[flash]

i'm not usually one to throw in the towel, but i'm getting close - here's the story:



yesterday i had a new exhaust system installed (more on that later) - nothing was done to the wiring anywhere - we never got close to any of them - the battery was not disconnected - everything worked perfectly



well, almost



i was having charging issues - the battery would not take a full charge, nor would it hold one - year and a half old red top optima 3478



after taking some test drives, and feeling pretty good about myself, i shut the car down and went inside to settle up - when i cam back out and turned the key, DEAD! - no lights - no bells - nothing



voltmeter said 12.4, but nothing anywhere but at the battery - ok - test the battery, sure enough, bad battery - ok fine - get new battery and install, right?



wrong!



new battery in - key on - lights and bells - cool -



wrong!



one turn of the key and DEAD! - ok - 3 hours of sorting point to point looking for bad continuity, and i found a bad main ground - cool - fixed that - started right up - great



wrong!



now my danged airbag light is on and i have a faint glow on my turn signal indicator on the dash, and no signals work - not left turn - not right turn - not flasher - if i hit any of them, the glow turns off and the light glows bright green, but no flashing and no bulbs on the corners lighting up



yes, the bulbs all seem ok - yes, i swapped out a relay - yes, all of the fuses are intact



everything else in the car works great



i'm headed to the stealership to reset the airbag light, and pick up a different relay - i'm hoping that takes care of it, but this is really weird



anybody have any thoughts? i think i've been grinding on this too long and am missing something obvious

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[SILVY968]

flash,

remember when you changed the odometer gear?

a loose instrument cluster plug will cause some of the light issues that you are finding.

when my plug on the drivers side was a bit out of full, flat contact the airbag light was on and some of the lights were on low. also gauges were off.



Maybe the movement during jacking and putting on the exhaust jarred one of the 3 loose.

Hope its as easy as that,

Brian

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[968rz]

A bad ground somewhere could cause the lamp to glow dim.

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[flash]

never got into the dash, but i have been checking and cleaning every connection i messed with trying to sort out the dead key issue



i am also hunting down the other grounds - my suspicion is that it is there somewhere



keep it coming

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[doster]

Have you checked the wires on the starter, its near the pipe.

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[SILVY968]

[quote name='flash' post='46989' date='Feb 6 2008, 06:45 PM']never got into the dash, but i have been checking and cleaning every connection i messed with trying to sort out the dead key issue



i am also hunting down the other grounds - my suspicion is that it is there somewhere



keep it coming[/quote]





does the alarm work?



Brian

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[biotechee]

Cut your losses and sell that hunk of garbage to me for $1 (bill of sale required, of course!!) - I'll certainly cover shipping costs over the to right coast!! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/tongue.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Seriously though- no idea about the electrical stuff. My red top has performed flawlessly so far, even after inactive periods of 3 or more weeks. I should really add a battery tender at some point.



My guess to your problems would be (as others have suggested):



1) a ground issue somewhere

2) loose connection(s) somewhere

3) bad relay- I heard at one point there is no guarantee the new one is good

4) satanic possession



Is there a way to verify (say with a multi-meter) the relay is operating properly?

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[Ceenit]

I'm also thinking bad connection or bad ground. Check the connections at the alternator as well. Given this started with a charging issue/bad battery, that's too coicidental for it to be something else.

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[flash]

well, airbag light reset - that problem gone



still no turn signals or flashers and still have faint glow on the dash turn signal indicator



have checked, cleaned and tightened most of the grounds



have checked and reseated dash connectors



have swapped relays around



now looking for something else (another control module or something)

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[Rudolf968]

I would thinking of the indicator relay. The switch is an high current (ampère) "bimetal". Contacts burned is consuming power without short circuit.



But only guessing from distance.

Good luck, stay calm, have a Bud, another Bud and then a good sleep. And a new day will follow with a fresh mind and new ideas.

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[flash]

got it!



i knew this was a control issue, and something dumb - i was right - just didn't think the dumb thing was me



gotta blame this one on the mechanic



yesterday, in my fervor to diagnosis my non-start problem, i pulled each relay one by one and reinstalled them, hoping i had a bad connnection - the only problem is that i stuck the G4 relay into the G8 hole (the one right above it, which was empty, as it is for SA cars only)



then played a little Rubik's cube with G3 into the G4 hole



a quick "what does your box look like?" conversation with pete, and i am now restored



i will now be sticking paper dots on the holes that should have no relay in them

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[PorscheDude]

Why not print out the relay description sheet with locations and tape it to the inside of the fuse box cover?

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[banditsc]

[quote name='smokiemon968' post='47029' date='Feb 7 2008, 05:27 PM']Why not print out the relay description sheet with locations and tape it to the inside of the fuse box cover?[/quote]



Probably because he would then be admitting his age when he starts leaving notes around the car to remind him what he did.. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Mark]

[quote name='flash' post='47021' date='Feb 7 2008, 04:01 PM']the only problem is that i stuck the G4 relay into the G8 hole (the one right above it, which was empty, as it is for SA cars only)



then played a little Rubik's cube with G3 into the G4 hole[/quote]



That's what i was going to suggest you look for

































<img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Yeah right, sure I was. Glad you found it.

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[PorscheDude]

Maybe this will help someone in the future.

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[RS Barn]

I kept telling Bob a 53 relay doesn't go in the G4 slot.

We sound like Pervs----

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[flash]

sounds like we're playing bingo

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[PorscheDude]

Round hole, square peg.

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[flash]

pretty much - gotta slow down when doing stuff like that - created more problems than i solved



that's a cool diagram - better than the one i found in the manual - wasn't my particular problem, but great for future reference

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[PorscheDude]

<img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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