Okay guys.. No try not to laugh your @$$ off here... I over the last couple days, installed my Crane HI-6 box. I went to start it up yesterday and boom. Nuttin. I tested the battery itself, all good. Tested just the cables (no battery) and got 3volts. Unpluged my stereo and it went up to 6volts. Now pluging up the battery and testing bat to chassis yeilded 7-8volts and the needle never stoped fluxing. I removed the crane box and thought everything was back to normal. Or so it seemed. Now, the battery is still good, but when I hook it up to the cables it reads 10volts. When I hookup just the cables (no battery) I get 3volts. That's with everything disconnected. Stereo, alternator, and voltage regulator. I also tried replacing the alternator, so a new one sits in there now. Now, also when the cables hooked up I have no interior lights, nothing. So people.. I'm calling for everyone suggestions and ideas here as I'm baffled all to hell here... What on earth in the car could cause this? From the way it looks, the car has 3volts without a battery and when the battery is hooked up it's backfeeding or something and droping the battery down 3volts. Please, HELP!!! :ball: :ball:
ttt - come on guys.. somebodies gotta have some kinda idea here... I just had a garage sale with my car parked out front. I couldn't bear to look at it just sitting there on the street..
I wish I could help you Scott but electricity and me are not the best of friends. Maybe the bump will help. Bill S.
I am not sure what you have there, but 3 volts can't just come from "nowhere". what test equipment are you using to determine the voltages and where are you hooking the leads? I have seen test equipment load up with a static charge before or when having a floating ground problem. First thing is to check your ground cable and make sure the connection to the block or head is very clean. Even if it looks clean, I would take it off...scuff it a bit and the point where it bolts onto also. After that I would hook the battery up and check for any voltage between the negative battery terminal and something like a bolt on the inner fender ot core support. If you have over 0.10 volts, then you have lost your chassis/body ground. That would be the place to start......do that with everything plugged in. I have seen some really wierd things, specially with the newer stuff that I work on....... you can spend hours looking for a lost ground on the new stuff.
Just a hunch here. Since, I can't see your wiring or what not. But, I think your Crane HI-6 is bad. The voltage you are reading could be voltage stored in a capacitor within the ignition module. And, it could be causing a short between positive and ground when you have the battery hooked up, therefore causing the battery to read a lower voltage. NOTE: I'm only on my first year of college electronics, so I may be thinking of something impossible.
Thanks Bill. Mike: I'll do that in the morning.. If one thing I just thought of fixes it, I'm gonna lay myself out with a frying pan. JTY: You sir, were correct in your assumption. The Crane box was bad as it was storing 6volts. The problem is tho, now the box is gone but the problem still exists. One thing that changed when I pulled the box was the voltage quit varying. Almost like the gauge was playing a game of tug-o-war.. lol Keep 'em commin!
Are you reading proper battery voltage now? If not, I'd suggest taking your battery in, and having it tested. Also, the Crane box may have damaged something else in your car's electronics.
I went out and got a multimeter and took it for a spin a few min ago. DCV 20 setting: Bat Neg > Bat Pos = 12.85 Bat Neg > Disconnected Bat Pos Cable = 2.8 Ohm 200 setting: Bat Neg > Volt Regulator Black Wire = 5.8 Bat Neg > Ignition Wire (firewall>+coil) 2.75 Bat Neg > Engine Ground = 0.1-0.2 Bat Neg > Alternator Bat Wire = 0.0 When I tested the fuse box with a disconnected battery I read no voltage from anywhere including the red IGN wire. Checking the same on Ohm scale it varied between fuses 0.0 - 0.5. I hope this helps someone as it doesn't tell me anything I understand. One sad mofo,
Hmm, your Ohm(resistance) readings look fine. The Bat Pos. to Neg, looks fine. The other one looks unusual, I would think that it should read 0 volts. I can't think of anything else.
Okay guys.. I got out today and tested the fusable link, tested good, then decided to pulled a few things and retested a few more. Comparing the results to "the book", I found the ignition wire should only have 1.8Ohms in it. I was reading almost 3. So I started taking apart stuff to get at it and found my wiring stunt that I did last year. Well, long story short. *NEVER* run a parallel wire inline with the resistor wire. The end on the intake side had litterally melted the electrical tape to the plastic harness, which also got a hole melted in it. The wire didn't look to hot and the tap-in connector was burned. The person who suggested this will remain nameless. So I spent what time I had today removing the firewall box and ditching the resistor wire for a new 18ga connection. I also removed the tape on the three heavy gauge wires in the harness as well. Anyone know why they took three wires and soldered them into two large wires? Also, can heatshrink be cut down the middle and still used? I'd rather use heatshrink then electrical tape but I'm not crazy enough to undo a perfectly good solder joint. Now, since I'm shooting for "the right way" here, I took heatshrink and used it to 'end' the wires still in place instead of taping with electrical tape. I did heat up the ends and pinch them shut if that matters. So, hopefully somtime tomorrow I'll know whether that was my problem or not. I hope it was and that it's fixed as I'm tired of seeing it sit on the street and waste away. Plus I'm tired of driving around in a 77 Chebby. :ball:
