Monster Electrical Issues...continued pt.II

[wheel1856]

Damn near losin my mind!!!!
The skinny:

Motor go boom. Replace the motor (d16y7). Post-swap, lights dim up and down, gets worse, now the interior lights are dimming more noticeably, even the power of the fan for the heater increases and decreases.

Just put in an amp, deck, and speakers...yep, noise, mostly a click when I hit the brakes or turn signals, but there is a good engine whine when the heater is on high, and especially when the rear defrost is on.

Spent some time changing wire: increased the ground wire guage and decreased the ground wire length for the amp. made sure the RCAs and Power wire were separated and insulated where ever they touched the same metal.

Also did 2 of the big 3 and sanded all the visible grounds in the engine bay. (didn't screw with the alternator...not sure what to do there) Also increased the ground guage for the new deck. Changed the headlight bulbs....

Still noise, still dimming, still pissed.

I am not sure I am fully secure in the ability of the mechanic who swapped the motor...especially since he told me all went well except for the part that took them an hour to realize they had the map and the O2 sensor switched...whoops...

what all should I check? kinda freakin out here.

[wheel1856]

I had hoped for a lil more love AF. I've been blazin through searches in here, checkin manuals, pissin around under the hood....I don't have any meters, so it's difficult to find an electrical mishap....lil help on where to look?


please

[sohcfreak97]

Dbl Check To See If Any Wires Got Pinched When U Got The Motor In...sounds Like A Charging Problem...or Shorting Some Where....check Engine Light? Battery Light?

[honda_luvr_2000]

so u only got this electrical problem after the swap? well did u swap the alt? or is it the original? did u hook it up right? lights getting bright and dimming is definitely a charging system problem. get a wire diagram for the charging system and step thru it. it sounds like the alt has a bad connection and/or a bad capacitor. bad capacitor would give u all the noise over u'r speakers. bad connection would give u a low charging voltage which would cause the bright and dim of lights. if u swapped the alt too, then that new alt is shot, and swap in u'r old one.

[xplodn]

ive got a monster system with 2 amps and all in my 99 and ive never been able to get rid of the ground loop, ive tried it all, even totally replaceing all ground wires and stereo wires, i jsut live with it, as for the dimming, i worked out the amps that my two amps( kinda confusing wording) are pulling, and well its about 166.66 at full power, and my alternater is a stock honda putting out 75 amps max, thats where the dimming is, good luck, if you find out how to fix it please let me know.

[240slider]

You need to test the alternators output amps. It sounds like the alternator is on it's way out,or maybe not outputting what you need to support your system,also there is some company that makes higher amperage output alternators.but also check the tension on the alternators belt .if it's loose it wont work to it's full potential.I think the company for the alternators is www.alternatorsparts.com

[blackcomet]

Yup that's almost definetely an alternator problem...btw did you say you a capacitor for your sound system or not..if not go buy one now lol

[oxjam]

I,m having same electrical problems. My speedometer jumps all over and lights flash on and off. Did you find problem on yopurs?

[xplodn]

its the alternator, exact sma eas my car and it was the alt.

[wheel1856]

yep, it was the alternator... a bad ground cause the alternator to burn up - when I had the engine swapped the guys pinched and stripped a bit of the ground ... its a job you can do yourself, bit of a pain in the arse given the location of the alternator, but do-able.

[oxjam]

I changed alternator and still having problem with electrical

[wheel1856]

I'm going to assume that you changed the belt with it? If not, you may want to - though I suspect that requires undoing an engine mount - the belt could be slipping.

Be sure to check all your grounds!!! If any are pinched, rusted around the contact points, etc... replace them.

Get your battery tested, it may not be holding much of a charge. When that happens, the alt tries to recharge the battery, but it's charged super quick, the computer redirects the power once the battery is charged and you see the blink in the lights, drain in the fans, etc that goes right back up because the computer measures a low charge in the battery... at least that's what this one mechanic offered as a solution.

Do a search on here using "big three" as the search words, and look for instructions on how to better ground your alternator and any accessories.

If none of that works, you'll need a 1 year old chicken, African shaman (aka medicine man) some Cheembo Cheembo tree leaves - not the bark! - and the bones of the rare Pacific rancho turtle - and don't forget, you have to use all of this stuff in the 3rd phase of the moon at high tide when the red is on the northern star. And just a lil bit of luck. That should get the electrical demon out of your car.

[C2Z06]

Originally Posted by 240slider

You need to test the alternators output amps. It sounds like the alternator is on it's way out,or maybe not outputting what you need to support your system,also there is some company that makes higher amperage output alternators.but also check the tension on the alternators belt .if it's loose it wont work to it's full potential.I think the company for the alternators is www.alternatorsparts.com

Ditto on the alternator. Had an 89 Celeberity. GM 80's cars were notorious for underpowered alternators. It's EXACTLY how it would act before one went out. 4 alternators before the car completely died at 134k. POS car! Anywho - sounds like an alternator problem. Sounds like too large a demand on the stock alternator.