** throttle cable seized up.. **

[PRIMOCB7]

i started the car up after installing the driver's side Denso ballast/D2R H4 HID. the car was fine and the light was working great. i then turned on the A/C, radio and all of a sudden, my lights (interior & exterior) started dimming, the ABS light came on, the temp needles started rising, and the gas pedal had no tension whatsoever. turned off the car and something wasn't right.. the throttle cable seized and the rubber sleeve had melted/burned off in several places.

now on my negative battery terminal, i have an extra ground that i forgot to bolt down properly onto the frame and i left it sitting there. could this have played a role in causing what had just happened? tech gurus, please chime in. thanks fellaz.

[d112crzy]

you wont know till you connect it and turn on the car.

but what do you mean by seized up? like is it stuck open or just stuck in place and wont budge?

[v4lu3s]

to me it souds like your throttle cable became the ground for a short circuit. may i suggest not doing electrical work on your car anymore?

[Maple50175]

the extra ground. Mine isnt even hooked up. weird.

[PRIMOCB7]

you wont know till you connect it and turn on the car.
but what do you mean by seized up? like is it stuck open or just stuck in place and wont budge?

yeah, the throttle cable is just stuck. the rubber sleeve and the plastic grommet melted from shorting out. after reconnecting the extra ground, everything was back to normal with none of the above i mentioned acting up with the exception of the cable.

to me it souds like your throttle cable became the ground for a short circuit. may i suggest not doing electrical work on your car anymore?

thats what happened. although i am not a certified electrician, i've done most of the work on my car minus the bodywork. i don't take shortcuts, i solder, heat-shrink, and loom any wiring i work on. i obviously made a mistake and hope to learn from it. thanks for your suggestion but i'll have to pass on that one.

Maybe you messed witht the cruise control actuator while installing your ballasts and it did something? it is connected to the throttle pedal. Just a thought, really hard to say though. Good luck. L8r

i removed my cc setup awhile back. and the ballast is mounted cleanly with no objects to get in the way. i relocated the A/C relays so that it would stay clear of touching the ballast.

[Ilikebigbutts]

i would go back to all the wiring you messed with.Probably a loose ground.

ILBB

[cp[mike]]

v4lu3s is right, throttle cable will act as a ground, ive seen it happen before... def find the short/problem before running it again

[PRIMOCB7]

v4lu3s is right, throttle cable will act as a ground, ive seen it happen before... def find the short/problem before running it again

right, and that is what i was afraid of. after re-connecting the extra ground wire properly, all went back to normal minus the cable being seized. i also waited for the cable to cool down, before starting the car to see if it would get hot again and it didn't. i'll see what happens after installing a new cable and hope that loose ground wire was the culprit.

[PRIMOCB7]

*PROBLEM FIXED*

the loose ground wire from the battery that i forgot to bolt down was the culprit. went over my HID wiring and installation and everything was fine just like i thought. i made sure there was no loose wire(s) this time as well and its all back to normal again. i just need to buy a new throttle cable tomorrow and i'm set.

*just want to say thanx to Fizz .. for confirming what caused this problem and pointing out other specific possibilities*