in the past couple of days my car hasn't been starting up right. I would turn the ignition on, and the car won't start or it'll almost start and then die...and after awhile of trying to get it started...it'll work. I was thinking it might be my distributor, starter, or alternater...but then...I was thinking it might also be my alarm. Cause for awhile now, it has been doing a wierd clicking noise under the steering wheel. So I took a look, and it was the relay that was clicking. So last nite, I got fustrated...and pulled all the wires off of the relay...now the car won't even start. So I tried putting all the wires back...but don't know which goes to which...since I bought the car w/ the alarm already...and I don't know the name of it either. I know this is long, but info would be great. Thanks.

 

you dont know the kind of car or alarm brand...

 

The relay you unplugged was ether a starter kill and if defective will give you problems in turning the motor over to start, or it was an ign. kill and if defective, would keep the car from starting even if it was turning over, [cranking] properly. ether way to fix you will need to replace the relay, or you can by pass it, on the relay there would have been 4 term. plugged in, using at least 3 wires, [one may be a jumper off another wire] there should be two thick wires, [they will be the starter or ign. wires] they will have to be connected together, you can sometimes do this by just plugging them back in to the relay like this http://www.the12volt.com/relays/page2.asp and disconnect the pink and orange wires, [or whatever colors the thinner wires on your relay are] however if the relay is bad, you will have to connect the two thick wired together. 94

 

well, before i got your advice...i was messing with the relay...and now the cluster lights won't go off...and the turn signal won't signal...but will stay on or click randomly. I found out where the brain is too and disconnect that....car starts normal...cluster lights go off...but no turn signal still. When I plug in the brain...the cluster lights comes on...but still no turn signal. I checked the fuses under the dash too...they look alrite. Any more info would be great. Thanks.

 

Obviously w/o seeing it, it would be hard to troubleshoot.

Why don't you completely remove the alarm first? That seems to be what's causing the problem, so eliminate that. Not just pull the relay, but remove ALL wiring. You may have accidently shorted something out in your frustration also, you never know - did you swap wires around/etc w/ the battery still connected or did you disconnect the battery?

If removing the alarm doesn't solve your problem, try getting an FSM so you can trace the wires and check them w/ a multimeter to find out if they are all getting/sending the correct voltage.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by methos713 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well, before i got your advice...i was messing with the relay...and now the cluster lights won't go off...and the turn signal won't signal...but will stay on or click randomly. I found out where the brain is too and disconnect that....car starts normal...cluster lights go off...but no turn signal still. When I plug in the brain...the cluster lights comes on...but still no turn signal. I checked the fuses under the dash too...they look alrite. Any more info would be great. Thanks.</TD></TR></TABLE> If the "cluster" lights work normally when the alarm brain is unplugged it's the alarm that is keeping them on, probably the park lights also, do the hazard lights work? Did you check the fuses in the engine bay fuse box?
What kind of alarm is it? There is a problem with the alarm, or the way it's wired, maybe a poor ground. I am not sure what is wrong with the signal lights but they are not on the same circuit as the park/cluster lights, [constant power] the signal lights are in the ign., [switched power]. 94

 

well, found out why the turn signal didn't signal...it was my mistake...forgot to plug in the hazzard switch. As for the alarm...I just unplug the brain...and everything is normal...no alarm. Whenever I feel like going through and searching for all those wires...I will...but I think the brain might be faulty...it clicks also...just like the relay. But yeah, thanks for all the help.

 

if you ever plug the brain back in check your ground....alarms tend to go off if you have power going into it but not a good or no ground.