Problem with the zappy electricity!

[CozmoNz]

Aiighty, today, after a while of driving, my indicators started blinking at 2x the rate they should be, So i figured, hey, blown bulb. Pulled over, switched car off (by a diary, gf was getting food yada yada), so i figured id have a look for this bulb.

Low and behold, no bulb is blown... Odd... i switch the hazards on, and do another round... still nothing.

Aiight then, the car had a hissy fit, so i start her up again, and indicate... woah... there we go again! I have a walk around the car the left side blinks like it should, the right does also, but at 2x rate (no bulbs blown), which is odd...

I jump back in, and look at the dash, if i choose *indicate left* both arrows blink on the dash, same with right. Hmm, this is odd, so i decide to chuck hazards on. No blinking, but the "you lights are on, and door is open" buzzer goes wild! What the hell!

i figured hey, car still indicates, so we carry on into town.

on the way home again, fixes itself.. hmm.. odd, i figure, whoo hoo, im a lucky one. Get home, chuck the headlights up and give them a polish (very dirty), Pop em up, ok all good, polish the first one... then go back to the cabin, chuck them on, (check if its much better / brighter etc).

hmm, seems VERY dull.. (looks like parklights are on within the lamp, but yada yada, park lights are not in there, just very dim bulbs). odd, I jump in the car, check for a flat? battery, check volt meter gauge. gauge at usual place, i start car. hey, if the batterys flat, it wont start.

Starts fine...

ok, this is when it gets weird

i chuck on headlights. Instatly the rpm gauge goes to 3,000rpm, engine sounds normel (like ideling at 1000rpm), and both indicator lights go on, and stay on.

WEIRD, i switch the headlights to go down, they go down, come back up, and go back down. wtf!

once the headlights are back in the off position, rpm goes back to normel. (well the gauge does, the actual rpm never changed). i pull high beam on, this time same thing, (gauge goes up, both indicators go on), but i had a lookie at the volt gauge. Read as 0. thats right, bone dry, bottom of the gauge. how the fuk can that be! the engines running! AND THE HEADLIGHTS ARE GOING (not very bright, but they are, can JUST see them on the wall in front of car)

Righteo, something odds going on, i think back... fat mr2 man had this problem recently, turns out it was a bad battery connection... i pop the hatch, have a look, both secured aiight, however theres a fair bit of *shit* around them, i go inside, grab a container of hot water and baking soda mixed together, chuck it over both positive and negitive terminals, jump back in car.

Hey, look problems gone.

Now, Ive just come inside from doing this, is this problem going to rear its head again (remember, it went away for a while before, then came back). So could it be a battery problem... or just a fluke that it fixed itself at the same time i poured the baking soda over the battery terminals?

Help cozmo! i cant drive at night either, really dull bulbs suck. I havnt checked the bulbs since i put baking soda on... hmmm...

anyway, any clue what this could be?

Aw11.

[Mr Revhead]

i know EXACTLY what that is

you have a bad earth. i ended up taking mine to a sparhy and they adapted in another earth casue they couldnt find where the exact problem lay.
try checking the contacts of the grounds.
theres one in the drivers foot well and another on the l/h front inner guard. but id say your up for a visit to the sparky

[CozmoNz]

hmmm...

damn sparkies charge the earth, so ill try afford at all costs FIRST.

did adding another earth help / fix problem? ill have a go tonight and spray some crc on the earths (take em off, check for coorision etc), do em up extra tight . and pray to the car gods .

[Mr Revhead]

yes it fixed it 100%
it appears to be a common aw problem, i think maybe there a wire in there somewhere that breaks or corrodes.

[solberg Fan]

If anything electrical goes crazy its usually an earthing problem.

[3T-Rona]

yeh dude i get shite like this all the time at work, check that the actual terminals are any good, u can get bad joints in between the actual earth lead and the terminal its supposed to be soldered/crimped to after years or corosion and a bad join from factory. make sure your battery terminals and leads are scrubed clean (wire brush/sand paper) and the lead to the chassis and motor are clean, also the starter lead is clean, then u can slap on some vaseline as it stops corrosion and helps conductivety *sp? today i charged someone $80 to do all of this and change a (-) terminal to a nice satin one in his SS comodore, and that was a reasonably cheap job really

[CozmoNz]

Hmm, ill remove the terminals tomorrow, give a look at them, also have a look @ the lead itself.

think the sparkies would charge much for a new terminal + earth lead? and just chuck it on..... shuld fix the problem (i think its the connection at the battery itself thats the problem)

[solberg Fan]

Why dont you test it with the volt meter and test for volts drop? That way you could find out if it is the problem before paying some guy to do it.

[CozmoNz]

with what multi meter .

nah ill go buy a cheapie tomoz, judging from the HUGE drop in the volt meter on the dash, id say its an earthing problem. (ever seen a voltage gauge work with only positive?)

so i suppose, when theres to much load (headlights, indicators, engine etc), on the earth (chassie -> battery) everything just drops and slows down (huge resistance?), thus why everythigns playing up also.

Ill buy some bits and do a rungi earthing kit for it. That should fix it

[Dell'Orto]

i know EXACTLY what that is

you have a bad earth.

I $&#$% told you it was didnt I!!!!!!

[Mr Revhead]

haha bad earth is one thing. FINDING it is another

[CozmoNz]

First up ill get a new chassie -> battery one (new terminal, 3 meters of 4 gauge wire, and some crimps and a crimper), and add as many grounds as i can to the chassie.

if it keeps happening after that, id say its a ground in the front area of the car, so try check that out.

If it KEEPS happening after that, its to the sparkie.

[Dell'Orto]

haha bad earth is one thing. FINDING it is another

I seem to remember you not believing me

[Mr Revhead]

i still dont

[CozmoNz]

i still dont

ANSWER MY PM X_X.....

and you never said anything boost monkey

not to me anyway.

[Dell'Orto]

That would probably be why I quoted Warwick when I said that

[CozmoNz]

wuteva

GET ON MSN DAMN U

[rolla_fxgt]

is this also a common 20v problem? I keep getting a flat battery 4 sum reason, but it charges so its not the alternator, dont think its the starter motor, it seems to be more drain/carge related.
its a brand new exide, its the biggest one i can fit in the engine bay without going to one of those optima things. from memory its an ultra heavy duty.

[Lloyd]

Check for current draw with the key removed and try to track down what it causing it (assuming something is there). Could be soemthing as stupid as a boot light being left on causing the battery to go flat.