Elecrtical Problem Please Help

[Gummiegorilla]

Hello there all well as the title states i have a problem some where in my electrical system. The symptoms that i have are this, when headlights are on and i accellerate the instrument lights kind of flash from dim to bright. After running for a little while and then turning it off it will hesitate , stummble and sometimes not start and then ill give about two minutes and it will start right up. I just replaced the battery with a Honda battery the day before yesterday and had the alternator tested three times at autozone and it passed all three times. I just replaced all the spark plug tube seals (upper and lower) and installed all new NGK wires and NGK iridium plugs. Is there any way this could possibly be a bad ground contact somewhere or a faulty ignition coil? As always all input is appreciated. Thanks in advance .

Peace,
Gummiegorilla.

[deevergote]

A bad ground is most likely. Locate all of your ground points, and make sure they're all clean and tight. Also make sure your battery cables are clean and tight (I once replaced the battery and had similar issues due to the cables being covered in crap.)

The coil and ignitor are also good things to replace, but I don't think either is the cause of your problems. They wouldn't have anything to do with the lights dimming (though the actual running issues may be related... we may be dealing with multiple issues at once.)

[Gummiegorilla]

Hey Deev , do you think that it could possibly an ignition timing issue ? I dont have an inductive timing light, but if timing is the reason for this problem I could pick one up somewhere.

[iwork4mycb7]

have similar problem, but mine was when i use my high beams my tachometer lights dim and if i turn it off it will struggle to turn back on like if it makes the battery die, like deev said im going to have to check my ground wires i seen the main ground and it looks pretty dirty i recomend you check your grounds also..let me know how it goes

[Gummiegorilla]

So i gave the grounds a good once over and this is what i found.



So i made a quick trip to Auto Zone and picked up this duralast gold negative battery cable with terminal for now until i get around to making my own cables for about 10 dollars. Then i realized that all the ground contact points wre entirely crusted over with corrosion , so i took the dremel to all the gounding points. Hopefully this was the problem .

[iwork4mycb7]

thats good to hear, i still need to check my grounds havent had time but it hasnt trip on me lately..

[Gummiegorilla]

Damn ! i thought i had it this time. Well after changing the grounds, getting a brand new battery, and getting the alternator tested im stumped . Does anyone think that even though the alternator passed a test at auto zone theres still a possability its bad ? It still has trouble starting after running it for a while , and the dash lights still dim for no reason while im driving whether there is a heavy current load (radio on) or not. Im just getting so tired of my CB nickel and diming me to death this season. As always everyones two cents is always welcome.

Peace,
Gummiegorilla.

[James Matteu]

The ELD connection with the ECU should be checked. You may also want assemble a jumper harness so that you can see what the ELD output is while driving. I ran the wires in the car and set the multimeter on my gauge cluster over the tachometer.

[Gummiegorilla]

So I tested the ELD connections and the voltage as described in the manual and everything came out legit. So my last assumption would be that theres something wrong with the voltage regulaor or the brushes in the alternator might be worn. That will be the next thing that i check. Narrowing down the possabilities.

Peace,
Gummiegorilla.

[Gummiegorilla]

Got It !!!! so i did a bit of trouble shooting and i ended up going into the distributor and testing everything. turns out i have a bad ignition contol module. tested it at auto zone for free it would start right up cold, but right when it got to operating temperature it would crap out. My distributor is still under warranty so i just took the whole thing off and going to exchange it tomarrow. So word to the wise , if you have the elusive starting problem test your ICM and you ignitor !!

Peace,
Gummiegorilla.

[CyborgGT]

Hopefully that does fix your problem.

Replacing my distributor fixed a misfiring issue I had at speed, but my F has since started stumbling horribly trying to start it, if it'll start at all, then almost died on me just driving it down the street. I manually shifted through some gears (it's an auto) and floored it and it got me around the block and back home. Oil was also getting onto the spark plugs, so I was considering replacing a bunch of seals all over the engine. Not worth the money to me. I parked the car at the end of August (it's amazing how much money I'm not spending by biking/walking to work!) and have since been buying parts and saving up for a low-mileage H22. It'll be nice driving a car that doesn't die on me every few weeks. That uninsulated bit of ground wire looked green and scary as yours did, so I've since replaced all of my battery cables with some 2-gauge from Home Depot.

[Gummiegorilla]

Oil was also getting onto the spark plugs, so I was considering replacing a bunch of seals all over the engine.

Funny you mention that because i just had to replace all the smae things two weeks ago. replaced the wires, plugs, lower plug seals, upper plug seals, valve cover seal, and did a valve job. My poor CB had oil in three of the spark plug tube seals, and that was causing it to misfire. though this whole process was a little time consuming.

[tmsperformance]

Check the ground by the thermostat housing. That is a major ground that causes issues like that.

[Gummiegorilla]

Update: So after i changed out the distributor that fixed my starting problem after my car got to operating temp, but while i was driving i noticed that my dash and interior lights were still dimming really bad. I already took the alternator to autozone to have it tested and it passed , three times !! But see there lied the problem, I took the alternator in out of the car. So it would pass that Duratest that they were doing on it everytime. I actually had them test it again with it in my car after driving around for a bit and letting the alternator get to operating temps and BAM ! Right when when the guy put the meter on the battery (lights and A/C on max) I was getting less than a 12v return from the alternator. So now everytime that i go and get an alternator checked its deffinatley going to be inside the car. Went and changed it out for a reman at the rubuild store here in town for 40 bux. My wife wants me to get rid of the CB so bad because it seems like every week something different breaks on it So i made a deal with her, if it can go three months without anything breaking I get to start making it new again, BUT if it does break down again I told her I'd let her tape the FOR SALE sign in the window. Its just been nickel and diming me to death this season, and after i added up all the reciepts plus the price of the car I've already invested almost 3K into it. Thats like an average 169 bux a month, and thats not performance related at all ! just things that it needs to keep it running smoothly. Sorry I just had to vent a little. It would be sad to see her go especially with all the time I've put into her. I hope that she proves my wife wrong, cause if not this might be the end of Gummiegorilla in the CB community.

Peace,
Gummiegorilla.

[Gummiegorilla]

Maybe fuel prob instead of electric ?

Hmmmmmm.... so yet again my CB is giving me a little bit of a hard time. Ive already gone through pretty much every electrical trouble shooting thing that i can think of, and im starting to think that it might be something fuel related instead. I didnt want to start a new thread about this but would a faulty main relay cause trouble starting at times ? Or is it one one of those components that when it goes bad it wont start at all ? Because now the new symptoms are this, it will start right up in the morning. After it warms up and i drive it around a bit it will start right up again no prob. BUT sometimes when i turn the engine over after its at operating temp it will hesitate for a moment , stumble, and not turn on and if i try to turn in on again it will just crank over an not turn on. Damn CBs are like a Rubix Cube sometimes !!!!