Help!!!

[Chris']

Hey guys so I picked up a 96 dx coupe the other day And have been having major electrical problems. When I start the car the headlights are dim and my cluster barley lights up at all but after a little driving they brighten up . I have also noticed my front right signal light works half the time. So I was driving today and saw my cluster just start to go crazy at a red light when I started driving I turned my headlights on and everything cut out. Pulled over and tried to restart there was nothing the door chime only beeped every couple seconds and then cut out . So I disconnected the battery for a second and reconnected it the car do. Half turn and would not start. So I disconnected battery for 2 min and reconnected it. I turned the key and it did a half crank again I tried again and it started but barley so I kept on home once I made it home I shut off car and tried to restart same thing a half crank and started on second try. Every time I get in the car after its been sitting for a couple hours it starts fine but all lights are dim until I start to drive.


Sorry about spelling

 

[takeachance]

alternator, battery, grounds

 

[AlaskaB16]

^^^ What he said plus double check all your fuses and relays. Relays can sometimes act like that when they're about to go out. Once in a while you'll come across a bad one but if you tap it (like a starter) it'll come back to life for a while. Another trick is to swap relays with another system running correctly and see if the problem follows. Then you know for sure if the relay is bad or good. It's pretty obvious if fuses are bad. Do a voltage check on your bat/alt because no/low power will screw up a lot of things. For grounds, make sure they're on bare metal. No paint!

 

[Chris']

Grounds are all good battery tested good And alternator has low charge but could this be as simple as replace the alternator it looks Farley new could there be a problem between alternator and battery also all fuses are good now I've noticed when I start car I turn the key and it try's to turn over and then stops and then try's again and starts fine assent doing this before

 

[Trekk]

Most cars don't run good if they fall under 10 volts. That sounds like the problem, check that the wires are on good and the connections are good and clean. It's probably just bad and needs to be replaced if the wires look good. That alt should be cranking out around 14 volts at idle.

 

[TokyoSkies]

Low voltage in alternator = bad alternator, bad ground, or bad battery. Sounds like it's the alternator, from the troubleshooting you've done. Replace that sucker!

 

[mc360]

Maybe check your ELD

 

[Chris']

So tested my alternator today and when I first start the car the alternator is reading 9-10 volts but after I rev the car and the lights brighten it tests at 14v and stays at 14v
Test at the battery was 12v the whole time also when the lights brighten some of the cluster lights stay dim but will brighten after maybe 30 min of driving and not always the same parts of the cluster

 

[Chris']

Also this problem has become worse now every time the car sits overnight the morning start
Is awful the dash goes crazy and have to hold key to start till it catches, the starter try's and cuts out and then will try again and start

 

[Failsafe88]

I think you need to swap out the battery.

 

[Chris']

Battery passed 3 test all different machines

 

[AlaskaB16]

You may need to hook a meter to the alt and actually do a drive test on it. I'm curious if it's holding 14V under load and during stop and go traffic. If your idle is set low or it dips below 800 RPM's when you roll to a stop there's a chance your ALT is getting back into low voltage and staying there. Have you checked your ALT main fuse under the hood? Maybe it's only half ass together. Should be a big mother fuse. Like 60 Amp or higher.

 

[Failsafe88]

Might even be possible previous owner did hack job wiring something or possible wrong fuse

 

[lethal6]

Do some testing and see if there is a parasitic draw on the battery while the car is off.

Battery may be testing fine now, but I guarantee it won't be after a bunch more half dead starts like you are doing now.

 

[Chris']

Okay I will test it tomorrow my multimeter dose not have the amp setting I need
I also found out that while the cars key is on but car is not running the radio works fine as it should but everything shorts out if I flash headlights or turn heat on should the car not have enough power to at least turn these options on with out totally killing everything

 

[lethal6]

It should have plenty of power. Just for giggles after reading your last post, I went out to mine and turned the key to the "on" position. Turned the lights on, radio on, wipers on, and hit all four of my windows at the same time. No problems what so ever and it fired up within a couple cranks right after. It has been sitting all day here at work too.

 

[Chris']

Any ideas on this. Shorting out somewhere?

 

[lethal6]

I would go through ALL of the grounds in the car. ESPECIALLY the main ones. Check for corroded or split wires and rusted or corroded contact points.

Who tested your battery and are you 100% sure it is fine.

Has your alternator been tested?

 

[CRX_dude]

id say battery..
if you have a maintenance free battery get a new one, but to possibly save you some money fill your battery chambers with distilled water, and clean the terminals with a wire brush, see if that helps any..

 

[Chris']

So I put a new battery in and it didn't make a difference alternator was tested at start up 9-10 volts after I rev to 4500rpms it goes to 14v and stays there also car it throwing p0135 and p0141 car will not get power until I give it a quick rev after that it seems to be fine but still lacks some electrical power