Wiring/fuses/lights issue

[pu-11-me]

So, I have a little issue.

When I go to unlock the car, it doesn't unlock (Central locking), but the immobiliser appears to be working fine.

When I turn the car on I get no interior lights, no dash lights, no air coming from the air con although the lights/controls on the air con come on, no fogs, no brake lights, no cd player.

It appears that EVERYTHING else is working, but, whenever I use anything electrical in the car, the RPM increases to put load on the alternator to keep it running.

If I take it for a drive, everything turns on and works again after I give it a good run.

I have replaced the battery, checked the earth, the isolator and cabling to the boot which all looks fine.

I assume I have a short on the circuit that all of the above is on. It must be on something that is on constant power as it is stopping things (overdrawing current) when the car is off also (hence the doors not unlocking).

So, I am open to suggestion here.....

 

[Nitephyre]

I'd be looking in the area of that fuck-off huge sub & amp mate!

 

[pu-11-me]

I'd be looking in the area of that fuck-off huge sub & amp mate!

Already disconnected, so its not that

Plus, it is something on constant power as it is still draining even when the car is off.

This is in 123AYC btw (Which aren't the actual plates anymore, but just for reference's sake!)

 

[unclepaulie]

Silly but obvisous...checked all your fuses/relays?

 

[pu-11-me]

Silly but obvisous...checked all your fuses/relays?

Done that, all APPEAR to be ok..... But without replacing ALL of them you can't be sure, and I don't intend to do that.

The next step I think will be to remove fuses one by one until I find the culprit circuit....

 

[Scottie]

When you say on, you mean turn to "ON" or start?

Do the brake lights etc operate up until turning to "ON"?

 

[mchieff]

Done that, all APPEAR to be ok..... But without replacing ALL of them you can't be sure, and I don't intend to do that.

The next step I think will be to remove fuses one by one until I find the culprit circuit....

Multimeter across the terminals - i've had two dead fuses that appeared fine catch me over the years .

 

[pu-11-me]

When you say on, you mean turn to "ON" or start?

Do the brake lights etc operate up until turning to "ON"?

On or started, makes no difference unfortunately. Not until I drive it for a little bit do they start working normally.

Something else to note is that the speed of the wipers is SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW so I would assume these must be on the same circuit.

 

[pu-11-me]

Multimeter across the terminals - i've had two dead fuses that appeared fine catch me over the years .

I broke my multimeter

Its booked in to the auto sparky on Tuesday, just trying to find out anything I can do first to try and resolve the issue.

The other thing it could POSSIBLY be is the fuse on the battery line from the front to the back (Battery in boot). I might eliminate from the equation also...

 

[Jonson]

Don't just look at fuses, check with test light. To me it sounds like a fuse.

 

[hozza]

You said the rpm increases to cover the load. that's telling me its not the fuses maybe something even before the fuses. might be a short to earth some where from the alternator or battery to the fuse boxes. because if it shorts to earth it decreses the voltage meaning some thing might not work due to low voltage. are you finding the battery is draining quickly.

 

[naughtika]

Check your ground.. I bet $10 it's that..

 

[Nitephyre]

Yeah, your ground wire(s) might be exposed or broken, but I'd also start pulling fuses until you find the problem area.

 

[naughtika]

fuses are simple.. they work or they don't..

I had issues something similar to this before.. where I would drive for about half hour or so.. pull over, walk away from the car and lock it.. few minutes later I would come back and my central lock would not work.. same goes with the dash, stereo and stuff.. this happened 3 times.. and finally I got sick of it and checked the negative terminal at the battery and it was the culprit..

 

[Scottie]

It really does sound like a shitty earth..

 

[gorgath]

want some grounding wires? come over to my place as I got a whole roll with a diameter like size of thumb.

 

[pu-11-me]

Multimeter across the terminals - i've had two dead fuses that appeared fine catch me over the years .

This man has it. Fuse 19 (100 amp sucker in the engine bay fuse box)

It hadn't blown but was dropping current from 13.3V to 0.7V across the fuse. Mate brought around his multi meter and took about 5 minutes to find it!

Thanks for all the suggestions and the $10 Chris

 

[naughtika]

lol.. I'll give it to you when you come back up here...

 

[pu-11-me]

Bumping this thread with a new issue.

Fuse 8 in the engine bay (Ie, the fuse that is for the parkers on the drivers side of the vehicle) instantly blows whenever I switch on the lights/fogs.

I have run a continuity test to earth from the output side of the fuse and I get continuity to earth. On a line that is supposed to be DC +ve, I would assume thats bad and it is what is causing my issue.

Sooooooooooooooooooo, how do we suppose I might find where this break is? Or should I just send it to the auto sparky?

 

[naughtika]

check your park light's bulb holder, I've noticed that it can easily ground itself.. I've blown about 5 fuses after replacing the bulb..