Electrical problem diagnosis
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- I have stars, you haven't. Deal with it
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- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:52 am
- Location: Northland
Electrical problem diagnosis
ok, so my car alarm was triggered and I went out to see what was going on and when I tried to use the remote to reset it, the car was dead as a dodo. I tried the ignition and there was no power at all so I took the battery out (less than 1 month old) and put it on the charger and it showed that the battery was fully charged (as I expected) so it seems I have a major electrical fault somewhere. As it is too dark for me to check right now I will have to wait until morning but aside from checking the fuses does anyone have any suggestions of what I should check?
I am a little pissed with myself in that I cannot remember if I unlocked the car first to open the bonnet to disable the siren or if the door was unlocked...
by that i mean I am unsure if the alarm was triggered by the power cutting out (the alarm triggers is someone removes the battery) or if the alarm was triggered by someone breaking in and screwing something up.
Initial inspection via torch showed no signs of forced entry or damage so my thoughts are it is most likely a fuse or something.
any help/suggestions would be welcome
I am a little pissed with myself in that I cannot remember if I unlocked the car first to open the bonnet to disable the siren or if the door was unlocked...
by that i mean I am unsure if the alarm was triggered by the power cutting out (the alarm triggers is someone removes the battery) or if the alarm was triggered by someone breaking in and screwing something up.
Initial inspection via torch showed no signs of forced entry or damage so my thoughts are it is most likely a fuse or something.
any help/suggestions would be welcome
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- I have stars, you haven't. Deal with it
- Posts: 1172
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:52 am
- Location: Northland
well, on monday night when I took the battery out it showed as charged when I initially took it out. The next day I connected it again to get a second opinion and it said that it wasn't charged..... soooooo 12 or so hours later it was charged and I just plugged it back in and things seem to be ok.
I guess I just ran the battery too low
To avoid this in future, I have ordered one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/110758259352?ss ... 1497.l2649
now heres another question.... from what I have read, a full battery should read about 12.8v and a flat battery should read about 12.1v so, if I was to keep an eye on my levels and make sure I recharge it when it gets to around the 12.3v mark I should be ok in the future?.
-=edit=- the values I am using are from this:
http://www.wikihow.com/Check-a-Car-Battery
I guess I just ran the battery too low
To avoid this in future, I have ordered one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/110758259352?ss ... 1497.l2649
now heres another question.... from what I have read, a full battery should read about 12.8v and a flat battery should read about 12.1v so, if I was to keep an eye on my levels and make sure I recharge it when it gets to around the 12.3v mark I should be ok in the future?.
-=edit=- the values I am using are from this:
http://www.wikihow.com/Check-a-Car-Battery
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- I am quitting my job and going 5-ing
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If a battery is flat the voltage can read as if it should be healthy. The test is when a load is put on to it. The voltage will drop at this stage. Ohms law is P (power) = V (volts) x I (current/amps). The sitting voltage may appear ok until a load comes on. A true status test places a bank of resistance across the battery to test. Once the current tries to run from the battery the voltage falls as he power can not be delivered. If you leave a multi meter connected while trying to crank the motor you can see how the volts are affected. I realise that if an immobiliser is connected this may impede the starter circuit. If the battery is disconnected from vehicle a load can be wired across the terminals. Sometimes its best to take it o someone who has the test gear and appropriate knowledge for testing as shorting out a healthy battery can have devastating results. Difficult if the car wont start tho as those batteries are heavy to carry.
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- I have stars, you haven't. Deal with it
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ok so rather than starting a new thread, I figured I would resurrect this thread with a new oddity.
-= nouveau bizarrerie =-
ok, so I hopped in my car this morning and started her up. The engine and stereo were working fine as per normal. I then pressed the electric window button and nothing happened..... tried the passenger window button.... nothing.
ok, this is mildly concerning...
So I tried the window wipers ... nothing.
by this point I am suspecting a fuse has blown or something like that so I try the air conditioner. I initially couldn't hear if it was going or not so I gave the fan dial a twist and it worked ok...... and then everything else (windows, wipers) started working normally.
Has anyone else experienced this? was it caused by the coldness of the morning? is there any preventative maintenance I could do to avoid this happening in the future?
thanks for your input and suggestions
-= nouveau bizarrerie =-
ok, so I hopped in my car this morning and started her up. The engine and stereo were working fine as per normal. I then pressed the electric window button and nothing happened..... tried the passenger window button.... nothing.
ok, this is mildly concerning...
So I tried the window wipers ... nothing.
by this point I am suspecting a fuse has blown or something like that so I try the air conditioner. I initially couldn't hear if it was going or not so I gave the fan dial a twist and it worked ok...... and then everything else (windows, wipers) started working normally.
Has anyone else experienced this? was it caused by the coldness of the morning? is there any preventative maintenance I could do to avoid this happening in the future?
thanks for your input and suggestions
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- I am quitting my job and going 5-ing
- Posts: 677
- Joined: Sat May 04, 2013 4:50 pm
- Location: Fastlane to Ak
Electrical problems
Sounds like a loose connection somewhere. Start at the fuse box and work back. You know the circuits that are functioning so look at the suspect ones. Check for corrosion/ high resistance points on connectors and fuse links. Check earthing points. Any sign of corrosion then clean them and add some contact cleaner or crc wd40 etc. if you have a multimeter check battery voltage then voltage at feed side of fuses then load side etc and make sure no significant volt drop as tou go down the circuits.
-
- I am quitting my job and going 5-ing
- Posts: 677
- Joined: Sat May 04, 2013 4:50 pm
- Location: Fastlane to Ak
Electrical problems
Sounds like a loose connection somewhere. Start at the fuse box and work back. You know the circuits that are functioning so look at the suspect ones. Check for corrosion/ high resistance points on connectors and fuse links. Check earthing points. Any sign of corrosion then clean them and add some contact cleaner or crc wd40 etc. if you have a multimeter check battery voltage then voltage at feed side of fuses then load side etc and make sure no significant volt drop as tou go down the circuits.
-
- I am quitting my job and going 5-ing
- Posts: 677
- Joined: Sat May 04, 2013 4:50 pm
- Location: Fastlane to Ak
Electrical
Just looked at wiring diagram. Wipers have own fuse and windows on another. Look at the connections in fuse box area for starters would be my initial advice
check connecters to rear lamps in boot if out click back in place, this problem happened to me after a panel repairer replaced both back tail light fittings with broken snap locks. It took a lot of playing around to isolate the problem, I had to do it myself. my temp fix was a short screwdriver to wedge the plug in on the side, stiil waiting for fix.
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