TWISTED II

well, time for more fun electrical nightmares from my stinkin SC. now, its the ignition fuse. it blows all the time. my gauges will black out, and my car will die. then, eventually, they will work, and my car will start.....BUT...if i put on my highbeams, my gauges black out and my car dies. then, if i put my parking lights on, my gauges black out, and my high and low beams turn on veeeeery dim. then, they go out, and my car dies. so, needless to say, i have no idea where to start looking for this problem. any ideas?

setwire

Could be a couple of things.

1 Short circuits in 1 or more of your engine or headlight wiring looms.
2 Very dead battery or bad alternator.

Can you smell any electrical shorting smells in your engine compartment or near your headlight wiring when this happens?

If not I suggest you check the voltage coming off your battery with and without engine running.
Should be approx 12.50 Volts with engine off.
14.25 Volts with engine running.

Hope this helps.

Rob

TWISTED II

yeah, we checked the battery and it was around 14.5 running and 12.5 off. we checked every fuse in both fuse areas with a volt meter, and all of them were fine. i have a feeling my friend who claimed to know so much about LED gauges has a hand in this. because the only time the car dies is when the gauges black out. BUT, just the LEDs black out, not the needles. i don't smell anything weird, and theres no smoke or nothing. the other night, i turned the car off and took the key out....and, the car kept running, lol. the high and low beams went on together, very very dim, and the gauges were on. so, i flipped my highbeams on, and the car finally shut off. hahaha. thanks for the advice.

setwire

If these problems only started after your "Friend" did the LED work then I would suspect that whatever mods he did are the problem.
Sounds to me like he crossed a few wires when doing whatever he installed and you are getting feedback on some of your circuits. Which would cause fuses to blow and all the other problems you are experiencing.

Rob

TWISTED II

well, his defense is that diodes will only flow current one way, so, nothing is backfeeding. i guess i'll take the gauges out and see if i still have the problem. but i've had the gauges for some time now with no issues, but now its been doing this constantly......who knows. thanks for the reply. anyone else wanna take a crack at it? lol.

setwire

I have an electronics background and know that Led's will only flow current 1 way.
And there in my lay the problem.
Your friend may have soldered the led's on the wrong way and then reversed the current to them to make them work.
If this is the case then he created somewhere in the circuit a dead short.
I suggest you have a hard look at where he tapped off power for the Led's he installed and make sure the above is not the case.
I believe the above may be the case as you don't have problems when your headlights are not on then everything goes to hell when you turn your headlights on.
BTW Just to let you know where I am coming from I make a living in the film industry building all those fancy control panel you see in TV Series like "Battlestar Galactica", "Stargate Atlantis", "Stargate SG1", and Feature Movies like" I Robot " etc.
So I do have some knowledge of LED's and electronic circuits and have modded my SC 400 Radio,Climate Control and Window Controls with LED's.
Do the same sort of stuff that O.L.T. Does

Rob

TWISTED II

yeah, but your not a ***** like OLT, hahahahhaa. whoopsy.....anyways.....

he taped into the main power for the LEDs. so, it makes sense that the car would die when there is a problem. but, whats up with the car not turning off when i take the key out?

Jonathan o

It is part of the original problem. Your circuit is creating a loop.

setwire

What exactly are these LED's you added doing?
Where they replacements for existing bulbs in your speedometer unit or just an add on?
Where were the connections made?
Can your friend reverse all the connections he made?
Sounds to me like he tapped into the ignition wiring, created some kind of loop which is blowing your fuse and screwing up your headlights.
Do you have a workshop manual with wiring diagrams to work off of?

Rob

TWISTED II

ok, the LEDs are basically controlling my car. haha. if the LEDs are OFF, the car is off and will not start. they die while the car is running, and then the car turns off. they were not replacements for bulbs. meaning, they weren't just twist in LEDs. they are wired in the back with diodes and stuff. i'll ask him if he can reverse the connections. and i'm pretty sure he used the ignition wiring because he wanted to find something that would always be on when the car is on. but yeah, that 7.5 fuse doesn't last long. i put a 15 in now, cuz thats all i could find. but, i'm going to be putting a 7.5 back in soon, and also removing the damn gauges. all my gauges are off anyway. the speedo is fast, the gas gauge is 1/4 low...so, its a nightmare. i have the entire wireing thing on CD. well, on the comp. its funny cuz i gave him that too, so he should have had no problem with this. grrrrrr, lol.