HELP electrical problems

[skorpion317]

I tried to do a fan switch a couple days ago...today, as i was idling in traffic at school, my car died. the battery went dead. i noticed that the wire covering on the switch wire was black and burnt. the day i tried to hook up the fan switch, i disconnected the wire running to the fan wire, but left it on the switch wire. it started smoking when i tried to turn the power on.

now, the voltmeter won't go over 13 when it normaly sits at 15. if i sit and idle with the brake pedal down, the gauge slowly goes down to 8 or so and my speedometer gets all crazy. i had the car jumped and i noticed this. it wouldn't go over 13 volts the whole way home. what happened, and how can i fix it?

[Little G]

The wires to the fan may have crossed and shorted out the battery. Maybe the battery is toast?

[Tru2Chevy]

Can you snap a few pics of what wiring you changed/added?

- Justin

[skorpion317]

Originally Posted by Little G

The wires to the fan may have crossed and shorted out the battery. Maybe the battery is toast?

the battery works after i get it jumped.

all i did was tap into the "H" fan wire (dark blue wire on the passenger side, comes through the third wiring harness). and then the tap wire went to the wire that was connected to a switch.

i took the dash cover off underneath the steering wheel....the wire coming from the switch was toast. it was attached to a fuse, not grounded. i found the ground wire the previous owner had after taking the cover off. the fuse is fine, not blown. i'm hoping nothing got shorted out...

[Malibu79]

you should get it charged instead of jumped that might help and if it still won;t hold charge check the alt and the wires something could be loose or fried

[ArCoLoG2]

Originally Posted by skorpion317

the battery works after i get it jumped.

all i did was tap into the "H" fan wire (dark blue wire on the passenger side, comes through the third wiring harness). and then the tap wire went to the wire that was connected to a switch.

i took the dash cover off underneath the steering wheel....the wire coming from the switch was toast. it was attached to a fuse, not grounded. i found the ground wire the previous owner had after taking the cover off. the fuse is fine, not blown. i'm hoping nothing got shorted out...

After the car is jumped the car runs off the alternator, not the battery. Put the wiring back to normal and see if you have a problem...You could have messed up the battery, but maybe the short where ever it is, is drawing enough amperage that the alternator can't keep up at idle. Being that it has to run your ignition, fuel, all that crap, and then throwing another 50amps on top of that from the short, yeah, problems...If the short is BEFORE the fuse, it will short and not blow the fuse...

Only recommendation, take the wires out..

Dave

[skorpion317]

i removed the switch wire already. i had the car jumped again after work, it got about a mile before dying. some guy offered to help me get it started, he had jumper cables. We tried for about 20 minutes, it started once, rolled 2 feet and died. i had to get it towed to a shop, they're gonna look at it first thing in the morning. I'm 99.9% sure it's the alternator, because when the car is jumped it runs fine, but doesn't hold a charge for very long. Hopefully there's nothing else wrong with it.

[The Fixer]

Originally Posted by skorpion317

i removed the switch wire already. i had the car jumped again after work, it got about a mile before dying. some guy offered to help me get it started, he had jumper cables. We tried for about 20 minutes, it started once, rolled 2 feet and died. i had to get it towed to a shop, they're gonna look at it first thing in the morning. I'm 99.9% sure it's the alternator, because when the car is jumped it runs fine, but doesn't hold a charge for very long. Hopefully there's nothing else wrong with it.

Well, if the battery has been charged/discharged a few times, it might also be dead, and you'll have to change both (alt. and batt.). I have one of the new Exide Gel batteries in my '87 SS, and that thing is great. It's much like an Optima, but without the pricetag.

[V]

a bad battery, in even a short period of time, will damage an alternator, and likewise, a bad alt. will also damage a battery. I try to replace them always in pairs, since if one just failed, the other has taken some abuse and will eventually fail as well.

[jims69camaro]

one thing i learned early on: do not connect the negative jumper cable to the battery. if you get a small spark to travel along that cable (as you can imagine, it can travel very quickly) you can fry your alternator and the alternator of the car that is jumping you.

i am not talking about crossing the cables. that, obviously, has inherent dangers to it.

you can usually find a piece of metal to set the ground to. my favorite is the accessory brackets, alternator, power steering, whatever. just never connect the ground jumper to the battery negative terminal.

it sounds like you toasted your alternator. at first, you were able to drive whereever, then you got jumped after work and made it a mile, then got another jump and made it two feet. if it's not the alternator, i will eat it. just bring it over with a little ketchup and a nice little chianti.