Calling all electrical gurus

[LockedNLoaded]

Knock on wood I have not had any real issues on my LX since I have owned it. Today I experienced some really random s__t and I need help because electrical issues are not my thing. I have been searching for the past three hours and can't find any threads about this particular issue. Now I will admit this might be due to the fact I don't know exactly what I am searching for.


Ok this is what happened. On my way home today I my stereo cut out (just the sound) then it made a pop sound the. All the electrical on the dash turned off for about a second. When it came back on and all the lights were lit up, but the gauges quickly reset and everything was back to normal. I was moving at the time and the LX continued to run fine. No issues with throttle response at all. Then this happened again once more, but this time it wasn't as dramatic with the lights resetting. Just a quick turn off and back on, this all happens in a split second.

While I continued home the stereo went out once or twice for a split second, but the gauges were all good. That was during the day time.


So after searching and searching and not finding anything I decided to take her for a drive and see if I could replicate this issue. This time with the HIDs on. So I drove about 4-5 miles and was not able to get the gauges to cut out, but I was able to get it to do these little flickers. Stereo goes out for a slit second and the HIDs act like they want to cut out, again just for a split second.

Only correlation I can see at all with the issues it seems to be idle related. The majority of these issues have happened when I am slowing down and turning.


Never ever had an issue like this before so any suggestions or insight would be greatly appreciated guys!

 

[Sligex]

Hmm, now this is kind of a far stretch but it could potentially be a grounding issue (where a 12V+ is touching the frame, thus causing that pop noise and voltage sag)

I don't have the electrical diagram but if someone else does, it may show a common source line for those components.

Secondary: What's the battery voltage at?

 

[LockedNLoaded]

Hmm, now this is kind of a far stretch but it could potentially be a grounding issue (where a 12V+ is touching the frame, thus causing that pop noise and voltage sag)

I don't have the electrical diagram but if someone else does, it may show a common source line for those components.

Secondary: What's the battery voltage at?

I actually thought that as well when it first happened.

With regards to voltage I don't have an exact reading, but according to the dummy gauge its consistently just above the 3/4ths mark and ticks up when I rev the engine.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Locked- do you have a DVM??? (digital volt meter) You need one before proceeding further.

This is a major problem that you need to fix.

Out on a limb here, I think you have a bad set of fusible links. They can be intermittent but result in complete shut down of the truck.

Since the problems are likely electrical, look for anything chafed, burnt or suspect near the battery. Clean your battery connections.

You have a bad and intermittent connection somewhere, and it may take significant work to find it. But start with the fusible links.

 

[Traskew3]

When I had a bad factory Amp on my LX the front speakers cut in And out and popped and crackled. On our lx's a lot of electronics is ran thru the radio . I'll bet u 5 bux its ur amp . I got a used one on eBay for 99 and it fixed my issue.

 

[Odyseuss]

You did not provide much background information on the vehicle, but you might want to consider possible causes that are not part of a normal vehicle condition. If the vehicle has ever been involved in an accident and electrical components may have been compromised. Also consider any aftermarket electrical accessories like stereo or navigation components.

Do any of the ECUs have any stored codes?

 

[LockedNLoaded]

Locked- do you have a DVM??? (digital volt meter) You need one before proceeding further.

This is a major problem that you need to fix.

Out on a limb here, I think you have a bad set of fusible links. They can be intermittent but result in complete shut down of the truck.

Since the problems are likely electrical, look for anything chafed, burnt or suspect near the battery. Clean your battery connections.

You have a bad and intermittent connection somewhere, and it may take significant work to find it. But start with the fusible links.

I do have a DVM and will look to see what I can find. I did a quick initial look this morning before I drove into the office and every looked good. Did a very quick check of all the fuses in the main fuse box and everything was ok.

When I had a bad factory Amp on my LX the front speakers cut in And out and popped and crackled. On our lx's a lot of electronics is ran thru the radio . I'll bet u 5 bux its ur amp . I got a used one on eBay for 99 and it fixed my issue.

Now that's an interesting idea. Just curious how did you know your amp was bad? Were your speakers popping and cracking all the time? This is the very first time I have experienced this and naturally this morning everything was event free on my 30 min commute to work.

You did not provide much background information on the vehicle, but you might want to consider possible causes that are not part of a normal vehicle condition. If the vehicle has ever been involved in an accident and electrical components may have been compromised. Also consider any aftermarket electrical accessories like stereo or navigation components.

Do any of the ECUs have any stored codes?

Sorry about that, no accidents of any kind and there are not any aftermarket electrical accessories connected other than my HID lights. However, for the record the lights were not even on when this issue first occurred. The only other electrical accessory I have connected is a Yellow box, but that is connected to the tranny. Don't see how that would be related, but I thought I would list everything. All things considered this is a stock unmolested LX that I bought from a CEO, so it never ever saw any off roading at all. I have not checked for codes because my engine light is not on at all. Do our ECU's store codes when the engine light is not on? Sorry if that's a stupid question. I just never checked codes without some sort of light instructing me to do so.


Thanks guys for the help so far!

 

[uHu]

Most likely is the plug to the alternator. Loose connector.
Next is ground strap, engine to chassis. Has to be tight and rust free.
Also check connection to the battery.

 

[Odyseuss]

I thought that you mentioned earlier that "all the lights were light up" momentarily. It probably would not be a bad Idea to do a "health check" of all the ECUs. This can be done with Techstream. There are several Ecus that store codes even when the light isn't currently on. It might help you identify possible issues.

 

[PADDO]

I'm with the previous posters who recommend looking at core power distribution and generation: fusible links and power buses in the main fuse box, solid battery and chassis connections and the alternator plug and sense. The dash lighting up momentarily could be explained by the normal lamp test on ignition which is indicative of a total, transitory, power loss and restablishment. Could be lots of things....

 

[LockedNLoaded]

Most likely is the plug to the alternator. Loose connector.
Next is ground strap, engine to chassis. Has to be tight and rust free.
Also check connection to the battery.

Rust should not be an issue at all as there is not one speck of rust on this LX. Thought that certainly does not mean something is not loose. Will check later today when I get home from work.

I thought that you mentioned earlier that "all the lights were light up" momentarily. It probably would not be a bad Idea to do a "health check" of all the ECUs. This can be done with Techstream. There are several Ecus that store codes even when the light isn't currently on. It might help you identify possible issues.

I don't have a Techstream, but have been meaning to get one. Now seems like a good excuse to get one. Only issue I might have is I don't have a laptop. All my computers are Macs and I normally just use an ipad for everything. I do have a old netbook from work, but it does not have a CD drive. Fairly certain I need a CD drive to make this work. Hummm need to come up with another solution. Guess I could buy a used laptop just for Techstream.

I'm with the previous posters who recommend looking at core power distribution and generation: fusible links and power buses in the main fuse box, solid battery and chassis connections and the alternator plug and sense. The dash lighting up momentarily could be explained by the normal lamp test on ignition which is indicative of a total, transitory, power loss and restablishment. Could be lots of things....

Thank you for your input sir. I really hate looking for a needle in a haystack, but its looking like this is what this is going to end up being.

 

[Sandroad]

I'm with the previous posters who recommend looking at core power distribution and generation: fusible links and power buses in the main fuse box, solid battery and chassis connections and the alternator plug and sense. The dash lighting up momentarily could be explained by the normal lamp test on ignition which is indicative of a total, transitory, power loss and restablishment. Could be lots of things....

I agree. Start with the main connections to the battery and alternator. I suspect a corroded connector somewhere.

 

[SWUtah]

Could be a rodent problem? They can cause shorts.

 

[llfarms]

My Yukon and Hundy have done this and it was bad battery cables that had corrosion inside the cables. I always put slack in my cables. I just cut them back and fusion soldered them on .. Done!

 

[SWUtah]

Should replace the battery every 3 years if you live in a hot climate.

 

[agaisin]

(Updated) Didn't realize the whole dash and guages went dead, i thought just stereo and mfd went in and out. if it were just mfd and stereo I'd look at system check mode described below, but with while dash doubt it's mfd related.

If it were just mfd/stereo related i'd think maybe a loose connection or grounding or short issue on one of the connections to or downstream of the MFD and i'd wanna check service check mode.

Any aftermarket components installed, any wiring touched or modified that you know of?

 

[ton504]

Find all components that were affected and look at the wiring diagrams. Find which circuit share a common link. Check that circuit and you should discover your problem. Don't run all over the place. Study the problem.

 

[NC-Grayson]

I have a paper copy of the FSM electrical wiring diagram for 1998 LX, should be close enough I'd think. I've been looking at it for an hour this morning with my coffee trying to see if I could offer some help, but I have no idea how to use this book. I'm not electronics savvy but I'd be glad to help out with my manual if I could use some pointers to look in the right direction. Maybe I haven't had enough coffee.

 

[LockedNLoaded]

(Updated) Didn't realize the whole dash and guages went dead, i thought just stereo and mfd went in and out. if it were just mfd and stereo I'd look at system check mode described below, but with while dash doubt it's mfd related.

If it were just mfd/stereo related i'd think maybe a loose connection or grounding or short issue on one of the connections to or downstream of the MFD and i'd wanna check service check mode.

Any aftermarket components installed, any wiring touched or modified that you know of?

No there is nothing aftermarket in this LX.


First, I really appreciate all the help so far guys. Here is a update: Yesterday I put 40 miles on her during the day and did not experience a single issue. During lunch I went out to look under the hood and could not find any obvious issues. There is no corrosion anywhere on any terminal or on the connector to the alternator. The ONLY thing I was able to find was the little fuse box that is connected to the Negative terminal was a LITTE loose and when I say a little I really mean just a little. Like I could forcibly wiggle it. So I tightened the wing nut as tight as it would possibly get. I have no idea if that was the issue, but I just thought I would mention it.

So when I was diving home for some reason I started thinking it my just be the alternator itself that is going bad. So last night I decided I would do a little experiment. I took my volt meter and took a reading of the battery with the cruiser not running, which was 12.44 at the time. Then I started her up and took another reading which was 14.84 at idle. Then I took her for a spin at night for about 30 miles, with all the electronics on. My thinking was a drive like this would certainly drain the battery if the alternator was not working properly. Did not experience any issues at all on the drive. When I got home I took another reading when she was NOT running and it was 12.91. So I think its safe to say the alternator is just fine.

This morning there were no issues at all when I drove into the office. So that's where I am at this point. I would be shocked if the neg terminal was the issue, but that would be awesome if that was the issue. I wont have any real time to really start chasing things until Friday afternoon. I will keep everyone one posted.

And again guys I really appreciate all the insight and suggestions.

 

[agaisin]

If you do have any more issues and/or want more information, I'd get a voltmeter that plugs into a cigarette lighter. I have this one (got it when I suspected alternator issues): http://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-3721-Battery-Charging-Monitor/dp/B000EVWDU0?tag=ihco-20
(Fyi - when the car is off the cigarette lighters lose power so you can't use it to test battery voltage with car off or when starting, only after started - not all cars cut off cigarette lighters but it probably saves us from accidental drains).

It doesn't hurt and will give you a little more insight into voltage readings at different points - i.e. always higher after startup when warming up and charging battery back up, always lower at idle after warmup like at a red light, lower with lots of devices running like lights/ac at full/etc, temperature effects voltage readings (higher when cold out iirc), and it's one more litmus test for if/when things cut out - is the voltmeter plugged into the ciggy lighter dying also?

Negative being slightly loose could have been your problem - the battery is a heavy beast and your "forcibly" moving it is probably a lot less than the real forces when the car is in motion. Is the battery mount snugged down tight also? I wouldn't be surprised if you solved it tightening down the negative terminal. Btw - since the terminals get narrower higher up at least on the most recent batteries I can remember (i.e. it can sneak/slide up if not tight enough) I like to loosen the connector fully, make sure it's all the way down on the terminal, then tighten it up and of course make sure the contacts are all clean.