electrical problems continued
 

So, my harmonic balancer finally arrived and I've got her back on the road. Now I'm back to the electrical problems I was battling before. In doing some more searching I found someone from a few years back that had the exact same problem: http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/show...oor+lock+stuck
Sadly, he decided to part the car out rather than fix the problem. I love this car and parting it out is not an option so I'm hoping for some help. I've read several posts on electrical problems, but I feel this must be a central short or something as I'm having the EXACT same problems that "nota5speed" was. Here is my original post: http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=32647 Anyway, I realize that I've got some serious electrical gremlins that will likely be difficult to find, but never-the-less any help my fellow SVXers can offer would be greatly appreciated. Suggestions, wiring schematics, things to put the voltmeter on first, etc. I am determined to fix this problem without it putting me in the poor house. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Cheers,

-Dave

With respect Dave,

You have read the above threads which shows how much time has been put towards trying to assist and you are now asking that all should start again from scratch. You must start this thread again advising EXACLY what is NOW at fault and EXACLTY what you have so far investigated, repaired or altered.

You should appreciate that from the view of those trying to assist the picture has become confused beyond reason. Be sure help is on hand but you must be of help yourself.

Electrical problems
 

Iceman,
I just bought a 92 SVX on Sunday. It had some electrical problems also.(dash lights on dimly, blinkers did not work, or the radio)The guy who was selling it did not want to put any money in to it so he left it as is. He said it needed an alternator, so I figured I would get it home and check it out for grounding, etc, before I got one. The battery terminals were corroded pretty bad so I cleaned them up. I took the from the negative lead of the battery that was loose. I cleaned it up, tighten it and put the battery back on and everything then worked great to my suprise. I was hoping it was a bad/loose ground and I got lucky. Check your negative terminal under the battery, maybe that may be your problem too.:) :)
Ken

Ok, so Trevor made a good point. Instead of having anyone who may be able to help bounce all around to read previous posts I will update the current situation of the SVX. There was some sort of short circuit that caused my fusible link to blow as well as the following fuses: clock fuse and RH fan relay in the engine fuseblock and the following fuses in the kick panel fuseblock: EGI unit/AT unit, Cruise/ABS, Meter/SRS lamp, and Illumi. I have replaced all fuses with the proper replacements, and I made another fusible link with fusible link wire I bought at the auto parts store. The battery has been checked and is good. I have a new alternator and all looks good with the basics of the charging system (14.55 volts measured at the battery with the car running). I'm still having the following issues: blinkers and hazard lights will come on but not blink, passenger side door lock actuator stuck in locked position and I can hear the relay trip behind the passenger side dash when I try to use the locks from the driver's side, the air bag and ABS lights are on the dash, and I have no cruise control because it blows the fuse whenever I try to replace it. I found it interesting that I am getting 14 volts from the empty cruise control fuse socket with the car on. I've looked at my grounds and have done some other basic checking, but have refrained from tearing into the wiring system too much. I have a Suby Chiltons manual (little use I know). Do you guys think I should break down and get the 1 year Alldata membership so I can see some wiring schematics? Anyway, I hope to look into this further this weekend, but with 2 jobs and a girlfriends we'll see what time alots. Oh well, at least she's back on the road. :)

Cheers,

-Dave

Thanks Dave,

***** One hell of a mess ---must be tackled logically ------

Ok, so Trevor made a good point. Instead of having anyone who may be able to help bounce all around to read previous posts I will update the current situation of the SVX. There was some sort of short circuit that caused my fusible link to blow

***** Must have involved a very hefty current flow.

as well as the following fuses: clock fuse and RH fan relay in the engine fuseblock and the following fuses in the kick panel fuseblock: EGI unit/AT unit, Cruise/ABS, Meter/SRS lamp, and Illumi.

***** Very strange. Must involve a short or heavy load connected in parallel with all these circuits. Damn strange indeed! Hmmm? All in the kick panel fuse block. Wonder if they are mechanically located such that something could bridge all of there connections??

I have replaced all fuses with the proper replacements, and I made another fusible link with fusible link wire I bought at the auto parts store. The battery has been checked and is good. I have a new alternator and all looks good with the basics of the charging system (14.55 volts measured at the battery with the car running).

***** It would appear that the original fault has now been cleared, but how ?? Therefore was the alternator the original problem? If so why did the alternator fuse not open/blow by way of protection. Was horrible damn up grade wiring by passing the fuse ????? ANSWER REGARDING THIS REQUIRED.
BUT ----- If this was the original fault, why all the subsequent damage????? Could the now remaining faults have been caused inadvertently, through heavy handed fault finding errors in respect of the original fault ???? ANSWER REQUIRED.

I'm still having the following issues: blinkers and hazard lights will come on but not blink, passenger side door lock actuator stuck in locked position and I can hear the relay trip behind the passenger side dash when I try to use the locks from the driver's side, the air bag and ABS lights are on the dash,

***** This could indicate a possible sneak circuit, or subsequent damage during fault finding as suggested above.

and I have no cruise control because it blows the fuse whenever I try to replace it. I found it interesting that I am getting 14 volts from the empty cruise control fuse socket with the car on.

***** There must be a short circuit or heavy overload within the cruise control circuitry, but how does this effect the other US circuits. Hmmm, are they negative leg switched?? Voltage at input side of fuse socket normal.


I've looked at my grounds and have done some other basic checking, but have refrained from tearing into the wiring system too much.

***** For goodness sake do not TEAR into anything! Faulty ground connections can not cause fuses which are in positive lines to blow. A ground wire would have to be part of a short circuit but this is possible, particularly if located within a loom.

I have a Suby Chiltons manual (little use I know). Do you guys think I should break down and get the 1 year Alldata membership so I can see some wiring schematics?

***** Will not assist at this stage.

Anyway, I hope to look into this further this weekend, but with 2 jobs and a girlfriends we'll see what time alots. Oh well, at least she's back on the road.

***** I hope that this means that there is no call for panic. :cool:

Cheers,

-Dave
__________

Please answer those queries above which are in upper case. This is a curly one and it is useless simply groping about. Each possibility must be covered in sequence.

Chin up, Trevor.

The "Enter" key is your friend! :D

Please explain :confused:

Aimed at Iceman/Dave. Posts are much easier to read if you space it out a bit. :)

I gather you meant the "return" key. ;)

Thanks for the great response Trevor. Sorry Earthworm, I guess I do tend to ramble a bit in my posts and some extra spacing might help. Well Trevor if we can get this mess ironed out I might actually be able to buy you that beer I mentioned. A good friend of mine is going to be student teaching in Bucklands Beach for the next year and she really wants me to come visit her.

Anyway, back to the task at hand. So Trevor to answer your questions. At the time this short occurred I no longer had the alternator rewire "mod" connected. I disconnected it when I realized my alternator was failing as I assumed this may have been the cause of my alternator dying (F.Y.I. the alternator was less than a year old brand new, not remanufactured, Bosch alternator that died two weeks after I added the extra wiring). I know that I hooked it up correctly, but I digress as it's not the point. What happened is I was accelerating (rather briskly :) ) when all the dash lights starting getting birghter and brighter then they went out, then the headlights, then the car died. I pulled into the first available parking lot and popped the hood to find smoke coming from the fusebox. The first thing I noticed was the fusible link still smoking. It may be worth noting that I did not have the battery secured at this time. Do you think it's possible that the battery could have slid back during acceleration and contacted a ground with the positive terminal? I'm confused about what could have caused all the extra current to make the dash lights get as bright as they did before everything shorted out.

I don't think all this was caused by heavy handed fault finding. It's possible, but hard to determine. After the car died I twisted what was left of the fusible link back together, drove the .5 mile back to work, and made a temporary fusible link out basic 18ga copper wire (no auto parts stores are open at 4am). Since my job alots me the luxury of coming and going as I please I then proceeded to Wal-Mart to purchase the necessary fuses. I replaced all of them which is when I realized all of the problems previously mentioned. The cruise control fuse blows as soon as the ignition is turned on.

I didn't really do any fault finding beyond that. I continued to drive the car around until my harmonic balancer began to separate, but now that's fixed and I'm back to the current problems. I hope I answered your queries Trevor. I'll be happy to elaborate if you need me to. I'm going to hold off going any further with this pending your recommendations. You seem a bit more knowledgeable than myself and the last thing I want to do is make things worse. At least right now she's drivable so there's no real cause for panic, but I'd love to get these annoying little glitches fixed.

Cheers,

-Dave

Yes it is possible and in fact more than likely. It would appear that this could have been what started a chain of events, which I can look into once this is confirmed.

Please examine carfully and try to establish where the positive terminal could have made contact with ground, or more importantly any other circuit or connection. The fact that the link melted indicates heavy current so there must have been burning, arcing and visible evidence.

When you say the dash lights came on bright, do you mean the fault indicator lights or the dash illumination?

Unscrew the fuse box and carefully look underneath and inside for what could have caused smoke, in addition to the fuseable link.

Everything points towards a multi circuit short. Was there, or is there anything else floating about which could have caused a short, e.g. a tool or component left loose after doing some work? Think back over everything you did when replacing the alternator, for any possible clue.

Come back on these and we can proceed further.

Trevor,

I hope to pull the SVX into the bay at work when I get a slow night. Since this thread is mainly between us I will contact you after I get a chance to do the troubleshooting previously mentioned.

Cheers,

-Dave

It all depends on the keyboard you're using, here are some examples as I look around my office:

9 PC's = Enter

8 Mac's (1 G3, 5 G4, 2 G5) = return

3 SunMicro's = Return

Dan