well i have a 99 em1 that i just bought and it has some electrical problem....in the daytime the car runs fine... at night when i turn on the headlights the car will shut off... if i crank the car up again with the headlights on then it will run fine... it seems that initial headlight on is whats triggering the car to shut off.... at first it had hids which was a cheap kit and it flickered so i removed them and put stock bulbs to see if it flickers but it will just turn the car off... what could cause this? all grounds have been checked and are on tight.... help me guys this is very annoying....

another thing that happens is the ac looses power for a sec and then powers back up... the radio will also power down and power back up a second later.... i notice this happens alot when i go over a speed bump(does it usually when i suddenly hit the brakes)... like when im slowing down and braking to go over the bump everything like dims....

 

check all electrical grounds.. download the service manual and follow the procedures. I have a copy of the manual but be sure not to print it out because it's cheaper to buy the book than to print it.

 

Some engine grounds can be found in the FAQs sticky.

 

Thanks... I've check them all but still nothing from what i can see...

 

Did you check their resistance to body ground using a multimeter?

 

No I haven't so I touch all grounds with a multimedia, which should it read?

 

Multimeter -- Less than 50 Ohms, typically less than 10 Ohms.

 

my bad ground was by the tail lights in a civic once with the same problem

 

Awesome info...

Deetz can u point it all grounds I should look for? This thing is very annoying...

 

Is there only one ground for the taillight harness?

 

lulz

 

Dude, you have multiple things failing. Im betting on the alternator. Do a simple check on the charging system.

 

I'll have someone look at it... When it comes to electrical things I don't mess with but the car is constantly turning off and radio shuts off as well..

 

i had the battery and alternator tested and they are perfect... can anyone tell me where the other grounds are located such as the taillight harness ground?

 

ok so yesterday i started in the trunk and eliminated any wire i saw that wasnt stock... i did this everywhere and even eliminated the aftermarket foglight harness the car had... i put an s2000 radio so it plugs up perfect and no wiring needs to be touched so basically all i have now is a stock em1 with a clifford matrix 3.3x..... yesterday i test drove it and nothing happened so i figured it must of been something i took off that fixed the problem... drove it some more today and radio didnt shut off at all... now driving home at night car drive fine all the way till i was pulling into my community... car didnt shut off but radio turned off/on and headlights dimmed... so my battery and alternator were tested and both 100%... those 3 of my engine grounds are on tight... what else should i do? should i look at any specific fuses?

 

sounds almost as if you have a comprehensive electrical problem. check the dash harness grounds, so that would be the ground by the cigarette lighter, and on either side of the dash board. Just check every ground and make sure you don't have any frayed wires and hopefully that's all you have to do. When I clean my grounds, I don't scrape of the paint because obviously it's suppose to be there.. Instead I take anything that should be bare like the eyelit, the bolts and the washers attached to the bolts and scrub them clean. Don't just scrub the threads of the bolts, but get the area between the underside of the head of the bolt and the washer itself.

 

I'll look for that ground tomorrow morning... Thanks! Will keep u posted...

 

i have similar problems but in opposite way
i have EM1 and whenever i turn on my headlight, my idles goes higher (close to 1k)

 

okay i went at it again today and i checked for the ground behind the cig lighter and it was on tight... i looked at the fuses and i noticed the radio fuse said 10a but it had a 20a on it... i put a 10a and lets see if it fixes the problem...

 

That's normal.. lulz... If you could measure the actual RPM of the idle before and after, we could confirm if it's completely normal or not. Idle is suppose to go higher when you turn on the headlights.. tachometer is not terribly accurate FYI.

 

well now the lights flicker and radio turns off everytime i hit the brakes.... what else could it be fellas?

 

does it with the lights off as well...

 

You bought a car with big time electrical problems. The previous owner probably did a lot of hack job installs. You are not familiar with vehicle electrical systems and have yet to take a multimeter to it. You need to take the car to someone that can give it a thorough once over since this is obviously over your head.

 

my friend has a multimeter but what should he check? im going to remove the clifford tomorrow but i doubt thats the problem..

 

We can't pin point the problem, you have been given stuff to check.