New owner, electrical problems. Can someone steer me in the right direction?

well i'm buying a car from my dad's friend, he says he was driving the car one day and everything went haywire. It blew the fusible link and a bunch of fuses. He replaced the alternator and the car runs but it will kill the battery after sitting for a few hours and a bunch of stuff doesn't work.

I've check all the fuses and relays that I can find, and cleared up a bad ground or two, and got the power steering, cruise control, defrost and a few other things to work again. The power problem actually fried some relays (like the one for a radiator fan) and made it stay on all the time.

So heres what it comes down to:

Right now the transmission does not shift correctly. It shifts way too soon, and will kill the car sometimes if you slow to a stop rapidly. I would assume it just needs an adjustment but the Previous owner said everything was fine before the "surge." So I'm guessing its electrical, having to do with the electronic part of the transmission.

Also, the passenger side door is stuck in the lock position. You can unlock it if you turn the key hard and then pull the doorhandle, but it returns to the locked position. Also, the drivers side door will not lock. No matter what. Ive tried everything. The Airbag and ABS lights stay on at all times. The ABS box LED under the passenger seat does not blink at all, which indicates the wrong voltage, or none...? Among other things, the gear indicator on the dashboard doesnt work, the alarm works but it won't lock or unlock the doors.

Sorry for the long post, but I am desperate. The car is so fun to drive, it puts my bimmer to shame and nobody knows what the hell it is!!!! If anyone can think of anything else to check, or has a clue or a guess to whats going on, please let me know. Somebody on this board has had this problem before (I saw a post from a few months ago with similar problems)

Thanks for your help
-Matt

[Seraph]

Matt,

You have 2 options.

One is to give it to a dealer and have it check out. The other is to get another SVX. SVX electrical faults are really hard to fix. There are more than enough wires and some of which runs // to each other.

Lwin

[lee]

As for harsh shifts and the dash indicator not moving, sounds like the inhibitor switch is bad (mine did this some time back). Try starting the car in something other than park or neutral. If it turns over that's a sure fire way to know the inhibitor is dead (or at least the car thinks so, there are other checks to confirm).

Both the ABS and the airbag have extensive writeups as to diagnosis and repair. You need manuals, or Alldata Online, or somebody who types a lot better than me.

If the door lock keeps re-locking wouldn't that mean constant current being used to drive that mechanism, plus whatever else may be "on." No wonder the battery keeps getting fried. If it was me, if a dealer couldn't sort this completely out and give you confidence that it is all sorted out, I'd leave this one. It's as if something fused in the "on" position.

[Ron Mummert]

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on being member number 1000.
If this site were a Wal-Mart, you'd be given a shopping cart & told to "Filler' up, it's on the house"!

Since it isn't a Wal-mart, "Your balloon's in the mail".

Did you say you were GOING to buy, or did you ALREADY sign for & pay money for this car? Please clarify, before we continue.
Either way, we hope you'll continue to hang out here.

Best wishes, Ron.

I'm considering purchasing it, if I can find some method to this madness.

The door locks are seized, previous owner said they started going up and down when the incident happened.

Now I have a little more insight into the car, what happened was:

The car works perfectly, He was driving along and all the sudden every light on the dash came on. He was able to drive to his work but by the time he got there the fusible link had melted, or burned out, or whatever fusible links do. So he called a tow truck and the tow truck driver made a fusible link out of a piece of wire.
Now I don't know what the original fusible link is supposed to be like. is it just a wire or something more complex
I would assume that something like a fuse or relay would blow out before shorting and damaging every system in the car, or is this the purpose of the fusible link?


Either everything is ruined or its something simple.

so I will have to abandon the car if i can't get it super cheap or fix the problems. The svx is a rare car especially around here, this is the only one i have seen. so try and think of something

thanks for your help and just taking the time to respond!
-matt

[Trevor]

Ò It blew the fusible link and a bunch of fuses Ò
Ò he replaced the alternator Ò
Ò the power problem actually fried some relays Ó

Ò Every light on the dash came on Ò
Ò tow truck driver made a fusible link WITH A PIECE OF WIRE Ò

It would appear that there was a major short circuit probably involving the alternator ( as it would appear that this was in fact faulty as it was replaced ) and the fusible link did what it is there for and melted so as to open the circuit to the fault which must have involved very high current.

N.B. All those who have done Ò the alternator upgrade Ò should take careful note of what this could imply and this is something I have previously pointed out.

The stupid tow truck driver restored fault current at who knows what level resulting in who knows what damage !

How heavy was the piece of wire or other piece of junk used as a fuse link ?

Has the fuse link been replaced with the proper component ?

Given exact advice regarding the train of sad events and if possible the original alternator anyone with basic electrical knowledge should be able to trace the sequence of faults. The damage could be extensive as nasty surges as will have been created are bad news as far as the electronic components are concerned.

Stupid question put up by so many stupid urks --- Why have fuses they only blow out and give trouble ? Just shove in a nail and no more worries they advise !

[svx_commuter]

IF you really like the car and have lots of time and or money then you could fix it. You could replace all the wiring yourself with parts from a salavage yard or you can take it to the dealer and hope they find something simple.

As Trevor points out, you have melted wires somewhere in the car and Lwin points out it may be expensive or take VERY long to fix. AND THEN........ you have have all the normal problems to fix.

The part about the trans bothers me. I would disconnect everything but the engine and trans, pull all the fuses and relays. If the car did not shift and run right after this you most likely need some electric parts replaced in the trans and or wiring to the trans and or computers, engine and trans.

well this sucks. i FU*&d&s HATE TOW TRUCK DRIVERS1!!!!!!!! they are always screwing peoples cars up.

He just says to drive the car and see if i can figure out whats wrong with it. Im going to take the dashboard apart as there was "smoke coming from it."

With your help I have gotten a little deeper into the problem. At first I thought it was something repairable, at least not melted stuff everywhere. I had to torture the previous owner to tell me everything thats happened to the car.

I got the records and it has his notes (he must have forgotten they were in there) LOL its a ton of stuff in his writing which he neglected to tell me.

On top of these problems the car is not that great anyway. Paint was exposed to sun, tires are bald, breaks are squeaky (probably needs new rotors). Never the less it still hauls ass, with no computer

Im going to see if we can pin this on the tow truck driver, but i think they are subcontracted so theyre not liable, or something. basically they can do what they want to your car and their company is not responsible.

Thanks for all your help, it is appreciated. right now the car is sitting outside. I think i may be able to track at least the power drain, by connecting a volt meter to the battery and removing each fuse 1 by 1. i will take the dash apart too to see if theres any interesting plastic sculptures back there if i can even get the insturment panel out (i hope its not fused in there... like, welded from the 20 or so volts applied to it.

At least we know its not the cars fault. I would love to find another SVX but they are few and far between here. Ill keep looking though.

-Matt

Unless you are a masochist, this car may not afford you the joy most SVX's are capable of producing. Consider that flying in a plane to pick up a better car (anywhere in the continental US) would likely be cheaper than buying this car and fixing it. While fusing the dash board may be an alternate fix for the popping noise some SVX's make with the A/C on, it's an unusual approach that could be indicative of other issues.

Try to imagine that there are other SVX's with nice bodies, paint, mechanicals etc., that will afford you many years of driving pleasure, with only a reasonable amount of investment and care. While this particular one may be close to you, given what could be wrong with it, if it was at the North Pole, that would be too close.

[oab_au]

Originally posted by billisa
Unless you are a masochist, this car may not afford you the joy most SVX's are capable of producing. Consider that flying in a plane to pick up a better car (anywhere in the continental US) would likely be cheaper than buying this car and fixing it. While fusing the dash board may be an alternate fix for the popping noise some SVX's make with the A/C on, it's an unusual approach that could be indicative of other issues.

Try to imagine that there are other SVX's with nice bodies, paint, mechanicals etc., that will afford you many years of driving pleasure, with only a reasonable amount of investment and care. While this particular one may be close to you, given what could be wrong with it, if it was at the North Pole, that would be too close.

Yes, I have got to agree with Bill, replacing the fuseable link with a lump of wire, spells death to the wiring loom and what ever else was causing the short in the first place.

Do your self a favour look elsewhere, you don't need that much trouble. Start with a good one.

Harvey.

Nota,
A quick search on Joe Spitz's site in Seattle shows 43 for sale. A few in Cali and one in LA which sounds cherry. (#11 on the list)

http://www.cars101.com/~booknut/cgi-...rmat=headlines

Well the owner wants me to have it fixed for him, take it to the dealership or a shop for him since he doesnt have time. He says he wants to fix it whether I buy it or not.


with a charged up battery in the car, i took out all the fuses and relays. i ran a probe through the fuse block and a few things are still on, without the fusible link or any fuses installed.

I took it down to the gas station after jump starting it and putting in a new, factory fusible link. Well when i got there i turned the car off and got gas, it wouldn't start. .So i checked and it had burned the fusible link out. My friend works at the gas station so he jump started the car and made me a fusible link

So heres the weird part. He put the fusible link in and jumped the car with his battery in it. When the battery was disconnected, i unplugged the fusible link. The car died. Hmm. I jumped it again and put my battery back in and went home. well when i got home the fusible link was burned to a crisp. But the car was still running. I turned it off, and it wouldnt start again without a new fusible link. Is that how its supposed to work? Anyway so I came up with some ideas.

1. If the car has voltage going through certain wires at all times, (except the obvious ones like the starter/alt.) Then that would mean all the fuses could go out but certain things would still be getting power. Like the airbags and ABS systems for instance (among other things.... ) and the power locks? i know on some cars the doors unlock automatically when the airbag goes off.

2. Should the car die or keep running when you disconnect the battery and the fusible link. Maybe the problem has to do with my alternator. I could disconnect the alternator and put in a fully charged battery, and see if that makes a difference.

3. The computers probably have a hidden relay to supply them with power. The subaru people probably thought "well if they do some idiotic thing like replacing the fusible link with a wire, the system can burn out something cheap...." but they hide it and only the dealer knows about it. But seriously they probably do have predetermined fault points. and electricity takes the shortest path. but it doesnt sound like a ground fault

Since he is going to fix it fully before I buy it, and he will take payments with no interest, I'm going to try and see what I can do. If nothing else I will know a lot about the wiring of the SVX

Thanks

-Matt

[Ron Mummert]

It's funny - I had never heard the term "fusible link" until about three weeks ago when my van was stone dead. Remember this one, Trevor? I found a 3" piece of wire missing from a bundle that ran from the battery area to somewhere inside the firewall. I found the wire piece resting on a strut mount. It said "fusible link" on the wire, which at the time, meant nothing to me. I simply twist connected the two raw ends with some stereo speaker wire, (I should go into the towing business), got the car started & drove it to my mechanic who did a professional splice with a new "fusible link". He told me that a fusible link wire is made of aluminum & will burn faster than copper, although I don't know why they just don't provide a true fuse instead. In my case, it appeared that the wire wasn't burned. I inspected the broken wire ends under a strong magnifying glass. It appeared that they were snipped or "bitten" apart. Yes, a mouse would be the suspect. Since the replacement, I drove the van for two days with no furthur meltdowns occuring.
Is there normally just one fusible link per automobile, & again, why not just an in-line fuse?
Oh... & Mr. 1000, I admire your attempts to keep this car on the road, although it's beginning to sound like a $500 parts car. But as long as it's "other people's money" you're spending for SVX 101 lessons, go for it.

Ron.

<<Yes, a mouse would be the suspect.>>
Ron,
When you catch him, just make sure your little tiny handcuffs aren't made of aluminum.