Car is a 13b-re FC. Had to relocate the batter for intercooler piping. I used an NHRA legal box, 2 gauge primary wire from the battery to starter, connecting to a second 2 gauge wire going to a distro block which connects to main power, eFan the haltech power in wires etc. Ran a seprate 4 gauge wire from the alternator to the battery. There is a cutoff switch in the primary 2 gauge wire to the starter and fuse block.

So when I swich off the switch, the car goes off and no voltage spike, but the problem is I am getting the glowing idiot lights on and off like a bad alternator, but with no drop in voltage production. Has anyone run into this before?

Thanks.

 

I did mine very similar to your and it's swell. I'd say (just guessing) check all your connections and maybe test the alternator. Sorry but it seems it should work.

 

Alternator checks out good, still getting the intermitent glowing lights.

Does anyone know how the circuit which controls the lights actually works?

Could some electical module in the car be dead?

Anyone know where else to look?

Thanks..

 

You need to also switch the alternator lead.

 

Why: the alternator is connected to the battery directly, the only return path for power is the battery primary wire which is switched.

If I switch the battery off then alternator is still getting power, but its not going anywhere else, because the alternator is only connected to the battery.

Switching the battery off while the engine is running will most defanly give a good voltage spike, but it won't be able to go anywhere, and I doubt if it will damage the battery.

 

Oh, I see what you did. I misunderstood the original post. The alternator is direct to the battery and the switch cuts the alternator lead and the battery.

In that case, I have no idea. That should effectivly cut all power to the car and if the engine is not running, the alternator ain't going to be generating any voltage. So my best guess (without being able to take a meter to the car) is that you have a "leak" somewhere. Some circuit is pulling power from the wrong side of the switch. I bet this leak is the alternator which is conecting through it's rectifiers back into the system and lighting idiot cluster...

So as I mentioned, you need to also switch the alternator lead.

 

Good theory, but not possible. The only place for current to leak is through the second 2 wire plug on the alternator. It has one wire that is connected to the battery which it uses as a refrence voltage, and a second wire connected to the ignition via a relay which it uses to light the idiot lights.
In any case thats not the actual problem, the actual problem is the idiot lights on while the car is driving. As it turns out they are on because the alternator was going over 15 volts. The reason for this is a bad connection on the alternators refrence wire that I just talked about above. Replaced the plug with female spade terminals (temporary) and I am back to normal.

I am considering things though and I may change the system just slighty. Because of the long cable runs and the fact that the battery is the central point of conection, the alternator is normally putting out 14.5-14.6 volts but the distrobution block which everything is connected to is only seeing 14.2 volts. I may connect the alternator voltage refrence dirrect to the alternator. This would make it more like it was when you simply shut the car down. And it should bring the voltage down slightly.