Electrical Gremlins

R

Red Canyonero

New Member
Joined
May 24, 2001
So after vacation, I come back, and was going to take the TTA for a spin with my friends. Never had any problems starting it, or electrically (other than FP relay popping apart).

I've been tuning it and was mainly worried about those issues... so I pop the key in, key on..nothing, key off... key back on... I get dash lights & fuel pump prime, go to start, nothing, no crank, no click, ALL power is cut, I mean everything, you open a door and no interior light, nada. I mess with the battery connections, still no power. I loosen and move the ground on the pass. head, still nothing. I throw another known good battery in there real quick, same situation.

I was fed up, wasn't in the mood for car work after my vacation, and quit for the day (after venting frustration by throwing a few tools for missing a sunny day of cruising with the T tops off).

I've been busy, haven't looked at anything with it, but on a whim, I open the door... BLINK.. I have interior lights, not dim at all, like everything was ok. Ummm, ok, get your keys. Key on, I have dash lit up & fuel pump prime. WTF ? Go to start, same situation as before... nothing, and it kills EVERYTHING again.

So, where do I start? Or does this sound familiar to anyone? I'm thinking I need to check my grounds, possibly the fusible links at the starter?

TIA
Brian Green
89 TTA
01 Jeep TJ
 
2 DEAD BATTERIES

take the battery out of your tta and see if it will start another car-

if its good, then check you positive and negitive cables for chafage-

if they are good, smack the starter with a hammer and see what you get--

makes NO sense that ALL that the interior lights will go out if the battery, cables and starter are all good-

check the fusable links there by the starter like you said earlier-

if all else fails, check where the harness goes in on the drivers side inside the engine bay to the FUSE BOX there will be a 8mm or 9mm or 10mm bolt in the middle of the connection box-

try all that and let us know-

ps- my regal did the same stuff, and it was the neg cable-- funny thing was is the cars headlights worked, but no crank,, no interior lights or horn-- weird huh?
 
ps- my regal did the same stuff, and it was the neg cable-- funny thing was is the cars headlights worked, but no crank,, no interior lights or horn-- weird huh?
Click to expand...


Exactly how I feel. From my experience, "weird" issues like this usually end up being a ground issue somewhere... but who knows.

Thanks for the ideas, I'll post whatever I find. Interesting test might be to see if my headlights work.

Brian Green
89 TTA
01 Jeep TJ
 
and try the horn too--

try and get it to where the interior lights are on, and honk the horn,... and then try the headlights--

try this too--- get another car and put on a set of cables on it from battery to battery--

now your getting a good ground from the OTHER car, and see what that does for you--
 
I had the same problem and it was the battery.Pulled into local market shut car off go in.Come back out and NOTHING!Damn thing had lights but when I went to crank NOTHING!

Luckily Wally world was right around the corner.By the way jumper cables were useless also.Guy tried to jump but it still would'nt turn over.

Back in the late Eighties I had a chevy monza with a 3.8 that the soleniod on the starter went bad and would do the same thing.Hope this helps.
 
If its the Vats the security light would be flashing!Had this problem wiped key worked good after that.
 
We recently replaced one my son's TTA and the light was not flashing. Maybe ours is just odd.
 
Saw something very similar years ago. Now follow me on this.... Buddy had a hatch back import during the first real bass (as in car stereo) craze to hit our area in the mid 90's. Had the car at a "sound off show" just hanging out. Went to show the system off to some of his stero buddies but as soon as he turned up the bass the amp would shut down. We had just driven the car in about an hour before making all kinds of boom boom noise. They messed with it for about an hour, had damn near the entire thing out of the car, and could not fiure it out. I went about my buisness. After they were done we went back to my house so that I could work on it. Figured it out in about 5 minutes. I started at the source, the battery, with plans to work my way back. I grounded my test light then touched it to the + batt cable to make sure it worked before I moved on. The light went bright the instantly dim. Did it again, same deal. The cable would not hold a load. We pulled off the + cable to find it full of corrosion. Cleaned it up, bass went boom boom, he was happy, I made fun of his friends. Aparenty the amp drew enough to make the cable restriction come into play then it shut down from lack of power. The thing was kind of a big drain, it would shut the car down at idle with the right track playing. Don't ask what difference an hour in the lot made, or why the starter still turned over, or why it started. I just know that is what happened.

My thought, like a few others mentioned, check all of the connections starting at the bat and working your way in. My bet is there is some corrosion somewhere along the path. Don't forget you have a couple of leads off of the + cable post at the starter the feeds other parts of the electrical system... interior lights perhaps.....


Hope it helps!!

Brent
 
Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

I'm busy at the Syty nats this weekend, so I won't have a chance to try these ideas, but Monday or Tuesday I'm gonna tear into the TTA.

I'll let you all know what I find.

Brian Green
89 TTA
01 Jeep TJ
 
Glad to have been of service! Was my pleasure.

now get to work slacker!
 
Ok, working on the TTA right now.

All fuses are fine. Battery & it's leads seem fine. Good voltage at the battery, cables check out fine on the voltmeter, as far as resistance & continuity. Still have NO power into the vehicle. At this point, the fusible links & those wires are the next ones to check. I believe those are the main power sources for everything inside the car.

No manual here to refer to either, egads, I can't believe I'm flying in the dark ;)

Brian Green
89 TTA
01 Jeep TJ
 
Dropped the starter, started to check the fusible links & connections, found that the nut holding the wire to the starter was a bit loose. On a whim, I reconnected that & the battery. Found I had power back inside.

Reinstalled all of it, just cleaned up the contacts a bit, and the car is back running, full power again. :)

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Brian Green
89 TTA
01 Jeep TJ
 
did you ever test to see if the headlights worked at all during all those problems?

just curious
 
Yup, had nothing it seems. No horn no nothing.

Fixed the problem, everything is normal, lights/horn, and most importantly, the car runs.

Brian Green
89 TTA
01 Jeep TJ
 
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