What Now?!!

[bonniec75209]

I just tried to start the car and nothing happened. The battery seems to be almost dead. I didn't leave the lights on or anything so I don't know what is going on. A few weeks ago I put a new battery in it, a good one with plenty of turnover power and it has been starting nicely everytime. Could it be something wrong in the electrical wiring? For some odd reason, lately the dash lights only come on when I apply the breaks and the radio won't work. I noticed when I was driving home from work Friday evening that the alternator needle was a little below the midway mark and usually it stays a little above the midway mark, that was the last time I drove the car. Any ideas? Thanks, Bonnie.

[Victor Laury]

There's a short. I know, not very helpful. The dash lights not coming on until the brake lights are applied? Usually, that would indicate the dash is grounding through the brake lights hot side. get on your back with a flash light and check the wires from the brake switch. pay close attention to where they pass around the pedal box. No guaranties - just a WAG.

Where Enrique when you need him? I've been following his elec. troubleshoots with attention.

[Bambikiller240]

Bonniec75209:

When the Ammeter reads below the mid point, it is indicating that the electrical system is using more electrical power than the Alternator is creating. Possibly a bad Alternator, or Voltage Regulator, however your issues with the dash lights and radio may indicate something is shorted out and causing a drain on the battery. Has any work been done to the car recently that may have damaged the wiring? Or when the new battery was installed did the installer short out the battery cables (cause a huge ARC or spark) that may have damaged the rectifying diodes in the alternator?

If you have a Sears Auto Center near by, you could take the car to them and tell them you think you need a battery, explain ALL of your symptoms and ask them to check out your electrical system. The Sears around here in N. CA will check out the car for free if they think they may be able to sell you a battery. They should be able to comfirm if the battery, or Alternator, or Voltage regulator is/are defective. Once you know what they have found, then you can decide what you want to do further about it. Let them fix it, or take it elsewhere for repair , or home to fix yourself, or whatever.

just an idea. Good Luck!

Carl

[260z]

I had a similar problem some years ago... The problem was hard to notice. I had an Sony casette palyer installed to the car. It worked perfectly.... I had a pretty new battery also. So it was od that the battery died pretty fast. After few reloads I lost the battery in winter...I went to local battery shop and we tested all electricals, Charger etc... While car was not running and all electrics were turned of it seemed to be loosing some power..The man at the shop said that this was a too big loss of power...Then I made a wild guess and ripped the casette player of and the power was not loosing anymore! The Player was some how broken even though it was functioning normally.

[bonniec75209]

Thanks guys!

I will check for shorts and have the battery, alternator, and voltage regulator checked. A few weeks ago the ignition went out and I took the panel off underneath the steering wheel and pulled out the ignition wiring, and have been starting it that way till I can afford a new ignition. Could I have shorted something out when I did that? It has been starting fine till now, do shorts sometimes take awhile to start wreaking havoc? Thanks for the quick response, I don't know what I would do without you guys!!!

Bonnie

[EScanlon]

Bonnie:

This is going to be more along the lines of a WAG than a true definitive look here fix. (WAG = Wild A** Guess)

When you say that you "pulled out the ignition wiring, and have been starting it that way till I can afford a new ignition", I assume that you mean you disconnected the ignition SWITCH from behind the ignition LOCK. And to start the car you are using a screwdriver to actuate the switch.

If that is the case, and you did not disconnect ANY other connectors in the steering column shroud, then as a WAG I would check your Accessory Relay located on the passenger kick panel.

However, if you disconnected various connectors leading to the various items that hook up underneath the shroud, then you more than likely did cross connect something that is draining your battery. As to what it could be, yikes!

Sorry I can't offer more of a clue.

Now if you disconnected the wiring leading to the ignition lock from the connector leading to the switch, and you are basically "hot wiring", then you need to know that those 5 wires aren't just pick the two that start the car. Those other 3 wires control the "accessories", the coil - tach - resistor combination and power to the heater fan.

Again on another WAG it is highly possible that if you have an aftermarket radio instead of the stock one, that whoever hooked it up used the A/C power lead coming from the heater fan. That lead gets power directly through the ignition switch. Did you leave your radio on with the volume down and the switch in the accessory position?

Sorry couldn't be more specific.

[bonniec75209]

Hi,

I got the car jump started and took it to Wal-Mart's auto center (where I bought the battery less than 2 months ago) and they checked everything out and said that the battery had a dead cell and gave me another one. There is no doubt that the car has a short with all this weird stuff going on with the dash lights and everything. It is an aftermarket radio, it wasn't on though, I took the faceplate off a couple of weeks ago and haven't bothered trying it again because it hadn't been working. Thanks for all the advise, mpurdue lives close and has offered to look at the suspension rust for me, maybe he knows about wiring too. I looked underneath for wiring problems and saw a couple of possible problems but I am afraid to touch it for fear that I will blow it up or something! I am afraid that I have already messed with it too much. It's nice to know what all those ignition wires are! The starter wire was pretty obvious, the rest, I didn't have a clue! I will keep you updated, thanks a bunch! Bonnie

[bonniec75209]

Well, everything was going smoothly. (WAS being the operative word here). I had made plans with another club member for Saturday to look at the suspension rust and get some input on if it is even fixable or not. (Kinda wanted to go from there, alot hanging on that verdict). Electrical still weirding out, but the car was starting and going ok. Then, last night on the way home I discovered that I had no lights at all, nothing at all worked on the dash except, oddly, the amp guage which was right on the middle mark. Got home, killed the engine and tried to restart it and it was totally dead. The mechanic I took it to a few weeks ago didn't seem to want to mess with it, I am not sure if the rust really is too far gone, or he was put off by my plan to spend 400 a month on the car as long as it takes to fix and totally restore it. I don't care if it takes 20 years even. I think maybe he is used to people coming in there, slapping down 10 or 15 grand and getting it all done at once. May end up getting a loan and doing it that way myself, but I HATE paying interest! Anyway, got kind of off track there. I remembered someone I worked with for a short while this past summer has a friend that works on antique/classic cars. I don't know if he is any good at wiring or has much experience with Zz, but I am going to get his number and see about getting it towed there and see if he can work on it. I will update when I know something. Wish me luck! Bonnie:classic:

[bonniec75209]

:classic: All is well!!! Just got the car out of the shop and all that was wrong with it was that the alternator brushes were dirty and it had some wiring issues. Robert Crawley at Z-Car World is the Greatest!!!!