eclipse problems

[talontedEcLiPsE]

I had just driven about 80 miles, and when I got back home I then drove to my friend's house. When I got there, we installed an underbody neon light kit. The neon lights all worked fine, (I'm mentioning the driving and the neon kit in case they might have something to do with the problem), but then when I tried to start the car up to leave, the engine cranked for about a second and then died out. I turned the key again, and the same thing happened. Then I turned the key a 3rd time, and nothing at all happened. When I would turn the key to "RUN", just before the starting position, none of the dash lights would come on, and the radio would not work.

We popped the hood and took a look at the fuses. Attached directly to the positive battery terminal there is a small fuse box, with 3 fuses in it. We found that the 30amp fuse had blown. (We have no idea what this fuse goes to, but its on the left side of a small fuse box thats directly attached to the positive terminal. The box holds 3 fuses, a 30 amp, 40amp, and 20amp. The 30amp fuse was attached to a white wire coming out of the bottom) We put another 30amp fuse in, and while my friend watched the engine, I tried to start the car. It cranked for a second and then died, and when I would turn the key nothing would work. The fuse turned bright orange, and then blew. We replaced the fuse again, tightened down the battery terminals, and tried again, and the same thing happened. After the fuse was blown, the parking lights, neon kit, and brake lights all worked fine, but the headlights, automatic seat belts, dash lights, and radio were dead. I was wondering if anyone knew what the problem might be, what might have caused it, and if anyone knew what the fuse goes to? We did a lot of wiring and zip-tying under the car when installing the neon kit, making sure to only zip-tie to the frame and away from any moving parts. I was thinkng that when we used a knife to cut the excess tie on the zip-ties, we might have cut or stripped a wire somewhere and it could be shorting out. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

[Talon007]

Obviously when installing the neons, you left a wire bare and its shorting out causing the fuse, to blow. When you put in the fuse and it only cranks, I assume that the battery is dead. Rip out the neons and throw them in the garbage, then charge your battery, problem solved

[RockinWRX]

Not to mention neons require a bit more juice than the stock alternator can put out. The little 60 amp alt in the US spec DSM's can not handle much besides minor audio equipment. And even less if you have a UD pulley. My advice is to basically remove the neons , find the bare wire , reinstall them , and go find yourself a 90 amp Canadian spec alternator.

[talontedEcLiPsE]

I think I found the solution. My friend works at a car dealership, and he was checking out some wiring diagrams and saw that there were several wiring harnesses undernieth the car on the drivers side. We thing that when we bolted the clamps on for the neon tubes, we might have drilled into the fuel pump wiring, and that would cause the shorting out. We are gonna check that out tonight and see if that fixes it.

[RockinWRX]

Originally posted by talontedEcLiPsE
I think I found the solution. My friend works at a car dealership, and he was checking out some wiring diagrams and saw that there were several wiring harnesses undernieth the car on the drivers side. We thing that when we bolted the clamps on for the neon tubes, we might have drilled into the fuel pump wiring, and that would cause the shorting out. We are gonna check that out tonight and see if that fixes it.

Yeah , I think that fuse you keep talking about it burning out , is the EFI fuse , basically the FP fuse.....

[talontedEcLiPsE]

Hey thanks a lot guys! Me and my friend fixed the problem. We had put a screw in the bottom of the car, and it had indeed sliced into the fuel pump electrical line, and was shorting out. Now my car works! The only problem is i gotta get a hold of some more 30amp fuses, my seat belts dont work, my headlight covers dont work, and my automatic windows dont work!

Thanks again