Major Electrical Problem ***NEED HELP!!!!!!!

[gtaboy24]

Ok so i have been havin some problems with my 92 dx sedan. Saturday i tried to take the girlfriend to hersey park for some fun...get on the highway and car dies, get it home and in the garage to find that the altinator went up, no big deal. fixed it. started it up and it worked fine. than i decided that the reason my stock altinator went up was because i have a rediculas sound system and its pulling too much power. (DD2512 with a Kicker 1000/1 monoblock amp) so i wired a second battery into the trunk. everything worked fine still. I put the headunit into place and all a sudden the car had nothing. No lights, no hazards, nothing. I checked the Main ground fuse and everything else i could think of. even got the test light out and checked where i had power. it looks like i have power getting to the hazard switch and the fuse boxes but it isnt going to the ignition, gauges, fuel pump ETC. Does anyone know the solution to this problem to save a CB from going to junkyard saturday?

[jimy]

Probably fried your alternator fuse.

[gtaboy24]

nah i checked all the fuses in both compartments all are fine
wonder if there is a relay or something because the battery is reading 12.6v but its not getting to the igntion or dash. I think i melted a wire or burned up a relay.

[gtaboy24]

Could it possibly be the main relay under the dash? I always thought that was just for fuel realted issues but i was reading other posts and someone said something about dash lights related to PGM-FI relay and thats the relay that turns fuel pump on, and my fuel pump isnt working either.?!?!?

[batever]

Don't junk your car yet, be persistent. It will be something pretty simple.

In general, I think that putting a second battery in your trunk isn't going to help with the alternator for long because the alternator is what has to generate the power to recharge that second battery in the first place. If the gross power demand is too high, you'll need to either upgrade to a higher output alternator reduce the power demand somehow--once you figure out what's blowing your system.

I would pull the radio/accessory circuit from the system (pull the fuse or disconnect the amplifier and tuner, etc) and get the car running ok without the excess power demand to see if there is a problem with the main relay or something else.

Once you have the car running again, reattach the audio and see if you still have a problem. Or, even better, look up the total output of a stock alternator and see if it's enough to handle your sound system.

[batever]

Sounds like a problem with your main relay, or maybe your ignition switch --unless you're saying you're not even getting power TO the ignition switch. hazards, marker lights, dome light, headlights, turn signals, and brake lights are always on circuit so if that's all you have in the car the problem is with the ignition switch or it's with the main relay. I'd bet on the main relay first.

Check all fuses, particularly the main fuse (80A) in the underhood fuse compartment (80 amp). Also, did you mess with any grounds when you were installing the second battery? that could cause some problems if you didn't reattach them securely.

If this turns out to be more mysterious, I would consider bypassing the second battery and going back to stock electrical condition, then troubleshoot from there. Your problems started or got worse once you had the second battery in there so remove that from the equation.

One thought I had was did you accidentally hook up the second battery in series instead of in parallel so that the system had 24 to 26 volts instead of 12? But you say you're getting 12.6 volts at the one battery so that rules that out. UNLESS you have the second battery hooked up in such a way that it only comes online once the ignition switch is on. Which would massively mess with your ECU and your voltage regulator and who knows what else.

I hope that didn't happen.

good luck

be persistent, not worth scrapping the car over something like this that you can figure out.

[axmarque]

Check continuity between you main ground and chasis or check continuity between you pos cable going to the fuse box make sure you don't have a dead short.
Let us know how it goes

[batever]

Check continuity between you main ground and chasis or check continuity between you pos cable going to the fuse box make sure you don't have a dead short.
Let us know how it goes

What's a dead short?

[gtaboy24]

Well i got a lot of feedback for one day lol. very helpful and thanks. i wont be able to play with the car til friday night because it is at my dads house however i think its probably the main relay. i will be sure to check the main relay and the ignition switch and get back to you guys asap....Thanks for all the help and feedback!