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Can low voltage cause boost problems?

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Old 06-13-05, 07:31 PM
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Can low voltage cause boost problems?

I recently found out the diods in the altenator are bad. Out one night the car was driving fine from the get go, about 45min into the drive i noticed the lights dimming etc. With these normal issues showing of the altenator going bad, the boost was also not happening.
My boost gauge is an electronic HKS, and it ws reading fine when i left but when the car started showing signs of low voltage i was showing no boost. I know its not a prob with the gauge showing no boost because the car is not accelerating worth crap, also it still reads vacume fine.

I have sent the altenator out to be rebuilt, so atleast i will have my charging issues fixed, but do you think it can effect the boost, or could it be the typical car getting hot issue and solenoids are failing?

I also just did a full vacume job, new restrictor pill lines, and check valves.
Old 06-14-05, 09:24 AM
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So are there any solenoids that are not only run by vacume but also are electronic? Will no battery juice effect these solenoids/boost?

I find it funny how when someone post something that has been talked about before, people will waist their time writing two pages of "this has been disscused before" and "search" but no one has any thing to say about this......
Old 06-14-05, 09:42 AM
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Low voltage = less fuel. Fix the alternator and your problems should be solved.
Old 06-14-05, 09:58 AM
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FWIW, I imagine a couple solenoids will not function right with less-than-full voltage. But like Jeff said, that's the least of your worries. Get full B+ in the system and then work with remaining problems.

That said, now would be a good time to turn the ignition on and check to see that full battery voltage gets to each solenoid connector. Bad wiring or a short would certainly not be good. I've never done that without the alternator in place, but it's possible you only need to clear the ECU codes after performing the test.

Dave
Old 06-14-05, 12:11 PM
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Thanx guys, now that i know that voltage could be a possibilty, ill wait and see what happenes when I put the rebuilt back in.
I already did a quick check of vac lines and all were in place, so hopefully this will cure my probs.

If not im having the "over heated solenoid" problems. The only draw back i have to that is i also replaced those from a car that had them new for approx 1 year.
Old 06-14-05, 12:27 PM
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The solenoids can go at any time. A tiny bubble in the coil varnish insulation could short in a year, or a seal could get contaminated and cause a slow leak anytime. I recently got some 15k old solenoids that looked to be in brand new condition - after testing all of them and the ones in my car with 60k, there were a couple bad ones in each group.

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Old 06-14-05, 02:53 PM
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My car sat for a while during the winter and the battery partially discharged, but the car still started. I noticed that the 3K hesitation problem was much worse with the battery partially discharged, and the engine was sluggish. After recharging the battery, performance was back to normal.
Old 06-14-05, 10:45 PM
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Low voltage can wreak havoc

Originally Posted by Mazdabation
Thanx guys, now that i know that voltage could be a possibilty, ill wait and see what happenes when I put the rebuilt back in
Voltage can deffinately be a possiblity, not only for operating the solenoids but for all the readings the ECU looks at will be considerably off, especially if your using the head lights or running any kind of extra electrical load. A friend of mine has had two alternators act up on him and both times he thought it was the ECU, sent it off and had it looked at before he realized the alternator wasn't charging. If there's one thing a turbo timer is worth ....it's the volt meter that it has. Jack

Last edited by CantGoStraight; 06-14-05 at 10:47 PM. Reason: spellin
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