Strange electrical problems (Long with Cliffs)

[F8L WS6]

Cliffs are down below.

Alright i've asked about a few separate things but now I think I figured out where these problems have come from and it looks to be all my fault.

Back when I bought this car it needed some work so I decided I would do some upgrades while I was at it. I took off the lower intake and cleaned everything and installed a walbro 340 and hotwire kit. I started the car up without any problem and was driving around. Then little problems started to show up, Dash was acting funny and the radio display died but radio still worked. Sometimes my fuel pressure would drop low and sometimes be normal. Also sometimes I would turn on the headlights and it would kill the whole car. Blinker would dim the lights. The it basically wouldn't barely run any more. I parked it and left it since I couldn't figure it out.

Fast forward to a few months ago. I got time to look around under the hood. After much searching I noticed something big I screwed up.....The Negative battery cable that attaches to the block......wasn't attached to the block. Now normally I guess the car wouldn't really run without that! But the hotwire kit comes with new posts and a spare wire to attach to the body. Which I attached to the small black wire to the left of the battery.

Now everything is attached and my lights are ok, the car fires up and drives but sounds like it has a miss on 1 cylinder (Hesitates and backfires). But the dash still acts funny and the radio works but no display. Also my fuel pressure is bouncing around, which I'm guessing is from a power problem.

CLIFFS :
1. Disassembled top half of car.
2. Ordered and installed hotwire kit.
3. Strange electrical problems - (Assumed cause) Forgot to attach neagtive to block cable. Car was running off of hotwire kit wire
4. Reattached battery cable wire. Car sorta better but needs help.

So theres my long story! Now I don't know what I should be looking for. What could I have screwed up from doing this? Or should I just start hunting down wires?

Thanks in advance for any help. My birthday is Sunday I wanna drive this thing!

 

[salvageV6]

When I bought my GN it took me a week or so, but I found out that negative cable was disconnected at the turbo mounting bracket by the previous owner.

It did start and run fine however and I had moved the grounds from the back of the head to the firewall on a new ground wire.

All my fender grounds were good and intact however.

I am thinking your dash and radio problems may be related but most likely not the result of the ground mistake you made.

I would research the fuel problem taking voltage readings at the battery, hot wire kit and at the pump wiring and connector to make sure it's not a voltage related problem, then obviously some pressure readings while drivng are needed using a safely hooked up fuel gauge to the rail and a hose long enough to be attached to the wiper area securely while driving and looking for fluctuations.

I'd pull all 6 plugs and ohm the wires out individually to look for a miss on one cylinder for starters, that's an easy test.

I doubt you hurt one cylinder badly unless your average testing of the car was going WOT all the time to see if it was running good.

 

[F8L WS6]

Well when it was running alright in the beginning I would open it up but after it started to have these problems I stopped beating on it. I was kicking it around the block at low rpm and when I press the gas I can hear and feel the miss and it hesitates to go forward, also backfires. At idle it will shake kind of bad and then smooth out like all cylinders are firing ok.

I just stopped home real quick on lunch and I can't seem to find any burnt wiring. I pulled 2 plugs on the Pass side real fast and they are pretty black so I bought new plugs i'll be installing. I'm going to do as you suggested and test the voltage. Also I am going to swap the Ignition Module and coils / wires from my project GN which runs onto this car and see if that has anything to do with it.

One piece of info I forgot is the battery would not charge any more and I could not get the volt light to come on. I ended up buying the caspers repair that just bypasses that part of the system and now the battery is charging fine.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll come back with any findings later today.

 

[salvageV6]

Good news is there are tons of people in NJ with these cars and hopefully some will step up to help you out, MAGNA is a good club also that may be close enough to you to offer some tech. support.

I think the dash problem is probably related to the volt light problem perhaps the connectors in the back of it, worth reading about how to check and seat the connectors in the dash, search feature should provide the info. for that here on this site.

What chip are you running with it?

Is the MAF a known good unit?

I think you have multiple issues that need to be addressed slowly and in a methodical workmanlike manor, like when I bought my used GN.

Lots of odd yet luckily small problems with that car and all have been fixed relatively easily.

I wouldn't rush driving it very far until you do some maintenance on it.

 

[F8L WS6]

Yes there are! Haven't met many of them but see them around the cruise spots.

I've searched alot on the volt problem and I did most of the suggestions but nothing worked. I'll probably be disassembling it again and really get into it. It's got to be an odd problem.

The chip is a TurboTweak matched with all my current stuff. Luckily I have pretty much the same combo in my TTA if I need to switch chips. The fuel rail holds pressure, doesn't drop for a long time. The MAF I am unsure of, but it isn't throwing any codes at the moment. I'll try swapping that off the GN as well. The GN runs perfect! So at least I can swap stuff around.

It's up on stands now so i'm going to keep taking it apart until i've got everything fixed. Thanks again for the help.

 

[F8L WS6]

So.......... I got home and got to work first off with the spark plugs. I started on driver side then Pass side. First thing I noticed was they were all pitch black. Also the gaps were smaller since they were a range colder and thats what people recommended. I go to put in stock AC Delco plugs gapped at .35. I get to the back plug on the pass side and I noticed that I didn't need a ratchet to remove it....... the plug was loose! So needless to say I think thats where one of my problems was. I got that one in and tight and now its running great. Just light driving no boost. Waiting on the Scanmaster for more.

Thank you for the suggestions. I assumed it was my fault form all the other wierd things. My interior lights don't work either for some reason!

 

[salvageV6]

Interior lights are on the CIG/CLK fuse. Middle of the panel down lower half in the fuse box.

Unless it's the pin switches in the doors giving you a problem. But it's easier to check that fuse first obviously.

If it's the fuse that would also kill: Eng. comp. light, glove box light, cigar lighter, CLOCK AND RADIO DISPLAY etc.

Do a search on what commonly blows that fuse such as a shorted cigar lighter socket, aftermarket wiring for radios and other accessories and perhaps a shorted glove box or underhood light wire.

Lots of info. on that fuse blowing and that should fix your radio display etc.

Like I said you have multiple problems to be addressed.