Help. No Idea

[lowndsie]

I'll see how I go at explaining this.

Firstly, My brake and charge light flash on when Im using my blinkers. They dont do it all the time but the funny part is as soon as I put my foot on the brake they stop flashing and remain off. I also noticed that when I use the window washer they'll flash on as well. Its very hard to track down because it's not happening all the time. Any ideas?

Secondly, I was driving home yesterday and I was in 5th gear then all of a sudden I lost all power. I couldnt accelerate at all and the revs wouldnt go up either. I tried to put my blinker on to get off the road and my blinkers would work either. The weird part is that the radio was still going. Once I pulled over I turned the ignition off and then started her back up again and everything was fine. I've since done 100km and it hasnt happened again????

Any help is appreciated.

[V8 Middy]

I'd be checking for dirty battery terminals first, that can cause all sorts of wierd things to happen. It would also explain the occasional flash of the charge light.

The intermittent faulty could also be a bad earth connection but being intermittent, its going to be a bitch to trace

[lowndsie]

Thanx for the info. I'll see if I can trace all earths and ensure they are clean and tight. I'll also chck the terminals.

Seems weird that I couldnt get any revs in the motor when I put my foot down on the accerlerators.

[Toy80Diesel]

The intermittent faulty could also be a bad earth connection but being intermittent, its going to be a bitch to trace

X2

Sounds very much like a bad earth, could be anywhere, start from the terminals, check out the taillight wiring, any trailer plugs?

The loss of power all of a sudden is strange, that sounds more like an ignition/coil/dizzy problem. Check all the leads & wiring there too.
Possibly any dodgy fuses in the fuse box?

[lowndsie]

Funny you should mention the ignition..... I wasnt sure but I thought there was a loud click noise that came from the ignition just before it happened....

Do ignitions normally give up the ghost straight away or do they usually slowly decline?

[DamTriton]

The intermittent faulty could also be a bad earth connection but being intermittent, its going to be a bitch to trace

X2

Sounds very much like a bad earth, could be anywhere, start from the terminals, check out the taillight wiring, any trailer plugs?

The loss of power all of a sudden is strange, that sounds more like an ignition/coil/dizzy problem. Check all the leads & wiring there too.
Possibly any dodgy fuses in the fuse box?

X3

Look around the tail light clusters first, then the dashboard. You are looking for the earth strap that goes from these items to the chassis, or screws that support these going through to the chassis. Usual cause of problems is a bit of vibration and a bit of corrosion, easiest fix is to put new terminals on the links and remove/clean/reinstall the relevant screws.

[Toy80Diesel]

Funny you should mention the ignition..... I wasnt sure but I thought there was a loud click noise that came from the ignition just before it happened....

Do ignitions normally give up the ghost straight away or do they usually slowly decline?

I wouldn't suspect the ingnition switch at first, but the click you hear sounds like a dodgy relay? You'd have a few under the dashboard near the fusebox. Check for any of them getting unusually warm.

[lowndsie]

thanks for the info, i'll keep an eye on the relays on the drive home 2nite. Should they get slightly warm or stay at normal inside car temp?

[Toy80Diesel]

thanks for the info, i'll keep an eye on the relays on the drive home 2nite. Should they get slightly warm or stay at normal inside car temp?

You should be able to touch them without a problem. any hotter and i'd be concerned. But just look out for engine management type of relays, and EFI stuff.

And don't keep an eye on them while driving, you can't see the road from under the dashoard

[DamTriton]

thanks for the info, i'll keep an eye on the relays on the drive home 2nite. Should they get slightly warm or stay at normal inside car temp?

You should be able to touch them without a problem. any hotter and i'd be concerned. But just look out for engine management type of relays, and EFI stuff.

And don't keep an eye on them while driving, you can't see the road from under the dashoard

Get the girlfriend to do it for you while she's down there

[-Scott-]

Dodgy earth connection somewhere. The engine stopping is possibly ignition failure, because the voltage dropped below the hold-in value for some relay - but your radio coped OK, because it doesn't use much power. Yes, I'm guessing.

If your battery earths to chassis via the engine block, I'd check the block-chassis connection first.

Good luck,

Scott

[lowndsie]

Ok. I've found and cleaned a few earths. I found the one near the rear blinkers to the chasis, the one from the batt to the chassis, and one from the chasis to the engine block. Inside I could only see one going from the dash area to the firewall. Not sure how many earths there are spose to be but does is sound like im getting close???

[DamTriton]

Ok. I've found and cleaned a few earths. I found the one near the rear blinkers to the chasis, the one from the batt to the chassis, and one from the chasis to the engine block. Inside I could only see one going from the dash area to the firewall. Not sure how many earths there are spose to be but does is sound like im getting close???

Sounds to be pretty close, but have a look at any other accessories that appear to be playing up as well (windscreen wipers, aternator itself).

[lowndsie]

ive cleaned every bloody earth i could find and its still happening. I could only see one earth inside the cab so im guessing i'll have to pull the dash apart tomorrow and see if i can find any others.....

is the any way i can track it down using a multi meter or something???

[lowndsie]

Ive taken the whole dash apart and the only earth i can find is the one from the aftermarket cruise control!! Is there spose to be more earths in the cab or do most of them run out through the firewall with the rest of the wiring harness???

[lowndsie]

I did find something interesting when I was putting the dash back together. I noticed a slice in the black wire coming from the ingintion which was expsong the wire under the insulation. Could this have been causing the issue?? I rewired it and put it all back together. So far the problem hasnt happened again aand i've done about 150kms.... So I'm crossing my fingers at this stage. Another day or two should hopefully give me the answer im looking for.