serious problem - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

JerzyIroc · 03-06-2008, 10:26 PM

i know this post doesn't belong in this section but i know if i post it here it'll get more views which hopefully means more help and i honestly need it bad.... i'm gonna try to explain this the best i can.......... about three weeks ago i had a weird electrical problem. none of the gauges worked, the radio, hatch, headlights, int light, horn and door locks didn't work either. turned out there was a fusible link that broke that was bolted to the starter. i ended up rewiring it to the battery and put a 30 amp fuse inline. it worked, but then kept blowing the fuse every so often while i was driving. so i ended up rerunning it but w/o the fuse. no problems since.... til today. now it's almost the same problem but a little different. the hatch, headlights, interior lights, radio, door locks don't work this time. but everything else does and the starter clicks which it didn't do last time. the weird thing is the volt meter on the cluster is reading 10 volts or less, but the battery is showing 12.5. the starter is showing 12.5 and even the power going INTO the fuse box is showing 12.5. but, some of the fuses are showing no power. and the part of the fuse box that says batt and ign n stuff is only showing 10 volts or less. if that's not weird enough, a few times the hatch would work, interior lights and radio would work but as soon as i try to turn it on everything would stop working!? what the hell could it be?? loose connection possibly but where? i posted it in this section because i really really need some help. this car is my DD. i live in jersey city but work in montclair so i really need the car. it seriously hurts to say this but if i can't get this fixed by monday i'm probably gonna have sell it. i can't afford to bring it to an electrical shop cuz god knows how much it'll cost. if anyone has any idea what it could be please help! i DON'T want sell it because of a stupid electrical problem. i'll even leave my cell number 551 221 5858. i'm sorry for the long post and it being in the wrong section but again i really need help

r0nin89 · 03-06-2008, 10:49 PM

Seems like the simple solution is to rewire it how it was stock and replace the fusable link you blew.

After that gets things back up theres methods to find out where your short is that is blowing the fusable link. Its gotta be something pretty big to blow that. I'm pretty sure a meter on the negative terminal while pulling fuses will tell you what section of your car has the short. When the meter stops showing power, whatever fuse you pulled is your problem area.

JerzyIroc · 03-07-2008, 12:35 PM

ya im gonna just rewire it back toi where it was. but i dont know how many amps that fusible link was. So i'm just gonna put like a 30 amp fuse and put it back to thye alternator. the weird thing about it is the fuse block has power. but the power for some reason all the power isnt going to where its supposed to. its only at like 10volts instead of the 12.5 that the battery, starter and fuse box ios getting. FCKING GRRR

91DropTop · 03-07-2008, 04:43 PM

you might wanna check your grounds, make sure they are all tight and corrosion free. Make sure 30amp fuse is big enough to replace that fuse link

r0nin89 · 03-07-2008, 04:53 PM

Yeah it shouldnt be that hard to find a stock replacement for that. The weirdness could be coming from the starter too. If your car is wired anything like my truck than 95% of the power goes through the starter first. A bad contact or connection there can cause some freaky stuff.

JerzyIroc · 03-07-2008, 05:00 PM

ya it actually does go to the starter. that wire that i put to the battery, originally came off the starter. i have the original fusible link somewhere. im gonna try and get one tomorrow and rerun it to the starter. but i cant see how that would be it because it ran fine until yesterday. i dont even know if what happened before is even related to whats going on now. i was messing with it today before it started to rain. and yet again the interior lights radio hatch would work. then as soon as i try to turn it on, everything goes off. the fuse block s definatly getting 12+ volts because it goes into a 20 amp fuse. it says 12+. but its everywhere else that either doesnt have any power or reads low like 9-10 volts. even where it says bat and ign on the fuse block. im sure its probably just a bad ground but i dont even know where to look. i have that chilton book but its as useful as herpes. ive been trying to find a site that has a diagram that shows where the power gets distributed from the main feed from the battery to the fuse block (the fuse thats showing 12+ volts) to the other fuses. but i cant find anything, or anything on where the grounds are. now one thing i should mention, i jumped the starter and you can hear it click but didnt do anything. shouldnt it have tried to actually turn the flywheel? i cant see how a bad starter would cause such low readings on the rest of the fuse block especially when the power going to the fuse box is 12+. Could it be the starter though? argh man.

btw the fusible link didnt actually blow, the wire broke off the starter because of corrosion. as i was messing with the wire the link broke.

SupermanX24 · 03-07-2008, 05:33 PM

i'll give you 50 bucks for the car...

JerzyIroc · 03-07-2008, 05:36 PM

lol thanks

JerzyIroc · 03-07-2008, 06:27 PM

oo. i just remembered. prior to turning the car on, i had disconnected the wires to the fog light switch. is it possible that if the hot wire grounded itself that it could be causing this? it would explain why even when the interior lights hatch and radio work, the headlights and dash lights still doesnt work. and maybe if its still grounded it can be causing a draw ?

91DropTop · 03-07-2008, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerzyIroc

oo. i just remembered. prior to turning the car on, i had disconnected the wires to the fog light switch. is it possible that if the hot wire grounded itself that it could be causing this? it would explain why even when the interior lights hatch and radio work, the headlights and dash lights still doesnt work. and maybe if its still grounded it can be causing a draw ?

anything is possible shorts and bad grounds cause all kinds of crazy stuff to happen...i had i fire truck with a bad ground one time and when you used the power window the engine would go into high idle

jims69camaro · 03-08-2008, 07:51 AM

yeah, you are grounding out a hot. not only that, but the intermitten problem of everything working and then when you turn the car on it stops working sounds like a bad ground to the fuse box (?) or somewhere along that line.

fix the car. too often i see guys who are using f-bodies as DDs get frustrated with the car when they can't fix it themselves and end up selling it. only after selling it will you realize how much you really dig the car. so, stop fooling around and start chasing ground wires.

even if you were to sell it, no one would give you what you think th car is worth. it's only 20 years old, so it's not old enough to be a classic, yet it's old enough that some of the 'built-in'mechanical and electrical problems are going to start appearing.

that said, if you get in a bind and have to bail out, i will give you $500 for it as it stands, sight unseen.

JerzyIroc · 03-09-2008, 08:36 AM

well i'm definitely gonna keep it. i know i can figure this crap out eventually. i really need to get a little hoopty for a DD. 91droptop are you a fire truck mechanic?

91DropTop · 03-09-2008, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerzyIroc

well i'm definitely gonna keep it. i know i can figure this crap out eventually. i really need to get a little hoopty for a DD. 91droptop are you a fire truck mechanic?

Yes Sir, i actually work on the trucks in Jersey City quite often, Bayonne too

JerzyIroc · 03-09-2008, 11:07 PM

what company? i used to work at federated fire in south plainfield. we sold the Smeal trucks. you work at cambell?

91DropTop · 03-12-2008, 06:00 PM

yeah i work for campbell