rushc66

LOL!!!!

2k7gtcs

Well I spent the past few hours trying to diagnose the electrical leak in Seven.

With the car at rest It was pulling about 298mA. The meter starts out briefly at about 2.0A and then falls off after about 5 seconds to 600mA and then falls to 298mA.

So after some trial and error testing the major wires I came up with the following data.

The following is for the car at rest isolating each component
Alternator pulls 0A
Starter pulls 0A
Trunk mounted amplifiers 0A
Distribution box (under hood) 9mA
Junction box (passenger kick panel) 136mA
Gary's homemade fuse box in the trunk 90mA
LCD voltage display on battery terminal 63mA


Now the LCD voltage display stays on for a minute or so and then turns off. But I'm removing it anyway as the terminal screws are stripped. So that saves me 63mA but that is not the problem.

The homemade trunk fuse box was a problem. It was shorted out from rust and corrosion from water getting into it in the trunk. My 3rd tail light leaks water into the trunk directly above this box and I looked at it and the screws were covered in rust. I have 3 fuses plugged in there (4A for the back up camera, 4A for the stereo crossover, and 30A for the GT500 fuel pump) When I removed the fuses the reading dropped 90mA. So I'll have to redo that part for sure.

Now the puzzler was the passenger side junction box. I pulled every fuse out of it and it still pulled 136mA. I removed 2 of the 3 harnesses from it and it still pulled 136mA. I disconnected the 3rd harness and the amperage kicked way up and my headlights came on. Guess it involved a headlight relay or something. So I can't figure this part out at all. Maybe someone else knows. All my measurements were taken at teh battery. So even with the large harness that supplies all the power to the junction box, it still was pulling 136mA at the battery. I know this for sure because there are 4 fuses in the distribution box dedicated to the junction box. Remove those at it loses power. Of course when I remove those the power consumption drops to almost 0A or 9mA to be precise.

2k7gtcs

Is there anyone out there with a multimeter and a s197 GT willing to disconnect their battery and take a reading to see what draw you are getting so I can set it as a benchmark. Preferably someone with a car that doesn't die in a week or two of none use.

I need to see if I have a problem with my wiring from the distribution box to the junction box, or if 136mA is a good number.

According to internet sources anything over 50mA would be too much. I am going to eliminate 90mA of a problem with that short in the trunk which will drop me from 226mA down to 136mA. But I don't know if that is enough.

cdynaco

I might be able to this weekend.

Is it simply unhook the cables from the battery and then touch the multi-meter leads to the P & N cables? I don't have to disassemble any of my circuits do I?

I have an analog meter that I've used for 110 & 220 circuits, and used the ohmmeter (isolate the circuit, run the meter's current and see if the circuit is broken). But I've never used the mA setting.

Most of the mA electrical stuff you guys have been talking about I have no experience with.

2k7gtcs

The multimeter should have the common black lead and the red lead that you can plug in at the bottom of your meter to a fused mA side, mine is on the right, or a non fused 10A or so side. Plug the red lead to that side.

Then you remove your positive battery cable from the post. Just lift it up a little and out of the way so it doesn't contact the post. You can put something plastic under it to prop it up. Then all you do is put the red lead to the positive battery post and the black lead to the metal terminal on the positive battery cable you just removed and read the meter. You are completing the circuit with the meter and reading the current draw.

Yu can set it at Amps or Milliamps for your reading. 1000 Milliamps equals 1 amp.

The reconnect your cable. You are done. Make sure to wait a few seconds when you take your reading. The meter will jump to 2 amps or so then drop in half and then drop in half again before coming to rest. You also want to make sure you measure with the doors closed and trunk closed as any lights on in the car will add to the reading. Same for the key. No key in the ignition at all.

Blue Notch

-20 with -30 wind chills. Standing outside waiting for the bus should be LOTS of fun this morning.

2k7gtcs

So move.

07S197

Sure I'll ........errrrrr nevermind........

rushc66

Sounds like a short in the headlight circuit. Maybe the switch or relay circuit. When the lights come on can you switch the brights on and off?

cdynaco

OK. Mine only offers a fused lead.

I can do it tomorrow mid-day (it takes till noon to get to about 40 so my hands will work).

After that while I'm at it, I wanted to reset the PCM. Do I need to unhook the Negative batt cable too to do that or is just the Pos enough?

2k7gtcs

Yes. I can still switch my high beams on and off when the headlights are on at the switch.

I do have aftermarket HID lights. They are tied into the system, but they have an additional power lead that is added at the distribution box under the hood. That wire shows no drain.



Undoing the positive will do it. As would undoing the negative. It just takes one side o break the loop and lost power.

I think they say to undo it for at least 15 minutes to allow everything to discharge.

cdynaco

Got it.

mustangGT90210

It's... at least 70 here right now

And yesterday it was mid 60s by the time the sun went down. Spent tuesday muddin' the truck, got through some nice stuff, but got stuck on a trail when my buddy in his cherokee got airborne, sideways, then landed and wasn't making any forward progress. I had to stop, and when I did I slid a foot to the left and into some ruts and with no momentum, I was boned. about 10 seconds after I got stuck Zach got through the part in front of me. Fun stuff!

Then yesterday we were out there again, bogged through some sticky stuff with over a foot of water on top of the mud, went farther down another trail, bounced though a massive rut and came to a stop to walk the tight part. Get back to the truck and she won't start So was stumped for a little while... got back to my buddies and told them I got stuck in grand fashion, they believed me haha. Anyways, I retired her for most of the rest of the day after that, with the only way to start her being to bridge the solenoid with a screwdriver while someone turned the key. Relegated to rescue truck status, and got used as one too.

Because we were out there for 3 hours yesterday trying to get Nic's Ram unstuck. He went thru a hole that a Chevy 3500 Dually on 38s got stuck in (lord knows how Nic got through that in a stock 2wd ram on street tires) and then he stopped thinking he was on solid ground. He sunk. A lot. So matt had to take his truck very carefully through the high spots in this mudhole, and almost didn't make it. But he did and after an hour and a half of digging, pulling, yanking, and snatching, nic was out of the first hole. Then as he was trying to get out of this mud hole, he got stuck again 20 feet in front of where he was to start with. So from over 100 feet away thanks to rope my truck started to get use. I aired my tires down, threw her in first and pulled him out like noting. Then he got stuck AGAIN but this time down to the frame right before he would have been out. Then we used both my truck and matts to get him out of that. That's how you make 4 wheel drive with 2 2wd trucks

As for the truck not starting right, turns out I knocked a wire off the solenoid. It's back on and all's well.

cdynaco

BUS??

fark that!

cdynaco

Next mod:

mustangGT90210

I don't go offroad enough to justify one of those sadly... Next mod is actually the leveling kit that's sitting on my kitchen table

rushc66

Good luck, I don't know much about HID systems.

Blue Notch

It's either take the bus or take 20-30 minutes to walk to class. Parking lot is a ways away from the main parts of campus.

Blue Notch

I think I may have just flushed $155 down the toilet! Stupid teachers won't email me back and now I have to pay for it. Spanish teacher --> <--Me

2k7gtcs

Quit your hate speech Nathan.