Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 09:26 pm, by: Justin Wilson(Juzz51)
Ok, now as mentioned in previous threads, I've got a few problems with my Soarer, I'll start from the beginning.
My stereo most of the time is super quiet, I'll have the volume knob turned up all the way, but still nothing loud. Sometimes after work it'll be louder, but still no where near where it should be. Even rarer, sometimes it'll work perfectly. Also, at night, my headlights dim everytime I use the brakes. If I have the aircon on as well, then that just makes things worse. On bad nights my headlights will dim and then get brighter without having to tap the brakes or use aircon at all. Also use to get the cat converter light a lot, but it's less frequent now. There's no power steering leek.
Anyway, after a lot of research on here, and even taking it to an auto electrician, it was pretty clear that it must have been the alternator on its way out. I got that changed today, and it's still exactly the same problems.
So, any clues as to what the hell is wrong with my car?? Any tests that I can do without spending hundreds of dollars replacing a part and then finding out that it wasn't the problem??
Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 07:28 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
Possibly faulty regulator too, though that should have been replaced with the alternator.
The auto electrician should NOT have replaced the alternator unless he tested it first and found it faulty. Its so easy to do. Actually, you should have been getting error messages and chimes if it was at the point where the lights were dimming.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 08:34 am, by: Brian Timms(Turbo_brian)
2 things to check.
Earthing throughout the car, make sure everything is earthed properly.
Also get a load test on the battery, make sure the battery is up to the task (I had battery issues in my car causing some interesting to go wrong).
As for stereo, this is an excuse to upgrade to an aftermarket, but I dare say it's something to do with the amps, possibly a loose wire or again, a poor ground.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 11:02 am, by: Dave Hart(Davyboy)
I see the poor lad has a new alternator now for sale. Sorry Justin, hope you get your money back or a good chunk of it. As Matthew said anyone worth his salt should have checked a few things out first. This goes to show the worth of seeking help on this site first. There's usually someone on here who's been down the path and notice where all the land mines are.
Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 07:23 pm, by: Justin Wilson(Juzz51)
Just a couple more things about the symptoms of my car so you guys can get a better idea of what the problem may be.
I don't drive all that much at night, so last night while I was waiting for my girlfriend to finish work I was a bit bored, so I started playing with the seat a bit, as you do. Anyway, I noticed just moving the seat a little will cause the headlights to Dim, also with this the Cat light came up very dimly as well. So just tapping the electric seats to move I could cause the lights and the cat light to flicker at the same time I was using the seats. So would that be most likely the cause of poor grounds or wiring??
Also, with the stereo, the fact that its really quiet in the mornings when I go to work, and then its louder after I finish work, everytime basically, would that be the cause of a faulty amp? It couldn't be the wiring could it??
Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 11:09 pm, by: Damian Ware(Frozenpod)
Might be grounding issues, I would clean them as a matter of course.
Do you have a EMV if so the soft sound when cold might be a radio unit problem. I can probably fix the radio unit and or amplifier.
I would do a couple of tests to check, does this only happen at idle, ie rev the car up slightly and do the same tests again. If all works well you may have a battery issue or alternator regulator problem.
I would start with the grounds, main one just off the battery terminal on the chassi and the center console ones. Next look at the battery voltage when off and at idle and when reving the car say 2000rpm. If it is below 12 at idle but picks up to 14.5 when at higher rpm you probably need a new battery. Bad alternator regulator can cause similar problems but since yours has been replaced I would almost rule this out.
If that doesn't fix it I think you need to see a quality auto elec.
Monday, February 26, 2007 - 09:22 am, by: Justin Wilson(Juzz51)
Battery seems to be fine. Voltage was about 14.3.
In terms of you having a look at the radio unit, would I have to take it out and send it to you, or is there somewhere I can take the car and have you take a look?
Friday, March 02, 2007 - 09:36 pm, by: Michael Howatt(Howatt)
Below is a direct copy from someone's previous thread. I apologise for not knowing who but I think this is worth re-iterating the value of earth points. Below is the article/thread:
"The symptoms described in this forum post turn up quite commonly. Other symptoms may range from the instrument cluster disappearing, clock and trip meters resetting through to engine cutout and recovery after a few moments. It usually happens when you put an electrical spike through the system, such as touching the brakes, using high beams, or just using the indicators. They are all symptomatic of an earthing problem.
One of the few less brilliant parts of Soarer design is the fact that many of the earth points rely on a bolt into the chassis, where the electrical contact depends entirely on the thread, with no electrical contact through the head of the bolt. This will be one of your targets but first, here is a complete list of V8 earth points:
LH fender Left fender apron RH Fender RH cylinder head rear Surge tank, lower LH cylinder head front Left cowl, side Radio RH Right cowl Console box LH Console box RH Centre floor crossmember RH Back panel centre Centre floor crossmember LH
Fortunately, most of these will not require work. The most significant targets are • Battery terminals, especially the negative terminal • The earth point on the chassis next to the battery • Cylinder head earths • In EMV-equipped cars, the earth on the floor below the console If your engine cuts out as one of the symptoms, concentrate especially on the first two.
Remove the terminals and thoroughly clean them and the battery posts, including disassembling the cables from the clips and cleaning them. If your terminal clips are cactus you can buy a new genuine set from Toyota for less than $40.
Remove the earth connection on the fender and sand back the paint where the bolt and earth ring touch it. Clean the earth and replace.
Tighten these carefully but hard.
Check tightness of the other main earths and clean anything that needed tightening. You should now have banished the problem. If it persists, then I am afraid it is more likely that you need to re-do the job more thoroughly than that there is another mysterious problem. Only when you are satisfied the earths are sound should you give too much thought to the battery or other potential issues.