Electrical Gremlins

[Guest ewolf]

I've been attacked by the electrical gremlins!

 

My wife and I just made a quick trip to Florida. In addition to losing a tire, I started having bizarre electrical problems. First, the wiper switch shorted out (or something) and the wipers went into spray and wipe mode permanently (I had to disconnect the washer pumps and use the fuse to turn on and off the wipers). Then the AC blower motor went kaput. I left the AC compressor on and use the force of the outside air to deliver some meager cooling (we were on our way to a funeral and it was 96 degrees in St. Pete). Then the radio started acting up - it would cut off spontaneously and when I turned it back on it would power up and then shut right back down. If I let it stay off for a few minutes, it would come back on fine.

 

This is scary because we are leaving for a long road trip out west in two weeks. I need to get this stuff fixed and feel like we aren't going to see anything worse!

 

I've got a few ideas that I'm going to trace down:

 

1. Clean all the ground connections. This truck has lots of corrosion (it was from New England - you wouldn't believe the rust on the frame). Weird electrical problems are a halmark of corroded grounds. I assume the engine grounds through the same connector as the negative cable on the battery. Is there a shared ground under the dash? Are there any other grounds I need to check?

 

2. Check the alternator output. I've got 135K miles on the truck and I don't know if the alternator has ever been replaced. Might be time for a new battery too.

 

3. Take it to the dealer - if they have someone who is intimately familiar with the '94 Pathfinder's electrical system - they just might be able to fix it quickly and cheaply.

 

Any input is appreciated. BTW, I bought the Chilton's manual. It sucks big time. I've never seen a less useful repair manual. I used to like Chiltons... Any recommendations? Should I just order the shop manual from Nissan?

 

-Eric

[94extreme]

I am not 100% certain but I doubt that everything is grounded on one spot. All other cars I have ever worked on, every thing was always grounded separately, meaning that each component has it's own ground.

 

Since you are having ghost makes me think that maybe it's the voltage reulator. Please keep us posted on your results/solutions. Very interesting.

 

I hope you can get this fixed quickly and cheaply.... You can have your charging system checked for free at AutoZone.

[nige]

the haynes-brand manuals aren't too bad. The one for our trucks has quite a few tests you can run on your electrical system. A multimeter or tester light is an excellent tool for diagnosing electrical problems, but who needs a manual when you have this message board!

[Guest ewolf]

The AC fan was just the blower motor. The one Autozone gave me has the wrong size flang, so it has to go back - but it worked when hooked up.

 

I replaced my negative cable on my battery and cleaned up the chassis ground and replaced the bolt. The original never came out of the factory hole. New bolt, new hole... I replaced the bolt in the engine block and scrubbed the face of the engine block with a metal wire brush. I then replaced as many ground bolts as possible, scrubbing the surface and connector. No visible improvement - except that my voltage meter now gives a solid 12V with the key in accessory where it was getting 11.8V before. I'm going to drive with the voltmeter hooked up for a while to see what happens.

 

The radio might have been the results of the water (lotts of it). Evident the blower motor also pumps the water condensed under the dash. What a mess!

 

-Eric

[Guest ewolf]

The wiper switch was bad too. $57 from the dealer (comes in Monday). That should take care of the electrical mess...

[MatterHorn]

I have a question though - did you do this frame repair after or before all the electrical stuff happened?

[Guest ewolf]

The frame repair happened after the electrical problems. Good question though.