Jump to content
SAU Community

Elecrical Gremlin

R32 TT

By R32 TT,
in General Maintenance

 Share

Recommended Posts

R32 TT Mentor

R32 TT

Posted
Posted

Hey guys, hoping for some hints about where to start looking for this.

Have an intermittent problem where I appear to have an complete electrical shutdown. Doesn't do it on Dyno or general driving, didn't do it at recent Powercruise. Only does it at a tight circuit sprint event on corners. Sometimes doesn't do it at all! At first I thought it was only right handers, but it has done it going left also..

Has done it once or twice a couple of years ago with previous engine build, car has had plenty of work during that time, and when the latest incarnation of the motor went in, it got new earths etc.

If you look at this screen shot of the logs, you can plainly see it losing voltage across and regaining it in quick succession. Doesn't appear to be just power to the Motec either, as when that happened - all my stock gauges were bouncing up and down erratically. So it looks like its 'further up the line'. This pulsing is new - it used to cut right out and then just return a second or so later. This is the first time I have been able to 'log it' since Motec appears to have stayed up long enough to keep logging.

I have searched a bit and seen threads about Alternator/fuses/reg etc.. but the problem I have with all this is that if the alternator were cutting out, there is still the battery to keep power. So it must be some sort of open circuit?

One thread somewhere suggested you can have a problem with the ignition barrel even?

Could it be a particular Relay that anyone knows as causing this kind of symptom?

So. Just looking for any brain-storming ideas from you guys who could say what things to check first. Hope to get onto this little gremlin over the christmas break and wanted some ideas and thoughts to make a plan of what to check first.

post-20408-0-66735500-1324199006_thumb.png

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/386039-elecrical-gremlin/
Share on other sites
StevenCJR31 Veteran

StevenCJR31

Posted
Posted

You have checked all your wiring and connectors? sounds like "loose wire syndrome"have heard of wiring being a tad short and only failing when under the stresses of racing (ie body flex)

t_revz Grand Master

t_revz

Posted
Posted

so it looks in that pic like it faulted for about 10 seconds? what happened to the engine when it happened? im just thinking if the engine did die then the stresses on the car should have reduced quickly and the fault should have stopped much quicker then 10 seconds. how long does it usually last?

offer still stands to bring it down here for me to have a look :thumbsup:

R32 TT Mentor

R32 TT

Posted
  • Author
Posted

You have checked all your wiring and connectors? sounds like "loose wire syndrome"have heard of wiring being a tad short and only failing when under the stresses of racing (ie body flex)

Well, I've looked over them and looked for anything obvious yes. I've tried pulling/pushing on them with engine running etc, but can't get anything to fault.

might be a wire with a bit of wear on the outer insulation and when the body is flexing it is shorting out on the body

Yes, could be - I just thought that that kind of thing would almost certainly take out a fuse?

so it looks in that pic like it faulted for about 10 seconds? what happened to the engine when it happened? im just thinking if the engine did die then the stresses on the car should have reduced quickly and the fault should have stopped much quicker then 10 seconds. how long does it usually last?

Yep, dead right. On this particular occssion it was very diffent because it went on/off/on like that.. Engine lost all power, but 'sort of' kept running, backfired, ran rough, stalled etc. Remember I still had road speed and was using the clutch to keep it going as best I could to get it across the finish line. In the past it has just been a plain cut for a second or two and then bam, power comes back and stays. The first few times it did this I thought it was low fuel / fuel surge. But it ain't that.

offer still stands to bring it down here for me to have a look

You're a good man Trev, and I might still take you up on it. Just trying to get some ideas to check in the meantime.

  • 2 weeks later...
Nissan1986 Rookie

Nissan1986

Posted
Posted

I have the exact same problem with my r33 Gtst s2, But my car stalls every time I hit a small bump. Sometimes when I hit a big enough bump it stalls won't start for a couple of seconds and then will. For some reason the airbag light stays on for about 15 mins, had an auto electrician look at it he had no luck all electrical seemed alright, he did mention something about immobiliser if you have one but I had it removed and that didn't do a thing. I could only assume electrical would be the problem do you think putting on diagnostics would display some kind of error message or have you had this done?

R32 TT Mentor

R32 TT

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I have the exact same problem with my r33 Gtst s2, But my car stalls every time I hit a small bump. Sometimes when I hit a big enough bump it stalls won't start for a couple of seconds and then will. For some reason the airbag light stays on for about 15 mins, had an auto electrician look at it he had no luck all electrical seemed alright, he did mention something about immobiliser if you have one but I had it removed and that didn't do a thing. I could only assume electrical would be the problem do you think putting on diagnostics would display some kind of error message or have you had this done?

Hey Robbie,

Frustrating isn't it... I still have not had a chance to look at the car in any detail due to holidays and people like, y'know, family, getting in my way! :/ Hoping to get onto it soon and will def write back here what I find when I find it. I do have an immobiliser and this is a good place to start I think.

I haven't tried diagnostics simply because there is very little left that the std ECU is controlling - motec now has that job but the only thing its been able to tell me is that power goes missing! (duh!).

R32 TT Mentor

R32 TT

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Make shore you have no loose random conections, i had a similer issue were i would lose power, not just electronics but from the eng as well. was found to be a random conection touching my alloy radiator.

Check the drivers side wiring loom above the front right wheel. May have worn/rubbed through

Hmm, thanks guys, I'll check for both. I would have thought though that anything 'touching' and shorting would blow a fuse.. But hey, not ruling anything out at the moment. DVS JEZ are you talking about inside the engine bay nearby fusebox?

R32 TT Mentor

R32 TT

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Nope. Above the wheel. Jack the car up and look above the drivers side front wheel. U May see a wiring loom there depending if u have a inner gaurd or not.

How low is ur car?

Not super low. 355mm center of wheel to guard, but it does see track time mostly, and this is where the problem happens so I'll have a closer look there - cheers, just the kinds of tips I was looking for.

bluey33 Experienced

bluey33

Posted
Posted

I have the same issues. Only on handbrake entries in car, will shut off then come back to me a split second or several seconds later. Ended up finding battery terminal loose. Couldn't pull it off the battery post but could spin it with a fair bit of force. Tightened up lower on post, still yet to test it. Hope that's it anyway.

Would not happen on transitions.

bluey33 Experienced

bluey33

Posted
Posted (edited)

Electrical power. Loose everything, power steering in particular which sucks when u got one hand on wheel and other on handbrake. Then when I go to get on gas nothing for quite some time sometimes. Weird cause like i said only and handbrake entries. Does it left hand or right hand aswell.

Has turbo timer but not hooked up to handbrake so that isn't an issue either.

Edited by bluey33
R32 TT Mentor

R32 TT

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Electrical power. Loose everything, power steering in particular which sucks when u got one hand on wheel and other on handbrake. Then when I go to get on gas nothing for quite some time sometimes. Weird cause like i said only and handbrake entries. Does it left hand or right hand aswell.

Has turbo timer but not hooked up to handbrake so that isn't an issue either.

Well it should not matter if the battery is connected or not.. "shouldn't". Once the car is started all electrical power comes from the Alternator and the Battery just becomes another load, like headlights.. ie because it is being charged.

You should be able to start your car, then pull the battery cable off the terminal ad everything should keep running...

t_revz Grand Master

t_revz

Posted
Posted

Well it should not matter if the battery is connected or not.. "shouldn't". Once the car is started all electrical power comes from the Alternator and the Battery just becomes another load, like headlights.. ie because it is being charged.

You should be able to start your car, then pull the battery cable off the terminal ad everything should keep running...

disconnecting should make the alternator overcharge as it cant see any voltage from the battery. depending on how high the voltage gets to things might start cutting out .....or blowing up :whistling:

R32 TT Mentor

R32 TT

Posted
  • Author
Posted

disconnecting should make the alternator overcharge as it cant see any voltage from the battery. depending on how high the voltage gets to things might start cutting out .....or blowing up :whistling:

Ah ok. Well I didn't know or think of that.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Latest Posts

    • sunsetR33
      Unpeeling the Orange

      By sunsetR33 · Posted

      Update 3: Hi all It's been a while. Quite a lot of things happened in the meantime, among other things the car is (almost) back together and ready to be started again. Things that I fixed or changed: Full turbo removal, fitting back the OEM turbo oil hardlines. Had to do quite a bit of research and parts shopping to get every last piece that I need and make it work with the GT2860 turbos, but it does work and is not hard to do. Proves that the previous owner(s) just did not want to. While I was there I set the preload for the wastegates to 0,9bar to hopefully make it easier for the tuner to hit the 370hp I need for the legal inspections that will follow later on. Boost can always go up if necessary. Fitted a AN10 line from the catch can to the intake hose to make the catchcan and hopefully the cam covers a slight vacuum to have less restrictive oil returns from the head and not have mud build up as harshly in the lines and catch can. Removed the entire front interior just shy of the dashboard itself to clean up some of the absolutely horrendous wiring, (hopefully) fix the bumpy tacho and put in LED bulbs while I was there. Also put in bulbs where there was none before, like the airbag one. I also used that chance to remove the LED rpm gauge on the steering column, which was also wired in absolute horror show fashion. Moved the 4in1 Prosport gauge from sitting in front of the OEM oil pressure gauge to the center console vents, I used a 3D printed vent piece to hold that gauge there. The HKB steering wheel boss was likely on incorrectly as I sometimes noticed the indicator reset being uneven for left vs. right. In the meantime also installed an airbag delete resistor, as one should. Installed Cube Speed premium short shifter. Feels pretty nice, hope it'll work great too when I actually get to drive. Also put on a fancy Dragon Ball shift knob, cause why not. My buddy was kind enough to weld the rust hole in the back, it was basically rusted through in the lowermost corner of the passenger side trunk area where the wheel arch, trunk panel and rear quarter all meet. Obviously there is still a lot of crustiness in various areas but as long as it's not rusted out I'll just treat and isolate the corrosion and pretend it's not there. Also had to put down a new ground wire for the rear subframe as the original one was BARELY there. Probably a bit controversial depending on who you ask about this... but I ended up just covering the crack in the side of the engine block, the one above the oil feed, with JB Weld. I used a generous amount and roughed up the whole area with a Dremel before, so I hope this will hold the coolant where it should be for the foreseeable future. Did a cam cover gasket job as the half moons were a bit leaky, and there too one could see the people who worked on this car before me were absolute tools. The same half moons were probably used like 3 times without even cleaning the old RTV off. Dremeled out the inside of the flange where the turbine housing mates onto the exhaust manifolds so the diameter matches, as the OEM exhaust manifolds are even narrower than the turbine housings as we all know. Even if this doesn't do much, I had them out anyways, so can't harm. Ideally one would port-match both the turbo and the manifold to the gasket size but I really didn't feel up to disassembling the turbine housings. Wrapped turbo outlet dumps in heat wrap band. Will do the frontpipe again as well as now the oil leak which promted me to tear apart half the engine in the first place is hopefully fixed. Fitted an ATI super damper to get rid of the worn old harmonic balancer. Surely one of the easiest and most worth to do mods. But torquing that ARP bolt to spec was a bitch without being able to lock the flywheel. Did some minor adjustments in the ECU tables to change some things I didn't like, like the launch control that was ALWAYS active. Treated rusty spots and surface corrosion on places I could get to and on many spots under the car, not pretty or ideal but good enough for now. Removed the N1 rear spats and the carbon surrounding for the tailpipe to put them back on with new adhesive as the old one was lifting in many spots, not pretty. Took out the passenger rear lamp housing... what do you know. Amateur work screwed me again here as they were glued in hard and removing it took a lot of force, so I broke one of the housing bolts off. And when removing the adhesive from the chassis the paint came right off too. Thankfully all the damaged area won't be visible later, but whoever did the very limited bodywork on this car needs to have their limbs chopped off piece by piece.   Quite a list if I do say so myself, but a lot of time was spent just discovering new shit that is wrong with the car and finding a solution or parts to fix it. My last problem that I now have the headache of dealing with is that the exhaust studs on the turbo outlets are M10x1.25 threaded, but the previous owner already put on regular M10 nuts so the threads are... weird. I only found this out the hard way. So now I will just try if I can in any way fit the front pipe regardless, if not I'll have to redo the studs with the turbos installed. Lesson learned for the future: Redo ALL studs you put your hands on, especially if they are old and the previous owners were inept maniacs. Thanks for reading if you did, will update when the engine runs again. Hope nothing breaks or leaks and I can do a test drive.
    • Kapr
      What brakes on R34 GTT(Europe)

      By Kapr · Posted

      No those pads are DBA too  but they have colors too. I look at the and imo the green "street" are the best.
    • wizlb
      Who has a Infiniti Q60, Q50 (V37)?

      By wizlb · Posted

      I’m not sure what happened I told them about sonic tunes free OTS tune and the next the I know .. I was booted..   To funny 
    • Kinkstaah
      Starting again

      By Kinkstaah · Posted

      Yea - I mean I've seen my fuel pump which is decades old and uh, while I'm not saying this with real knowledge... but I sure get the ick at using anything in the fuel system that produced the state of that pump. Many years ago I went through multiple pumps (and strainers) before I dropped the tank to clean it out with extreme violence. I'm talking the car would do maybe 50km before coming to a halt, which resulted in me cleaning out the filter with some brake cleaner and going on my way. None of my stuff ever looked like what came out of your fuel tank. I don't think I'd be happy with it unless every single component was replaced (or at least checked/cleaned/confirmed to be clean here).
    • GTSBoy
      What brakes on R34 GTT(Europe)

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      I'm not going to recommend an EBC pad. I don't like them. Just about anything else would suit me better. I've been using Intima pads for a while now.
×
×
  • Create New...