R33 Electrical Gremlims

[DAN-33]

First up, not sure if this belongs in this section, so bare with me.

i got a 95 R33 manual turbo rah rah rah,

bone stock engine wise and body, just has some coilovers and swaybars, braces etc.

Im having issues with the Battery going flat after 2 days of no use.

Ive replaced the battery, battery leads and terminals,

disconnected the stereo, disconnected the key hole light around ignition as it would stay on when door closed and locked.

boot light disconnect as ive read they can go faulty. removed the turbo timer as the screen shit itself and stopped working (was working great intill electrical gremlins came in)

i had to removed a lot of unused wiring from a car pc install, was wires taped into the cluster, and fuse box, random shit here and there.

from what i gather now its all bone stock wiring wise minus the alarm and boost gauge.

just seems everything electrical is playing up, is it normal for all the dash lights, and clock and stereo to Dim when light puts on?

I havnt tested the alternator to see if its charging, but i put a brand new fresh charged battery in and it was flat in 2 days.

Any idea's on what to check, how to do it would be great, worse case is ill drop it off at a auto electrician, but would rather try fix it myself if possible.

Thanks

[Plattsy]

test your alternator my man. can do nothing until this is done.

[DAN-33]

test your alternator my man. can do nothing until this is done.

Still doesnt explain why i freshly charged brand new battery went flat after 2 days of no driving. i literally put it in, turned key, it fired up. i shut it down and left it.

2 days later, wouldnt crank, just couple starter clicks. stereo worked for a second or 2 and then wouldnt turn back on. connect jump pack and it fires up like its a fresh battery,

[Ty1]

i can answer one of your questions...yes it is normal for the dash lights to dim when lights are switched on

+1 for checking alternator also

[DAN-33]

Thank you, one down

Yes will get alt tested asap, still dont understand whats causing battery to go flat though when im not driving.

[StevenCJR31]

i had the same problem years ago, it turned out to be a faulty relay staying energised even when key was out of the ignition = flat battery, id be checking this or any thing else related (as well testing alternator while your at it)

[DAN-33]

i had the same problem years ago, it turned out to be a faulty relay staying energised even when key was out of the ignition = flat battery, id be checking this or any thing else related (as well testing alternator while your at it)

Have read something to do with the ECU relays, ECU stays grounded or something and thinks its still on. so flattens battery.

I have bought a Multi meter, so will check battery and Alternator ASAP.

[DAN-33]

Battery tests at 12.65V fully charged

When engine running its 14.22V,

Drops to 9.57V on crank then bumps up to 14.22.

With lights on, AC on, stereo on, and anything else i can put on, and sitting at 2000rpm its 14.17V

after car is off, battery reads 12.57v

test for battery drain it was fluctuating at 0.05 to 0.07 and every 10 seconds or so it would bash up to 7.00, this is testing on a 20amp setting on multimeter with the multimeter between earth cable and earth terminal on battery.

Disconnected the 4 fuses for the Alarm, it sat at a steady 0.03,

Removing the what i believe is the power window fuse from under bonnet it drops to 0.01-0.02

Removing the fuse labeled "electrics" going buy a engine translated picture it drops to 0.00 which im assuming is no battery drain what so ever.

If anyone can shed some light on this, then great stuff

[DAN-33]

been connected for 30 mins now, solid at 0.01 for battery drain, unsure if thats normal or not though

[T.D]

Have you checked the immobiliser? Reason being, when I had my 33, the immobiliser would drain the battery within a couple days of not starting.

[DAN-33]

yeah thats what causes most of the drain Mate, 2 posts up i said i removed the 4 fuses for the alarm, guess i should have put its a immobiliser as well haha.

My other R33 reads 0.03 drain and it never goes flat, even after no start in 2 weeks. so in theory the 0.01 from this 33 should mean it shouldnt go flat.... "shouldnt"

Odd thing is i had removed the fuses to alarm/imm over the weekend and it was still flat.. hmm.

Edited April 9, 2013 by DAN-33

[T.D]

yeah thats what causes most of the drain Mate, 2 posts up i said i removed the 4 fuses for the alarm, guess i should have put its a immobiliser as well haha.

My other R33 reads 0.03 drain and it never goes flat, even after no start in 2 weeks. so in theory the 0.01 from this 33 should mean it shouldnt go flat.... "shouldnt"

Odd thing is i had removed the fuses to alarm/imm over the weekend and it was still flat.. hmm.

Sorry mate, didn't see that post re: the immobiliser. I never really got a "fix" for the immobiliser problem (just assumed it was a power hungry immobiliser) so I just had it on a smart-charger for most of the time (rarely drove the car in the end prior to selling. Maybe a couple of times a month?).

[DAN-33]

yeah this alarm is shit house,

even with all the fuses out i can still start car, but i still have to press button on key chain.

I got a feeling there is another power source for it somewhere.

[Plattsy]

Sorry mate, didn't see that post re: the immobiliser. I never really got a "fix" for the immobiliser problem (just assumed it was a power hungry immobiliser) so I just had it on a smart-charger for most of the time (rarely drove the car in the end prior to selling. Maybe a couple of times a month?).

STILL CANT BELIEVE YOU SOLD IT........

trace all wires back from the alarm mate. disconnect and tag them so you know what goes where. leave it as usual and see if battery discharges. only way to do it really.

also id check the size of your battery. i have some funky jap spec pager alarm on mine and have never had this issue....

[DAN-33]

yeah alarm is all disconnected and has no power to it, im hoping anyway.

Battery is new, 330cca, unsure of the other numbers though, bigger then the previous battery i know that much.

Im guessing the alarm spikes every few minutes when connected and slowly drains battery, as starter just clicks after 2 days

[T.D]

STILL CANT BELIEVE YOU SOLD IT........

trace all wires back from the alarm mate. disconnect and tag them so you know what goes where. leave it as usual and see if battery discharges. only way to do it really.

also id check the size of your battery. i have some funky jap spec pager alarm on mine and have never had this issue....

Yeah, I know. Miss that car heaps apparently the new owner blew the head gasket, which is unfortunate. Hoepfully it gives him the chance to build it bigger and stronger.

yeah alarm is all disconnected and has no power to it, im hoping anyway.

Battery is new, 330cca, unsure of the other numbers though, bigger then the previous battery i know that much.

Im guessing the alarm spikes every few minutes when connected and slowly drains battery, as starter just clicks after 2 days

Bit of a band-aid solution but maybe jsut keep her hooked up to a trickle charger until you can get the alarm/immobiliser checked out. The chargers are about $70 or so from Ricebarn so def. a good investment in my eyes

[DAN-33]

Yeah i got a charger,

just trying to pin point the problem so i can get it fixed, anyway of testing the back up battery in the siren? maybe its cactus and pulling power from battery?

[DAN-33]

Replaced the alarm module with a new one, same brand so plug and play.

seemed good for a week. Battery was flat again this morning.

Getting a 0.02 that flutters to 0.03 and 0.04 reading on multimeter for the battery draw.

Should that number be solid? and not flutter?

Im about ready to drop it off at a auto electrician, its near doing my head in.