FUSE problems post vandalism

[jszarecki]

teh is my poor typing skillz.

anywya, yeah its prolly more liek 20 or so. they were like that when i bought it. I can take pics later. ill post tonight after i try and figure out if my car will start after last night. any clue why my car woudl buck wioth a full talk of gas, adn have all the issues i mentioned previously?

[sideshowbob]

Your car is fuel injected and has an electronic ignition. These things depend on a steady supply of power to operate and shorts interrupt this. The 'bucking' is your engine not recieving either spark or fuel due to interruptions in the respective control systems. It's trying to die, then catching up and repeating this process.

[jszarecki]

Hmmm, i've corrected the battery compartment. And clipped all the wires that had hot or exposed leads. and i watched the fuel gage fuse melt before my eyes.

i looked up the wire diagram in Chiltons and couldnot find teh fuel gage section. hmmm... i found teh tach (which still doesnt work) im guessing i probably cannot fix this without removing the dash? i hope not...ive tried a few times several monthas ago. i think its stuck.

but irrelevant. i need my fuel gage first before anything else

[Murph]

What's the go with this fuel gauge fuse? I didn't think there's one just for the fuel gauge.

Anyhow, your wiring loom really sounds much like the one in my zed.....really butchered! Over the past 3 years I've owned the car I've put many many hours into rewiring things, trying to get it all back to stock. If there had have been a brand new off the shelf wiring loom for an aussie 260 available....I would have done that.

Really, you need to get yourself a good wiring diagram then spend a few hours going over it and your car with multimeter. You'll track down your fault sooner or later, but I wont kid ya, it'll take some time (and lots of uncomfortable positions).

[jszarecki]

thanks guys!

new problem.. i cant start teh car and keep it running. i used a standard police iussue power pack to startthe car this afternoon. it started fine. take the pack off, and the car slowly winds itself to death. turn the brights on, and it dioes immediately.

soempeople have the following suggestions:

needs a new battery(mine is just abtou a year old)

needs a new alternator: im gonna have them both tested tomorrow.

however teh next question is: coudl the alternator be causeing my dash board issues?

[sideshowbob]

Possibly bad alternator, probably caused by a short. Check your fusible links first.

[sideshowbob]

"however teh next question is: coudl the alternator be causeing my dash board issues?"

Probably the other way around.

Fix your wiring in the dash FIRST. Stereo, any others that may have been pulled. Otherwise you'll just keep blowing fuses/links.

[jszarecki]

My Fuseable Links are good. I have anew Alternator and installed it, which was a chore, cause teh install did not match teh guide from chiltons. but either way its installed.

Question 1: What is the 3rd wire that is NOT teh neg or lead but has a round tube at the end of it, that attatches to teh same place teh neg does?

Question 2: Ive reconnected teh battery post alternator install. The car clicks on, but nothign after that. I suppose this is the battery being dead? I've tried to charge or jump the car with another car to no avail.

Solution: replace battery?

[78 280zcar]

Take your battery to autozone and have them check it for free.

[TomoHawk]

Did your car run well beforethe radio was stolen? How was the radio stolen?

Was it just yanked out forcefully, or was it removed by cutting wires hurriedly or randomly or carefully? If it was yanked out, I'd check all the wires in the area to see if they are cut on sharp metal in the area (and exposed) and shorting to the mchassis, and possibly the same thing with wires that were just cut. Follow where the cut wires go, then use your wiring diagram and fix those.

If the car was fine before, then it's logical to assume that something was done to wires in the area during the vandalism, and probably isolated to the radio area & wiring.

[sideshowbob]

the 'rounded thing' probably belongs to the condenser

[jszarecki]

ok, thanx for all teh advise. i got most of the situations under control.

i ahve a questions abotu the amp meter. Im going out this morning to buy a volt meter/tester, but i thought when i rev up the car the amp meter goes into the positive, no? when i turn on the lights it goes into the negative side quite a bit.

just wondering how much charge shoudl i be getting from road driving vs. highway driving.