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  #31  
Old 12-30-2005, 11:58 AM
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I checked all the hoses around the intake manifold and they're all nice and rubbery.. I'm getting a whole new non-rusted out exhaust with new O2 sensors installed Monday, maybe that will help. If it doesn't I'll try spraying some hoses with WD40. I don't see how a lubricant can mess them up.
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  #32  
Old 12-30-2005, 12:36 PM
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wd40 is a penetrating oil isn't it? I do believe it has corrosive properties that effect rubber. At least that is my understanding of them. I could be completely wrong

Tom
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  #33  
Old 12-30-2005, 01:45 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TomsSVX
wd40 is a penetrating oil isn't it? I do believe it has corrosive properties that effect rubber. At least that is my understanding of them. I could be completely wrong

Tom
That was my understanding too. I have been told not to get it on rubber products. I will have to check my can.
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  #34  
Old 12-30-2005, 02:59 PM
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Here's my 2 cents.

I'm suspecting an electrical problem somewhere. I know you cleaned the ground wire, but it sounds like a wire, may be slightly pinched somewhere allowing a power leak to ground making the electronic ingnition fluctuate.

Does the engine RPM's go up and down only when there is a load put on (lights or A/C) or just anytime.

Have you had someone put a meter on to check the alternator? You should get 14.5 volts off the battery with the car running. Recheck with a load on (lights or A/C). It should still be 14.5.

The voltage regulator, inside the alternator, may be going.

I don't mess a whole lot with electrical systems in cars, my deal is the normal electrical work, but it's the same in theory.

Good luck.
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  #35  
Old 12-30-2005, 03:17 PM
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Yes I had the alternator and battery both checked.. both are perfectly fine. The idle goes up and down always, but the car runs noticeably worse when I turn on the lights, heater, or especially the A/C. Having the radio on/off doesn't change anything though. I have no idea where a wire could be pinched since this car is completely bone stock and never really been messed with except for maintenance.
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  #36  
Old 12-30-2005, 03:45 PM
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Brian - have you check the sun visors to make sure there are no wires that have been damaged? Believe it or not, but that will make all sorts of wierd things happen if they are damaged. Good luck.
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  #37  
Old 12-30-2005, 04:05 PM
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Being stock doesn't much matter when it comes to wear/pinching/or rubbing through on electrical wires.

I went to a house one time, 5 years old newly built, that had a circuit that suddenly started flickering then just kept popping the breaker.

After HOURS of tracing the circuit back, it ended up being a staple that rubbed through the romex sheath. The feeder was run above the garage doors. 5 years of vibration of that garage door going up and down finally put the staple through to the conductor creating an arc at first (flickering) then finally just a dead short.

New doesn't matter. If something was just not quite right from the beginning or placed wrong, all these years of vibrations from running the car could have rubbed through something or pinched something even if just under a wire tie. Or a wire in a connector is loose....it could be a million different things.

The rest of the symptoms you described could possibly go back to hoses and blah, blah....but not headlights. There is no connection between the mechanics of the car and the headlights. It's electrical.

And it ain't gonna be fun for you to try to do on your own, if that's what your left with really considering as the fault.

What you should do, is see if there are any auto shops around that specialize in the electrical systems. A regular auto mechanic is just that, a mechanic and it's probably over their heads. You may need a specialist. I'm not knocking mechanics, not by a long shot, so any mechanics please don't be offended by this.

Electrical problems suck!
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  #38  
Old 12-30-2005, 06:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ensteele
Brian - have you check the sun visors to make sure there are no wires that have been damaged? Believe it or not, but that will make all sorts of wierd things happen if they are damaged. Good luck.
No I haven't. Where exactly do the wires run for the mirror lights? Is there a fuse I could remove to disable that circuit to help narrow down my problem?

Yellowbird, thanks for the help.. guess I'll start tracing wires
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  #39  
Old 12-31-2005, 01:01 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TomsSVX
wd40 is a penetrating oil isn't it? I do believe it has corrosive properties that effect rubber. At least that is my understanding of them. I could be completely wrong

Tom
WD40 = Water Dispersant #40.

WD40 contains a light oil which is a mild solvent. The oil is intended to get rid of water, and is very similar to paint thinner, which is also excellent at repelling the wet stuff. It might have a slightly adverse affect on your rubber hoses depending on what they're made of, but unless they were constantly exposed to fresh solvent, they won't suffer anything more than surface damage.

The oil contained in WD40 is a lousy lubricant, which I believe is primarily because it has a low surface tension. People often use WD40 to re-lubricate things such a bicycle chains, but the solvent-like properties of the oil often destroy and displace whatever original lubricant existed, and when the oil in WD40 finally breaks down and dissipates (which doesn't take long), the lubrication problem is made worse unless more lubricant is promptly added.

I refer to WD40 as the "magical evaporating lubricant" because that's how it performs. When the proper tools are unavailable, I usually use it as a solvent because people seem to have a can of the stuff kicking around more often than they have any proper solvents. It sounds like a cheap and readily available tool for checking for cracked hoses though, and since it seems to magically disappear, that would make it a good choice in my book.
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  #40  
Old 12-31-2005, 01:21 PM
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Like you said it evaportates quickly. This is where the rubber will be damaged as it will suck the moisture out of them and make them more brittle and prone to cracking. I was not suggesting that it would eat through it but merely dry them out.

Tom
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  #41  
Old 12-31-2005, 04:02 PM
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use carb and choke cleaner for the vacume hoses, works the same way. electrical stuff is a pain in the butt. My old cadillac has electrical problems which only emerge in the winter....Ive been trying to trace them down sice I got the car but it seems whever I or a trained proffesional inspect the car theres nothing wrong with it. good luck finding the problem


and no, theese cars werent built to be crap, your thinking of the ford contour
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  #42  
Old 12-31-2005, 04:42 PM
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I looked all over my visors and nothing is noticeably damaged
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  #43  
Old 12-31-2005, 06:50 PM
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Brian, I assume that you removed the mounting screws and pulled the visors and wiring down from the mounts to inspect for damage?

Glenn

and I have to agree with Eric. My car is not crap.
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  #44  
Old 01-01-2006, 12:29 AM
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You need to really look at the wires.

I will go along with others and say that none of my cars are crap either.
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  #45  
Old 01-01-2006, 12:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ensteele
You need to really look at the wires.

I will go along with others and say that none of my cars are crap either.
So if mine are disconnected I should reconnect them?
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