??? I'm perplexed. Has this ever happen to anybody???
When I left work today the electrical system on my 92 went wild. Voltmeter was at about 12 volts and all the gauges were readind high, real high. Went to use blinkers and the voltmeter would go down toward the 8 and the temperature gauge would go to hot then return to normal till nest blink. The other 2 gauges would just go higher.

When I finally got home panic set in. I shut the motor off. I then decided to start up again. Turned key on and waited for the wait to start light to go out and started the motor. Same thing happend volt gauge at 12 and the rest reading high. I then decided to turn on the lights to see what happens, volt go way past 8 and all the rest of the gauges pegged. Gave up for awhile. Waited for about 30min and went out and started again, this time everything is normal.

Tested battery with hydrometer and all cells are good. Posts are clean on battery even checked connections at alternater.

So what gives anybody have any clue to why this is happening. I stumped. New alternator, controller, battery, ignition switch or short.

Need help. Thanks in advance.

JIm

 

The only thing I can suggest that would cause that would be a bad ground. Inspect the ground cable at the battery and at the engine block, also the lead going to the front grill clip.<br><br>I have had a cable rot from the inside and you could't tell untill you loaded the electrical system with the grid heaters or the lights. You may have a bad cable.. ???<br><br>J-eh

 

FYI, I SUCK at electrical, but, I agree with Lil' Dog, it really sounds like a ground problem to me too.<br>Look hard at all the grounds.<br><br>Bob.

 

Update.... I cleand the area where the body ground was attached up near the radiator., there was paint under the lug and ran an additional ground to body (to another location).<br><br>I then verified negitive post of battery to all points and then verified point to point without using negitive post of battery and found all points to have continunity.<br><br>The voltage of battery when not running was 12,4 and charging rate was 13.9. I hope this will cure the problem.<br>Info from another site said thet the charge rate was a little low should be around 14.5 or so,, may have to change voltagee regulator out or get new alternator.<br><br>I'm going to check grounding at instrument panel today and verify it is solid. The ground is suppose to be located near OD button under dash on a post.<br><br>I will update when problem is solved for good.<br><br>Thanks <br><br>Jim

 

Jim,<br><br> I just had a mishap while on vacation. I went through about $8 in 30 amp fuses for my lights. When I would turn on my head lights the fuse for the accessory/interior lights would blow. No lights except for headlights. The time it took for the fuse to blow would very. I just had my dash apart and installed a new stereo, so I started hunting for loose wires. I had also replaced some old bulbs while in there. I installed the stereo on it's own fused link to a full time hot under the hood(not used on anything else). I found a few loose wires that I secured, but no luck yet. I finally noticed the headlight switch was a mess with corrosion. I pulled the plug, and cleaned it up and put it back on with dielectric grease. Problem is gone. I don't know if it was a coincidence, or maybe adding the bulbs increased the draw beyond what the corrosion was allowing. ??? <br><br>Anyway, what I am getting at is I believe with the longer life expectancy of our engines, we're getting into chassis problems that don't get a lot of attention. How many guys put a new engine into an old body without cleaning stuff up first? I agree with another post I saw that cleaning electrical connections should be part of the routine maintenance. Should help your readings stay consitant as well.<br><br>Don

 

Not unusual..<br><br>The dash pot for the lights is a bit weenie. It often packs it up and needs replacing. Also the wiring harness/connector is partly at fault too. You can get a 'fix' from DC for this and get a new switch while your at it. They will not take heavy load so any extra power you try to pull thru it will speed up it's demise. Always use an underhood relay if you want to hook up extra lights eg: spots, fogs, etc.<br><br>Bob.