Need Help with my Electrical System!

Ok, After I swapped in the Blacktop everything was fine for about 3 weeks. Then my electrical system started to get more and more messed up. Im thinking its the Alternator on the Sr b/c the more electricity used…the worse everything gets.

Heres the symptoms (Sp?)…

-Brake lights go on…Radio turns off. Then comes back on after i take my foot off the brakes.(I have no music)
-Headlights go on and i use my defroster…Speedometer/ HUD turns off.
-My windows go up REALLY Slow.
-My Wipers are also not travelling at the right speed, there slower.
-I have no Dash Lights inside.

-When I switch my DTRL’s on from inside, no lights go on.
-I HAVE NO TAILLIGHTS at night when my headlights are on, BUT they work when i turn my alarm on or off.

This is rediculous, Ive checked and changed the Fuses and checked the Bulbs so its nothing like that.

This is driving me crazy and is definately quite dangerous, so I have to get this fixed soon.

What does everyone think this could be???

Thanks for the help.

-Sean Schreiter

Put a multimeter on the battery with the engine off, should be around 12v, not something like 9v. Keep the meter hooked up, start the car, voltage should go up to something around 13.5-14.5 is good, staying the same or above 15v is bad. Test right at the battery, right at the terminal on the alternator and right at the starter. They should all be damn close to the same and in the range I stated. Three things to check essentially 1) Bad battery 2) bad alternator 3) bad wiring/connections.

I just got a new battery so Im aiming toward #2 and #3.

wow… wtf did you do?

Please tell us which wires you have modified besides the basics to get an SR to work.

Was this an auto to manual swap? or no?

Did you take your dash wiring out for whatever reason? some problems may be bad grounds, but what you’re telling us is just weird. Once again, please tell us exactly which harnesses have been touched by you, since for the SR swap really nothing needs to be modified other than the 2 battery plugs and 1 plug just off the ecu.

The guy I got my Sr off of got my harness done for 100$.

In the time it took you to post that you could have tested the voltage all over and had something to report so that people could help you. You need to work in steps, figure out what is going on in general and then hone in on the problem. Or, you can jump back and forth and solve nothing, up to you.

Im at my College House right now, I have no tools or multimeter until the weekend.

Just wanted to get suggestions.

its not ure harness cuz it was pre tested before we gave it to you…i reckon its a loose connection to ure alternator or battery…check them well. If not then it may just be ure alternator…

could also be some bad grounds somewhere, if you step on your brake pedal and your rear lights come on sounds like a bad ground considering alot of components in the vehicle share the same grounds.

I definately think you have bad grounds or loose connections, theres no reason why your alternator would make your rear lights turn off when u press the pedal, or whatever. Check your relays make sure they are in working order, and check continuity between brake lights and and whatever is turning them on or off. Same applies to all other cases. There should be no continuity between your headlights and taillights.

The alternator could for sure be the culprit. That would be the second thing I check, right after the battery.

Checking continuity on a problem like this is useless. That would be like checking brake lines for brake fluid to diagnose a bad pedal feel, of course there is going to be fluid there. There will be continuity all over the place with his lights, that’s how they work. The only way a continuity test would be valid would be to ISOLATE EVERY WIRE. Not only is that time consuming but it is virtually pointless, clearly power is not where it should be. Start big and work to more specifics. By your method I should check my main bearings if my oil light comes on.

You should have enough info to get very close to your problem now. If it turns out to be something you never thought of then you will find it in record time like this (you may have forgot to hook something up even, I have no idea, but you will find out soon enough without ripping your whole car apart). If everything checks out with the basics then tell us what you wired in. You may have hooked something up backwards and it is backfeeding circuits or something, who knows.

why would there be continuity between the taillights and headlights? That doesnt make sense. There is continuity if their is a short or a bad ground bud, and this is what the case is. Definately a bad/loose ground. Bad Continuity is if one wire is connected to another where it shouldnt be. I had a continuity problem/short with my mafs plug and my car wouldnt start, I isolated the wires and it cranked right away.

Both the head lights and tail lights need power and a ground, anywhere along that ciruit there can be continuity except across the switch. Lets say you go out and do what you say, check for continuity (whether a point is connected to another point via an electrical wire, this is not an ohms test directly, that is something else).

Alright, you want to test continuity, where are you going to start, which socket and which side of the circuit? How is every socket wired up? All the negative sides will have continuity when they are proper, so if you make a mistake on even one and think there should be no connection and there is, falsely, you will be on a wild goose chase. Are you telling me you are going to rip apart the whole harness to make sure each wire is isolated that you are checking? Not likely. This guy clearly is not the best at electrical problems, or he would have done his own harness and not asked for help. Now you want him to start checking things he doesn’t fully understand for minimal gain even if he did know?

You talk about continuity between the headlights and tail lights not existing. That is wrong to say, it depends on how you look at the circuit and how it is wired. It is NOT DEFINETLY a bad or lose ground. What about a bad positive connection? Why do people insist that it MUST be something when they clearly misunderstand the fundamentals of the situation and secondly don’t have the problem right infront of them? There is absolutely NO SUCH THING AS DEFINETLY WITH CARS UNTIL THE PROBLEM IS FIXED. There are only things to check in logical steps for a given problem, this problem is not at the point of checking continuity. If you want to try to be some sort of car god for GUESSING about peoples problems then be my guest, I prefer to gain knowledge as I investigate the problem and make decisions accordingly, that is what I get paid for.

^^^ My experience definitely backs up what he’s saying.

How do you expect people to help if you don’t answer questions?

If the main harness is in good shape then you fcked smth else up, and in order for us to understand what you fcked up, I need to know that answer!

[quote=“Pavel”]

How do you expect people to help if you don’t answer questions?

If the main harness is in good shape then you fcked smth else up, and in order for us to understand what you fcked up, I need to know that answer![/quote]

No its not an auto to manual swap.

I dont go on my computer every hour, It hasn’t even been 24 hours since my last post…

I really think it’s a ground in the harness, after the ECU, that connects to my harness that goes behiind the dash.
Thats the only wire i had problems with in this whole swap last winter.

Thanks again for everyones help so far. I cant wait to get back to the garage this weekend and try to figure this out.