Electrical Short Or Bad Alternator?

[sc4sooner]

my 92 sc400 is giving me nightmares.

tonight for the second time in the 14 months i have owned the car i had an electrical problem. the car starts fine, but if i turn on the turn signal the radio bings off, the clock resets and the headlights blink. and if i press the breaks when the breaklights come one the headlights dim the radio cuts out and comes back.

the battery is only about 2 months old since when this first happened (in december) that was my first though so i replaced it and didnt have the problem again till tonight.

both times the problem fixed itself after driving for a short period of time.

both in december and tonight the alternator tested normal, so my fear is that it is a short somewhere.

has anyone else had this problem, or know anything about this problem?

what can be done to fix it without A) spending alot of money, and B) buying a new car?

[Tomj8]

my 92 sc400 is giving me nightmares.

tonight for the second time in the 14 months i have owned the car i had an electrical problem. the car starts fine, but if i turn on the turn signal the radio bings off, the clock resets and the headlights blink. and if i press the breaks when the breaklights come one the headlights dim the radio cuts out and comes back.

the battery is only about 2 months old since when this first happened (in december) that was my first though so i replaced it and didnt have the problem again till tonight.

both times the problem fixed itself after driving for a short period of time.

both in december and tonight the alternator tested normal, so my fear is that it is a short somewhere.

has anyone else had this problem, or know anything about this problem?

what can be done to fix it without A) spending alot of money, and B) buying a new car?

Because the problems are intermittent and the circuits affected wouldn't normally have any effect on one another, it' probably safe to assume a short circuit. Because the brake pedal moves and seems to be the trigger in some of these transient events, a good place to start looking for bare wires or shorts might be around the brake pedal swing up under the dash. While the symptoms don't make it possible to guess exactly where the problem might be, wires which could affect brake lights, radio, and headlights all run through the same general area in the vicinity of the driver side under the dash. For example, one place some of these wires would be in close proximity to one another is in and around the driver side fuse panel (check all fuses while you're in there). Naturally, bare wires or wires that may have been cut and taped, etc, (as in stereo modifications) should be treated as suspects. Look for anything that appears to be modified or not well done. Loose connections and even open fuses can also cause phantom syptoms and responses in seemingly unrelated circuits.

[sc4sooner]

thank you, ill check under the driverside dash and the fuses, everything in the car is stock so there should not be any cut and taped wires, but who knows it is a 16 year old car.

[mr360gamer]

thank you, ill check under the driverside dash and the fuses, everything in the car is stock so there should not be any cut and taped wires, but who knows it is a 16 year old car.

I have a 1995 SC400 and its giving me the same exact problem as your car. When braking at times it will shut of the radio for a second and also when I am using turn signals. I will be checking the brake light harness in the rear this weekend. Im guessing its the condensation in the right rear brake light. Or at least I hope it is.

[skycopter1]

I have a 95 -sc400, had the same problem. Shortly after these problems began the top idler pulley crapped out. Changed out the idler pulley...no more problem.

my 92 sc400 is giving me nightmares.

tonight for the second time in the 14 months i have owned the car i had an electrical problem. the car starts fine, but if i turn on the turn signal the radio bings off, the clock resets and the headlights blink. and if i press the breaks when the breaklights come one the headlights dim the radio cuts out and comes back.

the battery is only about 2 months old since when this first happened (in december) that was my first though so i replaced it and didnt have the problem again till tonight.

both times the problem fixed itself after driving for a short period of time.

both in december and tonight the alternator tested normal, so my fear is that it is a short somewhere.

has anyone else had this problem, or know anything about this problem?

what can be done to fix it without A) spending alot of money, and B) buying a new car?

Because the problems are intermittent and the circuits affected wouldn't normally have any effect on one another, it' probably safe to assume a short circuit. Because the brake pedal moves and seems to be the trigger in some of these transient events, a good place to start looking for bare wires or shorts might be around the brake pedal swing up under the dash. While the symptoms don't make it possible to guess exactly where the problem might be, wires which could affect brake lights, radio, and headlights all run through the same general area in the vicinity of the driver side under the dash. For example, one place some of these wires would be in close proximity to one another is in and around the driver side fuse panel (check all fuses while you're in there). Naturally, bare wires or wires that may have been cut and taped, etc, (as in stereo modifications) should be treated as suspects. Look for anything that appears to be modified or not well done. Loose connections and even open fuses can also cause phantom syptoms and responses in seemingly unrelated circuits.

[chadimus06]

dont know if this will help yall but i had somewhat of a similar problem. i thought i had a short somewhere but inturn it ended up bein a burnt out bulb in one of the blinkers. which threw the system off and caused abunch of stuff to wig out. i put a new one in and havent had any problems since

[john denninger]

my 92 sc400 is giving me nightmares.

tonight for the second time in the 14 months i have owned the car i had an electrical problem. the car starts fine, but if i turn on the turn signal the radio bings off, the clock resets and the headlights blink. and if i press the breaks when the breaklights come one the headlights dim the radio cuts out and comes back.

the battery is only about 2 months old since when this first happened (in december) that was my first though so i replaced it and didnt have the problem again till tonight.

both times the problem fixed itself after driving for a short period of time.

both in december and tonight the alternator tested normal, so my fear is that it is a short somewhere.

has anyone else had this problem, or know anything about this problem?

what can be done to fix it without A) spending alot of money, and B) buying a new car?

[john denninger]

my 92 sc400 is giving me nightmares.

tonight for the second time in the 14 months i have owned the car i had an electrical problem. the car starts fine, but if i turn on the turn signal the radio bings off, the clock resets and the headlights blink. and if i press the breaks when the breaklights come one the headlights dim the radio cuts out and comes back.

the battery is only about 2 months old since when this first happened (in december) that was my first though so i replaced it and didnt have the problem again till tonight.

both times the problem fixed itself after driving for a short period of time.

both in december and tonight the alternator tested normal, so my fear is that it is a short somewhere.

has anyone else had this problem, or know anything about this problem?

what can be done to fix it without A) spending alot of money, and B) buying a new car?

Your problem seems clearly to be a bad ground. I had the same problem and there are prior posts about this. To fix, I added additional ground cables to the engine and to the body. and cleaned both ends of the existing ground cable. I can almost guarantee that this will fix your problems.