Electrical Issue

[Wogan]

OK so here's my issue...

car's been running pretty bad (especially off boost).. spluttering and not having much power.. also the fuel pump has been noisy, the windows have been slow to move up and down, when idling and i turn on the headlights the revs drop, and the stereo has been making a buzzing noise that changes pitch with the revs..

last time i had that noise it was my old altinator dying.. this time i changed the altinator, but it had no effect.

So i went on to change the battery and hooray! the car worked perfectly for a day or so, but now had started slowly developing the same issues as before.

Now i'm thinking it's bad wiring, but how do i work out where the problem is...?

would i see an improvement if i ran a 2nd earth cable from the battery to the chassis?

[jonn]

It couldn't hurt. Maybe check all connections to make sure they are clean and nothing has come off somewhere. Other than that get an auto electrician to have a look at it and they should be able to tell you where the problem is.

I have an earthing kit on mine (came like that from Japan) and it is supposed to help. You could try installing one of those, there is a guy in Perth, Volatile Customs or Audio something or other that makes a kit up (he may install them also).

Volatile Car Audio

Good luck.

Edited June 10, 2010 by jonn

[3LGODZILA]

start with the battery terminals/lugs, the standard ones are pretty shitty and can be pretty lose even when fully tightened.

and before you run new cables check all the earth points and main connections like on your started and alternator, even scratch the paint off where the earth points are. do all this before u do cable upgrades. no point running a new cable to a shitty earth point.

is the alternator new or a recon? just because its been done recently doesnt mean it cant fail.

but going from wat you've said about the new battery fixing the prob for only a day, id start with the terminals

[libardi]

is the alternator belt slipping? is it tensioned properly? maybe you got something sucking some serious power while the car is turned off killing the battery while your not watching...

[snozzle]

check the voltage on ur battery when its running, your alternator might be dead, if its not above 12v u need to replace

generally speaking, should b 13v-14v