Electical problem
I don't know anything about electrical systems so I was wondering if someone could help me track down a possible short in my system.I first noticed it when I turn my A/C on.My engine would bog down and I lose throttle response.But It appears to do the same thing even if I use just the air and not the A/C.I have also noticed when I turn my parking lights on the clock on my dash gets so dim it almost goes out.I tried removing the hvac control unit but I cant get the damn cables off it to remove it and check for broken/loose/corroded wires.Any help would be great.
Why do you think its an electrical problem? Turning on the a/c or air causes the car to use more power from the engine, hence it robs a little bit of power. And I don't have a 7G, but alot of cars dashes dim when the parking or head lights are turned on. Unless I'm missing something, everything you've described is normal.
Also, I moved this to the 7G Problem section.
If you post stupid and incorrect information, you will get red nuggets.
all the dash lights dim when you turn on the park lights or turn the lights full on... this is because it's assumed that you are doing this at night or when there's not much ambient light outside -- this feature i believe is a power saving mechanism. coz when you're turning on the lights (at night) then there's no use to illuminate the dash full on (coz a little bit of illumination gets the dash just enough visibility)
Wrong!!Originally Posted by jaemess
2 things either ur battery is about to die or ur alty want to take a crap to have those 2 tested
lil light dim is normal big dim not normal
03 I4
What exactly did he say that was incorrect?
If you post stupid and incorrect information, you will get red nuggets.
I am aware of the lights dimming when you turn your outside lights on.What I'm saying is my clock is almost disappearing when I turn my outside lights on and I don't know much about electrical systems but I know enough to know thats not right.
jimmy_o2 may be on to something.I did change my battery about a weak ago and thinking back on it now it didn't do this then.Why would putting in a better battery cause this problem?My old battery wasn't large enough for this car so I changed it out with a larger one.
Before anyone asks....lol.....I didn't buy a new battery rather I took it from my brothers old car which is a hyundai Elantra.If it works in his car then it should be fine in mine.Our cars are about the same size so why not right.My battery was almost half the size.
Polish I think it's an electrical problem because this behavior isn't normal.....a little drain on the system is expected but this isn't a little.it's allot.
Last edited by cougar214; 08-27-2009 at 09:45 PM
Dont know if its the same over there but our 7g dims the dash, a/c and clock lights when you switch on your driving lights. There is also a rheostat that allows you to dim them even further for night driving. Maybe this has been turned completely down? My 7g and my 8g drop power momentarily when the a/c or fan is switched on, as Polish said this is normal or at least it has happened on any car I have owned.
going with a larger batter doesn't mean it better u have to look at the spec like whats the ca and cca also before u put it on ur car did u have it tested to make sure its still good now if everything from the battery checks out then get the alty tested i just into the same situation luckly i knew the steps to take about this so i had the battery test since its the easier then removing the alty and took it to my near by parts store and sure enough the battery was dead luckly it was still under warranty the gave me a full refun and i decided to upgrade to something with better cca and ca i think the old battery was 540 ca and 520 cca i upgraded to 640 cca and 720 ca
03 I4
I don't know what that means Jimmy.What is cca and ca? and how do I test the battery?With a volt meter?
What I described is what I can see during the day.At night when my headlights are on and I'm driving down the road(I don't know how to explain this so I'm gonna do the best I can)My headlights suddenly dim out for a second or two and the car pulls back for a second.Almost as if the car is gonna stall.Combine that with my clock dimming when I turn my lights on and there seems to be a problem with the system somewhere.The strange thing is only my clock dims,nothing else.my dash and other console lights work fine,even my dimmer switch works.
Last edited by cougar214; 08-28-2009 at 08:13 AM
I have an update.I just had a friend put a volt meter on my battery and it is showing(this is an old meter so im not sure)low voltage from the battery and low voltage from the alty when the car is running so where should i go from here?change battery or alty or both?
CCA stands for cold cranking amps. Its the rating of a battery.
First things first, don't replace a bad battery with another one that you assume is good, or "bigger" than your old battery. Go and purchase a brand new battery, install it, and see if you have the same problems. If so, then replace the alternator.
I'm not sure how much experience you have working on cars, but if its not alot, go to your nearest shop and ask them to do a charging system test. Its fairly inexpensive.
If you post stupid and incorrect information, you will get red nuggets.
Thats for when the trans downshifts and or you push on the break it will bogg down... It sounds to me like your batt is going bad.. It probibly is not the right specs.. Go get a new BATT and also did you check your dash light dial to be able to turn up the lights?? And BTW during the day if you turn your lights on your clock light dims soo much that it pretty much dissapears? That is normal for the 7th G. Also everything you are describing is pretty much normal for a 7th g to do....
but why go get a new battery when auto parts store will test ur alty and the battery for u and in most cases for free so my recommendation will be to get the battery tested if it fails then go trough the trouble of taking out the alty tested now if non of them fail then ur having electrical problems
ok so ur mentioning that only the clock dim and nothing else does if thats the case then ur fine the clock is supposes to dim to avoid glare to ur eyes but if everything dim really bad then have the above checked out first
Last edited by jimmy_o2; 08-28-2009 at 04:28 PM
03 I4
I guess I'm just nit picking but this is my first import and I'm not used to the features this car has but I do know something is wrong with the electrical system.Some things you know just don't feel right.I will go and have my battery and alty checked out and go from there.thanx for all your help guys.
N/P i got an idea how about doing a small video about what happens maybe that can help us help u lil better
03 I4
Well I had my alternator and battery checked at Autozone and they are both fine.Working great in fact.So now I'm at a loss again as to what to do next.The only other thing i can think of is having my after-market radio checked to see if the wiring is bad on it or at the very least got a short it the harness some how.I didn't put the radio in,it came with the car, so I thought nothing of it till now.
why dont u make a small video that way we can see whats going on
03 I4
I'll see what I can do....I don't have a camera so I'll have to see if i can borrow one.But you won't be able to "feel" what I'm feeling in the car so I hope it will be enough for you to get an idea.
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