| Russ |
Fri Dec 03, 2004 1:24 pm |
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about a week ago i started losing the pre sets on my radio stations(57 beetle converted to 12v).when i would start the car i would notice the radio eaither not come on right away or flash or dim when i turn on the headlights(onetime radio came on but no headlights) for a few minutes.
i had a leak under the hood and some of the fuses were corroded i swapped out the fuse block and new fuses in hopes that it would cure the problem
well the wife came home yesterday and said the car lost all power and died (we have an alarm on the car were you have to touch a metal battery looking thing to the flashing light before you can start it) alarm light starts flashing and alarm started to go off,touched the button fired right up and away she went,well it happened one more time on the way home
all i can tell for sure is that there is a definate power draw when i start the car with the stero dimming ect..i am at a loss on this one electrical stuff is not my strong point???
any ideas on where to start
i converted to an alt in the summer also has a 1year old battery.
about a month or so ago i swapped the headlights for halogens (not the super bright ones)
does this sound like a ground problem?55amp can't keep up?
thanks russ |
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| Eric&Barb |
Fri Dec 03, 2004 7:48 pm |
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Hi Russ,
First get on some SAFETY GLASSES and remove the battery. The glasses are just incase your explode the battery by causing any sparks near its top!!! Sulfuric acid is not fun in the eyes and will burn skin if not rinsed off. :( Check if it has the caps on top so you can fill it with distilled water to the bottoms of the wells inside. Clean the battery cable clamps by first soaking them in a tin can of water with a couple of tablespoons of baking soda dissolved. When this water solution stops bubbling. If you battery cable clamps are bolted onto the cables, get new cables with the clamps swedged on!!!
Next check the ground cable that grounds the tranny nose cone to the body. Remove this cable and clean with sandpaper or wire brush, both the ends and the places this cable is bolted to!!
Remove the battery ground cable clamp and clean the body end and the area of the body.
Unbolt the cables on the starter solinoid for again a good cleaning and bolt back together.
You can buy from your local Radio Shack dielectric grease or even just use Vasalene to coat ALL the now clean of corrosion surfaces so as to keep corrosion away for as long as possible.
Put back the battery, wash your hands to get off any acid!! Go down to your local hardware store to buy a volt/ohm meter for about $15.00. Set the voltage/ohm meter for DC voltage and the lowest range it has. Check the voltage at the battery posts, again with the SAFETY GLASSES! Voltage should be 12-13 volts if charged. Now follow the wiring diagram and check for voltage and compare to the voltage at the battery. Go completely through the wiring from the rear up to the very front and back to the rear again.
When you find a large voltage drop you need to figure out if it is a dirty connection or a bad switch somewhere.
Clean, grease, and tighten each and every connection as you go.
We have found that the headlight switch and fuse boxes need to be soldered at each riveted connection in them to prevent any voltage drop in them. See the article on how to do this to bus headlight switch (same proceedure can be used for the oval and later bug) headlight switch in the type2.com library.
Eric&Barb |
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