Ignition/Gauge/Engine Problem
 

OK. I know someone else has reciently had this problem but no solutions. So hopefully I will be able to explain it in a way that someone can help.

A week ago I was driving down the interstate in 5th and my gauges all went dead. I thought that was kind of wierd so I let the car sit for the next day till I could get around to troubleshooting it. Then when I went outside 2 days later I started the car back up and the gauges all worked again. I thought, GREAT, and started driving it again.

Then, I was sanding my car last night and I needed to move it so I started it up and moved it where it needed to be. This morning I walked outside and went to start it up and it did but because it was a little cold it died. I tried to start it again but nothing. So I thought it was flooded and took my other car. Later today I went to troubleshoot the car and found that the meter and engine fuses were blown. That was easy. But now my car wont shut off. I thought that was kind of odd. So to get it to shut off I put it in gear and kill it, then pull the EGI INJ and EGI COMP fuses up front.

ANYBODY KNOW WHAT THE HELL THE PROBLEM IS.

yeah, you have a short in your wiring, or something aftermarket installed wrong.

Any clutch or tranny work done recently?

and your bump hase been deleted... bumps are forbidden here in the 2nd gen techincal section

No clutch or tranny work has been done reciently. However I did change my clutch master cylinder a couple of weeks ago. And thank you for the suttle warning. I should probably read the rules again. It's been a while.

Oh yeah....noting aftermarket except my A/F gauge. I don't even have a radio.

well the common meter fuse blow, is from the reverse switch on the tranny...

as far as the car not shutting off, what have you changed recently??? Alternator??? any wiring changes at all???

see it sounds like you have the wrong alt in, or something major re-wired incorrectly and you are not posting about what has been changed or modifed to have this problem start.

I changed the alternator out about a month ago. Stock S4 one from autozone. Nothing special.

And like I said I just chainged the clutch master cylinder a couple of months ago. As for any wiring, I haven't changed any wiring lately. Or at all for that matter. I have gauges (A/F, Boost and Volts) wired directly to the battery via a fuse and switch.

I changed the steeringwheel a couple of weeks ago, horn doesn't and never has worked.

However I can tell you that right now the car shuts off and turns on like normal. Really wierd.

well a bad diode in the alt would cause the car not to shut off.

If you ground the horn wire in the steering wheel do you hear a click in the drivers kick panel???

So you have to switch on your extra gauges??? They don't just come on with the key???

These problems all just started happening, out of the blue??? All them at the same time???

I'll have to look into the diode in the alt and do the horn test thingy. I have the extra gauges come on with a switch because I hate splicing into wiring. It looks very neat and clean when I do it my way. And to be clear, the gauges that shut off are the factory gauges (tach, oil pressure, temp and fuel) (boost has never worked).

Right... those factory gauges all would not work if the Meter fuse is blown.

They all get their power from the meter fuse.

Just a thought. How would a bad diode in the alt cause the car not to shut off. I'm looking at the wiring diagrams and just trying to figure out how the 2 are related.

http://www.teamfc3s.org/forum/attach...?postid=317640

see if the diode (in the alt) on the wire feeding from ignition fails, then the alt can back feed the ignition circuit.

Same thing can happen if the that wire and the warning wire get reversed, (Black/Whte and Wht/Blk) but if you just replaced what you had and didn't change plugs it shouldn't be possible to do that.

Awesome. I'll have to check that out when I go home for lunch. What manual or book is that diagram out of.

87 supplimental FSM

Well now that my car is functioning fine I really don't know how to troubleshoot this. If I crossed the wires coming from the alt for troubleshooting purposes, would that help (hurt) it at all.

You probably have a short somewhere in your wiring.

You said you were driving when it first occurred, which could mean some vibration made the wire(s) move around and short, wherever.

Take a look for shorts in the wiring in the things Icemark discussed.

Good luck.

James

FIXED.

I did leave something out. The morning I was leaving to go to work last week, the car started just fine but because it was cold it died like it normally does. At that time I believe the engine and meter fuses blew and the car wouldn't start. At the time I just thought I should keep cranking it to get it started but after about 2 minutes of on again off again starting I gave up and took my other car. Well little did I know, that amount of starting attempts melted the solder on the back side of the ignition and when I push the ignition in a little hard it wont shut off but when I would pull the ignition out a little bit it would shut off just fine. This was the solder points touching. So I re-soldered it and now it works just fine.

Thanks everybody.

Good stuff!

Glad you got it fixed!