GM dealership and get one, might take a day for them to get it but you will have it alot quicker. oh yeah Dealerships charge out the *** for little **** like this.
On The Tree
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 162
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From: Knoxville TN
i had this same problem on my 98.we tried everything from fuses to a new switch.still didn't fix the problem.p.m. kp on here.hes the 1 that figured it out.he cut a wire or 2 on the switch to disable the automatic lights.not sure but it took him about 5 minutes and it was fixed.you just have to turn the lights on by the switch afterwards
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 111
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From: Houston/Lubbock
Really.... Well that's not what I was hoping to hear. I think I will try replacing the switch to see if it fixes the problem. At leas I know what to do if it dose not work. Do you happen to know what wires he cut.
Thanks,
Adam
Thanks,
Adam
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 111
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From: Houston/Lubbock
Well I got the new switch from the dealer. I went and plugged it in and the new switch started to smoke. Not a lot but enough to tell it was smoking. So I think there may be a bigger problem at hand here then just the switch. I don't have the time rite now to go play with it but will look into it some more later. I did measure the voltages in the connector real quick. They were all zero except for 2 witch were both at 12.5 volts. If anyone has an idea of what it mite me I would love your help.
Thanks,
Adam
Thanks,
Adam
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 111
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From: Houston/Lubbock
Well I just took apart the old switch to see how it worked so I mite be able to tell what would cause it to smoke. On the inside there really is not much to it just some copper bits that move around to make the different connections. There was some grease on a few parts to keep it moving properly. Could the smoke just have been a little bit of extra grease that got a little current through it heated up and burned off. Is that something that could happen?? I did not check to see if the lights came on when I put the new switch on. I just unplugged as quickly as I could.
Thanks,
Adam
Thanks,
Adam
The clicking noise you're hearing is probably the relay toggling back and forth. I've got a similar problem, I shorted out one of the relays in my automatic headlight control unit (behind the radio) I think. Now all my lights work, but have to be toggled by the switch to the left of the steering wheel.