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new owner with electrical issues

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Old 12-06-12, 12:10 PM
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new owner with electrical issues

my car is a fc s5 with a tII swap. i just recently replaced the started and now the car has a weak crank until it would crank at all. before the car would crank well until the starter took a crap. so after i replaced it, it cranked like a new starter should but still wouldnt start. the motor had been fouling up plugs because some old gas was still in the tank so i thought nothing of it and went to get some new plugs. replaced the lead plugs and went to turn the key and got nothing. no cranking. i checked all the connections i messed with and everything was tight. i jump started the battery (new i should add) and thats when she started to give a weak crank till it died off. nothing else turns on either at that point. the volt meter on the turbo timer reads 12.5v and drops to around 9v in a matter of seconds while trying to crank the engine. took the key off and grabbed a multimeter just to see the battery was still dropping even further. with the battery ground disconnected i put the positive end of the meter on the ground cable and the other end at the terminal with a reading of around 5.5v. seeing that something was drawing power with the key off, i started disconnecting fuses in the engine bay. the ones that were drawing power were the egi fuse and the btn fuse. disconnecting both allowed the voltage to drop to less than 1v. now im stuck and dont know where to go from this. i dont believe those two systems should be drawing so much voltage with no key. anyone know where i should keep on checking to see whats up. of course, any help is appreciated.
Old 12-06-12, 10:44 PM
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OP: please Use proper sentence structure and Capitals in future threads,so that it is readable.
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Old 12-07-12, 08:27 AM
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Well to start with get your battery checked where ever you bought it or some such place . Sometimes new batteries are faulty .
Next check the power cable that goes to the starter and make sure that the cable end has not turned and shorted on the housing when you tightened the cable to the solenoid ( It Happens ).

When you check voltage use the positive side .

Where does the Main ground cable attach to the engine ? Is it on one of the starter mount bolts or WHERE. ? Check Both your battery cables for any sign of corrosion .and make sure crimps on the cable ends are good .

That's a few main things to check to start with . let us know how things check . Maybe you can take a couple of picture of the cables etc. and post them . Mister is right the more clear your post the easier to understand and help . Gerald m.
Old 12-07-12, 08:28 AM
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Sorry my computer is lazy and did a double post .

Last edited by gerald m; 12-07-12 at 08:32 AM.
Old 12-07-12, 09:31 AM
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If you turn the key to on and get nothing such as the wipers or turn signals don't work (w/key to ON) then the Ignition Switch is not receiving power. There is a cable from the battery to the engine fuse box which powers all of its fuses. Then there is a Black cable on the opposite side of the fuse box which runs to the Ignition Switch. There is an intermediate connector about a foot below the fuse box which might have come loose, so check this connection.
Old 12-07-12, 04:10 PM
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lol. Sorry about the structure. I will try my best to make my post readable. I got the engine running though, so that's good. What i did first was disconnect the EGI and BTN fuses, because those were the ones draining my battery. Then, i replaced both cables that go to the starter to see if that would help.

The good thing is that changing the cables helped. I had to jump start the battery though. The engine cranked like a champ, but she still didn't want to start. So, i took a chance and replaced the EGI and BTN i took out. She started immediatly, after my mechanic told me he wasn't using the EGI fuse when he wired up the Haltec. I don't have an engine ground though. I have one cable that goes to the starter, on the back of the top mounting bolt. The other is a wire that looks to be grounding the ECU. Should i add another ground from the engine to the batt terminal?

My next step is to replace the slave cylinder and to find out what the BTN is. I hope my sentences are up to par. If not, then let me know.
Old 12-07-12, 05:54 PM
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BTN fuse supplies the BTN fuses in the interior fuse box. These fuses are fed constant voltage and would include things like the horn, courtesy lights, hazard lights and so on.
Old 12-07-12, 08:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Saico88
lol. Sorry about the structure. I will try my best to make my post readable. I got the engine running though, so that's good. What i did first was disconnect the EGI and BTN fuses, because those were the ones draining my battery. Then, i replaced both cables that go to the starter to see if that would help.

The good thing is that changing the cables helped. I had to jump start the battery though. The engine cranked like a champ, but she still didn't want to start. So, i took a chance and replaced the EGI and BTN i took out. She started immediatly, after my mechanic told me he wasn't using the EGI fuse when he wired up the Haltec. I don't have an engine ground though. I have one cable that goes to the starter, on the back of the top mounting bolt. The other is a wire that looks to be grounding the ECU. Should i add another ground from the engine to the batt terminal?

My next step is to replace the slave cylinder and to find out what the BTN is. I hope my sentences are up to par. If not, then let me know.
Almost every electrical component on your car needs a ground so it would be good to run from the same place the starter ground is and run a lighter copper ground strap from there to a good place on the engine keg where it is clean and free of paint if you are making ground wires they should be soldered on the ends as lots of the crimp end aren't worth a **** if not crimped good .

Anytime you see a loose or rusty looking ground wire either replace or clean and make sure it is tight to what ever it is attached to , it is probably the easiest and cheapest thing you can do for your car , there is no doubt a few more hidden away that has been monkey humped through the years . As Far as wiring goes Satch is your man .. Gerald m.
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