Major Electrical Problems....

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Stezieb
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Major Electrical Problems....

Post by Stezieb »

First off, I have an 01 lanos ATX. I hope it is okay that I post this here as it is sort of tranny related, please read on.

Well I've had the car for approximately 1 month now, and the car with only 50k Miles is yet to have 1 good day of driving. I have a major brake problem as well but I will wait to bore you guys with the details of that later.

The following are the symptoms the car is experiencing:

Interior Lighting (Gauges, stereo, dome light) inconsistently dimming.
--Stereo Turns off during ATX upshift.
--Interior Lights Dim when signals or hazard lights are on.
--Braking or ATX Downshifting turns off stereo, dims lights, and sounds like engine is going to die
Gauges have a mind of there own.
-- Temp Gauge is on opposite side of where it is supposed to be.
-- Speedometer jumps when you hit a bump, or the ATX upshifts. Often Drops to zero, then back up. Interior lights flicker simultaneously.
-- Fuel Gauge starts approx 1/4 tank above the "F" (Full) Indicator.
Electrical Sparking
--Yes, you read right. Right at the Neutral Safety switch under the hood, where the ATX Shift rod connects, it sparks when shifted between PRND etc.
--I cannot see if it sparks when the ATX is upshifting, because I can't look in the engine while driving. ...or could i? :lol:
Rough Shifting
--I recently noticed Shifter is nearly impossible to move, it takes a lot of brute strength to get it into gear.
--Once in gear, the shifter has a little bit of play, and can move up and down a few millimeters with out shifting into the next gear.
--Center Console is currently disassembled, nearly all contact points on the shifter rods get extremely hot during short routine drives.
Alternator
--Replaced alternator with a Used (tested, passed 100%) Alternator, does not fix the problem.
--Car dies immediately at any point once started when the battery is disconnected. :?: :?:


What I've done so far:


Replaced Alternator
Replaced Battery connection hardware.
Replaced Neutral Safety sensor

This is a typical drive experience is goes for me. I start the car, put it in reverse to back out of my parking space, the lights dim as I put it into reverse, sometimes stereo will turn off. I back up and then shift into drive, as I pass neutral, again everything dims. From 1mph to approx 14-15mph car is fine, then all of a sudden Gauges and all interior lights+stereo flicker. As I leave my home and get onto a main roadway, the head lights will turn off, the speedometer will drop to zero, and the stereo will turn off. After 1-2 Seconds, the headlights turn back on, as do the gauge lights. I have to turn the stock stereo on manually, and re-enter factory code. As I near my first stop light, the stereo often turns off as I apply the brakes, and come to a stop. Again, I am able to immediately turn the stereo back on, enter the code, and listen to music. As the light changes to green the car repeats the initial process. Over about 65mph, the car drives fine until I hit a bump. When I hit a bump, the headlights dim, the speedometer drops to zero, and the stereo turns off.

This is getting very annoying, and the car is unsafe to drive at night. Other than this electrical problem the car is in great condition with low miles. I love the daewoo handling, and I enjoy driving the car. No one can seem to figure out why the car is doing this, and I hate to blindly put money in to this car in hopes that it will fix the problem. Has anyone experienced anything similiar?

My next steps are to replace the shift solenoid, and to check the ground connections on the ECU or ECM. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
daewoomofo
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Re: Major Electrical Problems....

Post by daewoomofo »

when you say you replaced the battery connection hardware, did you also clean the grounds at the chassis, and engine block? i know it might sound dumb, but a bad ground can cause all sorts of odd problems. a lady i work with once had her headlighs come on ( didnt turn the switch on) and could not get them to come off, even with the fuse pulled, i went out and was gonna remove the ground so it didnt kill her battery, a soon as i touched the ground connection, they went off. i cleaned the crud fron the connection and she neve had a problem agian. so i would make sure all grounds are clean befor you start replaceing a bunch of things, but i would even replace the ground wires, they are cheap enough.
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Stezieb
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Location: Denver, CO
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Re: Major Electrical Problems....

Post by Stezieb »

daewoomofo wrote:when you say you replaced the battery connection hardware, did you also clean the grounds at the chassis, and engine block? i know it might sound dumb, but a bad ground can cause all sorts of odd problems. a lady i work with once had her headlighs come on ( didnt turn the switch on) and could not get them to come off, even with the fuse pulled, i went out and was gonna remove the ground so it didnt kill her battery, a soon as i touched the ground connection, they went off. i cleaned the crud fron the connection and she neve had a problem agian. so i would make sure all grounds are clean befor you start replaceing a bunch of things, but i would even replace the ground wires, they are cheap enough.

Thanks for the reply, that's what I am about to do in about 15mins, like i said in my post, I think my ground to the ECU or ECM is bad. Do you know the exact location of things of ground connections I should be checking? I don't want to miss any.
daewoomofo
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Re: Major Electrical Problems....

Post by daewoomofo »

just trace the wires from the battery to where they make contact to the block/chassis. i cant remember where the stock locations are, i upgraded my cables a long time ago, sorry.
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Stezieb
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Re: Major Electrical Problems....

Post by Stezieb »

My engine ground didn't exist.
I made a new ground connection, and 90% of the problems are fixed. :D

However my temp gauge is still screwy, and littlerally on the wrong side of where it is supposed to be, think it will need to be replaced or is there a sensor that I could check/replace?
Trey05Woo
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Re: Major Electrical Problems....

Post by Trey05Woo »

Good post mofo I read just two sentences of the topic starters post and knew first hand you have a ground problem.

There are two more grounds you want to check one is located at the drivers kick panel where the fuses go, and the other is located behind the glove box. Check them both. The one by the fuse panel Ive seen causes trouble when you get the infamous water leak from the front winshield. It runs right on this ground, and rusts the ground causing weird issues inside, like clickling door locks (power doors) weak chime, and the interior lights fuse constanly blowing.

The ground located at the rear/left intake manifold stud is the main ground for the PCM harness. Many times this ground breaks when techs start digging back there. Will cause no starts, misfires, no communication with scan tool to PCM, a bunch of driveability issues, irratic cluster function, etc. Its a two eyelet connector each with two wires of 16 gauge attatched to them 4 wires in total.

Finally the hard shift out of P is most probably the shit interlock solenoid. The brake light switch is a multi function switch located at the brake pedal. It's job is to close the brake light circuit when you step on the pedal (to light the rear lights duh! lol) and also closes the interlock solenoid so it picks up and allows you to depress the shift lever. Check this switch, its adjustable, and sometimes will mis-adjust with use. Causing your brake lights to come on by themselves, and the solenoid to not pick up not letting you press the shift button.
Last edited by Trey05Woo on Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Stezieb
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Re: Major Electrical Problems....

Post by Stezieb »

Trey05Woo wrote:The ground located at the rear/left intake manifold stud is the main ground for the PCM. Many times this ground breaks when techs start digging back there. Will cause no starts, misfires, no communication with scan tool to PCM, a bunch of driveability issues.
What is a good replacement ground for this so that I can avoid these problems all together? Does any battery ground cable from the local autozone work out, that's what i used to fix the previous problem,
Trey05Woo
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Re: Major Electrical Problems....

Post by Trey05Woo »

Well is the ground present? lol Or did a butcher get to work on the car? take a quick look at the intake manifold by the battery. There is a stud on the lower/left that should have some wires connected to them with a nut. Make sure its tight, and in good condition.

If they are not present, you need to dig into the harness, find the spliced grounds, and run them to the block at a good ground location. Intake manifold, transmission, engine mounts all provide adequate ground locations.
Specializing in European & Korean Only
Doral Auto Care
5171 NW 36th
Virginia Gardens, FL 33166
(305) 871-1121

BS Mechanical Engineering 12/12 (FINALLY!)

ASE Certified:
Engine Electrical
Engine Performance/Advance
Brakes & ABS
Air Conditioning
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