sanimalp

Unplug your cooling fan and drive the car. I'll bet money that is the problem. Those things draw like 15 amps, and if it is on continuously, that is your problem. That's why there is a thermoswitch..

your alternator puts out barely 20 amps under 2000 rpms. and 15 of those are being used by your radiator fan, making the effective output of your alternator 5 amps, which is not enought to even run your headlights.

Is there some kind of prize for figuring this stuff out?

4g4dcruisin

but i havent had this problem before and i DID have the fan wired up for constant power.

i will give this a shot tho, im up for anything at this point. im still wondering what my weird bogging/stuttering problem is at 3-4000rpm.

sanimalp

I think the ECU ground, a very sensitive ground, is near where it sounds like you grounded the radio, just as a heads up. With all the jumpy lights and everything, i would say you are probably missing a ground wire somewhere.

There is a chart floating around here, i would, in addition to unplugging the always on radiator fan, also go through and verify that every ground is secure. The one on the valve cover and the one from the transmission especially.

4g4dcruisin

ok where is the tranny ground? thats not the neg battery cable is it? just give me a rough location as to where on the housing the ground is i will find it.

the ecu ground, does that bolt somewhere to the frame under the dash?

by the way i will be trying all this stuff tonite when i get home around 6pm and ill post updates.

4g4dcruisin

check this out, this is what i need to sort out the ELD but i cannot find something...

pic came out a little small but directly in the center of the alternator (big rectangle at bottom) there is a while/yellow wire and another wire. they go to the "ELD Unit Input", but where is this in the engine bay? if you follow the single green/red wire from the ELD Unit Input it goes to the under hood Fuse Panel.

on the ELD Unit Input, there is something that says "alternator output signal", if im not mistaken, that sounds like its describing how much voltage to put out of the alternator to go to the battery.

i've heard of the ELD unit themselves going out, but what about the ELD unit INPUT which i guess is between the alternator and fuse panel.

dacrxguy

when you are reading the output voltage on the alternato where are you placing you leads it sound to me like the alternator cable has a lot of resistance

D16SiHatch

you're welcome :-p

4g4dcruisin

i did this test, everything reads fine on the connector for the ELD. but the ELD itself could be bad.

also i place the lead on the white cable connection on the alternator (the 10mm nut that holds the cable in place)...then another on my strut shaft, or a piece of the chassis it doesnt matter, still reads the same voltage, about ~12v AT IDLE.

the battery will read ~14v at idle so thats fine, im losing ~2v from the alternator from somewhere, i gain it back when im accelerating. so at an idle i have slow windows, dimming, radio cut out with highbeams on, flickering tach.

oh my temp gauge is freaking out, it moves to the H with the more load i put on the battery. in other words it will move up when i turn on headlights, then highbeams, then radio...funny thing is that when i turn the car off, it goes all the way to the H for like 5 seconds then drops below the C haha.

4g4dcruisin

hmm i take that back, i didnt do step 6.

4g4dcruisin

movie time!! check it out this is whats happening still when im turning my lights on and off at idle, this happens when driving too.

you can also hear the radio cutting out.

4g4dcruisin

^^^you can see i have a CEL, but this is due to my o2 sensor not being plugged in. it comes on once im full speed on the freeway around 70-80mph.

also at the very end is where the temp gauge goes up instead of down when i shut off the car.

4g4dcruisin

check it out, looks like 28, 10 and 17... wait a few seconds and you will see the light start over.

http://s280.photobucket.com/albums/k...t=100_1866.flv

Default_Name

not sure what the codes are. but ?. How could you possiby lose 2v between the battery and the alternator, but still get 14v at the battery? that sounds like a bad connection with the leads of your tester (multi-meter?) anyways, with the temp gauge, those are resistance based. like fuel senders may use 0ohms for full and 30 for empty or something like that. maybe your temp sender has the short?

Default_Name

4g4dcruisin

i was just outside tearing apart my wiring underdash. i pulled every fuse to see if the problem went away, (trying to cut out the system possibly causing the problem).

i checked ALL the wiring to the back of the radio, even disconnected the entire harness from battery to radio so no power draw there. i did have a new CEL of 7, no other CEL's came on, just the 7.

every ground in the engine bay is good, temp sensor, intake mani plugs are all secure. this problem happened out of the blue, all i can think of is major failure of the ELD system (not the 3 plug connector going to it), the underhood fuse panel possibly, the ECU or the dizzy.

tomorrow is 50% off everything at pick-a-part so im going to buy all the electrical **** i need as long as i can find it. i'll check back in tomorrow afternoon.

PrettyMicky951

I was kind of having this problem! when I turned on my headlights radio would go out .. when i turn them off it would come on. also there was a weird noise as if the radio was seeing constant power from the headlight source when the lights were on an key was out... I checked all my grounds( i regrounded both engine bay ground boxes
), changed the relay thats behind the center console and I didnt have the problem anymore. ... plus this is only on a shell no motor, trans so I dont think your problems coincide with the alternator, battery, and so on..!

Default_Name

radio static wasn't a symptom he was having. but i was having a problem like he and you described, and i did have to change a bad relay, as it had gotten wet and was drawing lots of power. it was a pilot brand headlight relay i installed myself, outside the safety of the elements.

4g4dcruisin

update: got a new under hood fuse panel and im STILL having the same problem. my alternator is putting out 14v now and the batter is at like 13v idling. this is good news so far, now i just need to see if maybe my combination switch is faulty.

alright you guys are saying the relay behind the centerconsole? the one mounted just below where the radio bolts up?

i'm going to check the wiring on my headlights and see what happens.

4g4dcruisin

im throwing code 8 by the way.

4g4dcruisin

wow i think i fixed my problem, i got new lowbeams from an EX that was at the junkyard...i put em in, fired up the car with brights on and i had no drop in power or anything.

also i found out that a late 80's volvo has a sweet lip that fits the sedan PERFECTLY....ill post pics tomorrow.

Default_Name

no, my relay was not a stock relay. i was using it for some after market fog lights that i fitted in and wired myself. the relay just sat under the hood and so it got wet and had troubles.

Fo-Do Fanatic

Sooo your headlight bulbs were causing that much draw?

4g4dcruisin

it sure seems like it, these new bulbs are 9005 in 9006 housing, you have to trim out the middle notches to make them fit.

so yea headlight bulbs were faulty, crazy ****.

4g4dcruisin

so this is what is happening as of now... temp jumps around, rpm jumps around, turn on headlights and radio turns off, use signal lights and the rpm, also throwing constant code 17 (vss loose, unplugged).

NEWLY discovered issue, goin over speedbumb i have full brightness, press brake when car is off and cel, batter, brake, seatbelt lights all illuminate with brake lights.

flojo

my radio turns off than it goes back on like normal when i press the brake most of the times