electrical problem
 

Here I am sitting on the side of the highway waiting for a flatbed. I was cruising around 75 when all of a sudden my dash lights started flashing, headlights went off, power locks started freaking out and the car stalled. I smelled a wire or something electrical burn, but that went away. The main fuse link was burned, and the car would not crank or do anything. I checked all other fuses and they are good. I reconnected the fusable link and the car cranked over, no start. Upon further inspection I noticed no dash warning lights come on when the key is turned on, which makes me think the ecu is not getting power. Any ideas or thoughts would be great as I was on my way from connecticut to florida. Just glad it died close to home. I gave a look around under the dash and under the hood, but I don't see any burnt wires. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Re: electrical problem
 

Update... Radio works, headlights/parking lights work, interior lights work.
Windows/sunroof don't work, door locks seem to be stuck down, but lock and unlock with the key. Cigarette lighter is not working, so my phone is going to die.

Re: electrical problem
 

i really cant help you, but my cigarette lighter has been broken for months... good fuse, no idea why...

Re: electrical problem
 

Well, drove a rental car (ford focus...:barf:) to ga, and had 12 hours to think about it...
Turns out the cig lighter still worked, the fuse was blown in the phone charger. Fixed that and now the phone won't charge. Got a new battery and it charges fine.
I am wondering if it is possible that the alternator was over charging (bad regulator) and cooked the ecu and my cell phone battery.
Any thoughts on this... Plausable?

Re: electrical problem
 

A fuse or fuses and/or fusible link should have blown before any other damage occured but auto electrics is not one of my strong points so I may be wrong.

Re: electrical problem
 

Increasing voltage will actually not trip a fuse if it is only by 3 of 4 volts. Increasing amps (usually by a short) is what fuses are made to react to. In fact, increasing voltage is a way to get more electricity (measured in watts) through a smaller wire (or tiny wire in a fuse) with less heat buildup and resistance.

Re: electrical problem
 

Yes it is plausible. From what you say it does sound like the link has blown and the voltage has gone high, to cause some electrical damage. Did you notice, when it happened, did the headlights get very bright before they went out?

Check all the Slow Blow fuses in the under hood box. They are the small square ones, but from past posts, there may be units that may have died.

Harvey.
PS. We need an electrical modification to prevent this from damaging the electrical system, when the reg goes. John?

Re: electrical problem
 

Yes thats right, but as the voltage increases to the extent that it does when the reg goes, the voltage through the same resistance, increases the amperage, to blow fuses, and the higher voltage blows electrical units.

A modification like Svxcess's with the alt connected to the battery through a separate wire and fuse, would save the rest of the system.

Harvey.

Re: electrical problem
 

Ok, so I finally had a chance to work on this thing. I have it running, but it still has some issues.
I got the alternator tested and it turned out to be overcharging. Replaced that.
The battery would not take a charge... replaced that.
The Horn/brake fuse was blown. I replaced it and the horn went off. I disconnected the horn and put the fuse back in and its fine.
The relay for the right fan was stuck open, and the fuse was blown, replaced them and the fans work.
The issues I have left are:
The horn.
The abs and airbag light are on on the dash. The fuse for the cruise/abs blows everytime i put it in. Which I assume is the reason for the lights.
I replaced the fusebox, but that did not change anything. Any ideas?
Thanks!

Re: electrical problem
 

I dorve it yesterday and found more problems.
I only have fwd, and the transmission shifts funny...
The best way I can describe it is if you shifted a standard to soon, it kind of lugs up to speed. It only does this under half throttle. It shifts fine when you get on the gas. Also, when you are coasting and move the shifter to a lower gear the rpm's drop as if its in neutral. In Drive it acts normal.
There is a parasitic drain on the battery, and it is dead after only a couple hours of sitting.
I don't know if I have it in me to track all of these problems and fix it.

Re: electrical problem
 

Anyone ever figure out this electrical issue? I have pretty much all the exact same symptoms from my alternator dying. Wondering if it's fixable or if every circuit in the car got fried. Thanks for any help.

Re: electrical problem
 

There is the problem of the voltage regulator in the alternator going bad to lose control of the voltage that the alt can produce, the output voltage can rise to about 17V.
When you start the car and the battery voltage is low, the amperage
driven by the 17V can get to 50/70 amps, this blows the fuseable link, the current then turns to voltage around 850V that is still connected to the fuse box, so that all the units that were on at the time get fried and the relays get the contacts welded together.
The fusible link has to blow for this to be the case, if it did not blow, it is something else.:)

Re: electrical problem
 

Unfortunately it sounds like that is what happened to my svx. I had Christmas lights on the dash, then all power to car died. Fusible link and several other fuses blew. Now, door locks are stuck actuating up and down along with no power steering, no tail lights, front wipers shorted out. Is there any hope to fix this car, or has it become a parts car?

Re: electrical problem
 

Yes I am sure it can be fixed. Check all the relays in the under hood box first, and the main relay under the dash, some will have the points welded together, others points not conducting, units like the 'door lock timer', 'Power steering computer' will need replacing.

Re: electrical problem
 

Happened to me as well; both my interior and engine bay fuse boxes were completely fried (literally), as well as my gauge cluster. Cause was almost certainly the voltage regulator as referenced above, and I fully intend on doing the wire/fuse mod between the alternator and battery to prevent such damage from happening again.

Still working on my tranny issues that were caused by The Great Frying; replaced all of the solenoid packs, but I've still throwing codes for them. Probably need to check the ECU and TCUs themselves, at this point.