crazy electrical problem
 

i dont even know how to discribe this but ill try. sometimes, not all the time, when im just driving my lights go kinda dim, like a bad altenator, but it happens like a switch, not a smooth dim , then when i accelerate, usually right about when i hit boost (probly not related) my lights go back to bright like normal, sometimes not dimming again untlill miles later even when i stop. i've noticed it happen the opposite way too rarely. basicly its totally random and happens like a switch its not like they just get brighter as the engine goes and dimmer as it slows.

i checked most of the grounds i could find, replaced the battery with a new one (returned it after it didnt help) swapped out my altenator with a tested good one. i thought it must be the regulator(built in to altenator) is f'ed up but guess not. to me it seems like my altenator stops working randomly and ecceleration usually kicks it back to normal temporarily. but seeing as how i swaped it out, and checked all the wiring to and from the battery im stumped.


i cant remeber exactly when it started but it seems like shortly after my car was tuned, which was about a week or 2 after i turbo'd it. but i dont see how this could be related. also i re-did the positive terminal end of the power cables for the hell of it cause they looked crusty.

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

Double check the ground cable. Could just be a corosion issue in the wire, I have seen that b4.

I would also check the tension on the belt.

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

ELD?

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

i checked and rechecked the belt tension, i think its good.. hard to get it super tight on a y8 cause of where the altenator sits its card to get leverage on it, but too tight aint no good anyways, which ground cable? the battery one? i checked it with a meter and it seems good too, ill probly replace it anyways.


whats ELD?

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

i had an idea, could it be because of my ecu sits on my floor and isint bolted to metal of the car? guess ill go try to answer this

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

Thats not it. ELD is electronic load detector. I guess its supposed to drop the alt output during low throttle and idle situations. Someone should confirm. I usually disable it in the ROM editor. You may also have a voltage regulator in the alt shitting the bed.

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

say this may be tunning related? crazy.. i got talk to the guy that tuned my car, he needs to fix my damn cold air idle looping too. starting to think he wasent to good with uberdata. maybe ill see if he can copy my tuned map over to a crome file or somthin, is that even possible?

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

Doubtful that the regulator would do the same thing in two alternators on the same car. I would look outside the alternator.

The ELD sounds like a place to start. Try disabling it.

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

if you're in canada, there is no ELD so dont go looking for it.

when the car is fully warmed up volts should be @ 12-13 while at idle with no elec load.

when you are driving you'll notice 45mph as the hi output setpoint.


get a cheap volt meter and pop it in the car (hook it up to the 12v ign source in the fuse box if u want).

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

im in the u.s. sucka and i got a multimeter. my ---- sits at 14.4 while running, hard to catch it when its in "dim mode"

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

Alternators will do weird things. The internal windings are probably shot.

Just replace the alternator unless you want to take it to a shop to get it professionally tested before spending money on parts.

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

unless cray sold me an altenator with the same problem but i doubt it

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

have the alternator test out at autozone for free

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

then replace the under hood fuse box.. im sure sinister has one if you can manage to convince him to leave the PC and actually get it (i've tried to buy stuff SO MANY times from him, never hear back from him).

Re: crazy electrical problem
 

tonight i drove around a little carefully on my uberdata basemap (got off xenocron site/ sohc_mshue) and it still does this, thought maybe it was my tune cause my idle is messed up too. does the ecu handle this ELD or would it be the chip/tune? can anything bad happen if its disabled?