Help! Electrical Problems

bezee · May 21, 2004

When i first experienced this problem the lights would blink when i hit the brakes or turn on the turning signals. Also when i turned up my music loud the bass would also make the interior lights blink and the headlights as well. I checked my battery terminals to find i had a loose connector on one of the terminals.

Once i tightened it up the problems stopped with the exception of when the bass is thumping in my car the head lights and interior lights flickered some but i think that is because the ground wire for my system isnt thick enough.

Now the problem returned last night when the lights flickered and the radio would stop playing when i hit the brakes but when i let my foot up it continued to play. I checked my battery connections again only to find them tight and intact. So now im stumped...

The only other thing i could think of is that right now i have a leaking power steering pump, which i heard would damage the alternator because of the fluids. Could that be the cause of this problem?? If the alternator is damaged would it cause the same symptoms??

Also i have seen grounding kits, which i know nothing about , and i was wondering are they designed to help this type of problem?? i need help because i dont wanna kill my car ......HELP PLEASE Thanks

Emerald · May 21, 2004

Grounding kits

- will help with engine noise in your system.

- There are claims of HP gains with these but i dunno bout that ;)

- will help with grounding out your system and other electronics but in your case the weak ground wire on the amp makes a grounding kit useless

leaking pump:

- You power steering pump will ruin the Alt. pretty fast and you may be expiriencing sum 'load' problems. Our alternators arent that good and are only designed to maintain a stock battery and stock electronics...not extra amps

Buy a simple battery tester: It will have you test your battery with the car off and then with the car un under an Idle load. (will also show if you have faulty alt)

I guess the best thing to use would be an ohm meter to see if voltage rises slightly when you give it more gas than idle :blink:

Too small of a ground will cause your amps to overheat pretty fast and send them into protection mode (depending on amp features) or to even melt the small ground wire

From your post I suspect:

1) you're using the stock battery still....change it

2) Sounds like the power steering pump may be causing the issue if your wiring is correct and battery are fine.

Try the battery tester/ ohm meter first...then repair that leaking pump before it strands you someplace :(

Good luck

:cheers:

bezee · May 21, 2004

Thanks emerald .....I do have a more powerful battery tho...but i will check n see if alternator is weak... :cheers:

SKperformance · May 21, 2004

probably the alternator

a grounding kit doesn't add power just regains lost power due to correded or broken wires.

AWJ · May 21, 2004

Very good ideas up above. In my '93 - the lighter lost it's ground under hard braking and threw the fuse - killed the entire dash. Check the ground off your cigarette lighter. Replace the fuses. That will help your power loss at the radio/dash when you hit the brakes. As far as dimming accessories when the bass hits - well - no real way around that except a bigger alternator and or capacitors.

rons sc400 · May 22, 2004

I have the same problem with my SC4. I just had a new alternator put in with the new P/S pump. The lights flicker when brakes are applied , but i dont have the radio problems. If the car sets for more then 12 hours its dead like its being drained from a short somewhere. But the car will start great if its just shut off .The problem started for me after i installed a new A/C control unit . I think the unit must have been bad and shorted the car out, (bought it on Ebay i should have known) , so i reinstalled my old A/C unit and the car is still being drained of power when its setting over night. If you find out what is causing your problem please let me know.