zedsaid Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Kind of a convoluded intro to a hopefully simple question. About a month ago, i noticed that my battery drained quickly when stepping on the brake. Plenty of juice while driving, or even idleing with the parking brake on, but if i hit a stoplight, and put that left pedal down, the lights dimmed to nearly nothing, the guage swung down from it's drivetime high of 14v to 6v. I made the mistake of turning the car off at one of my stops. (something i really didn't need to do considering i can pull the key out of the ignition while it's running). The car wouldn't start. Wouldn't even attempt to turn over. I had it towed to an auto-electric shop. They said that the alternator was overcharging the battery, resulting in it not being able to hold a charge (seemed i would have noticed some symptoms before death, but okay). They swapped out the alternator and the battery. Great. I pull out of the shop and decide i need some tunes. Only thing is, now my radio doesn't work. Antenna won't even go up. I flip a bitch, head back, and the guy spends an hour poking around with a current tester. Only to conclude that something has happened in the radio, and he's not a radio guy. Seriously? That's that? Fine, i've been thinking about upgrading anyway... may just have to do it sooner than expected. So i drive off in a huff... A little hot under the collar. So i need a little air circulating. But it only blows out of the defrost and floor vents now- and no heat, just AC. I really don't want this guy touching my car again, but he broke it, he should fix it. I reluctantly take it back to him the next day. He keeps it a month. I need it back. I've been borrowing a car for a month, and that's exessive. I drive my car for a living. So i tell him i need it back, that he's had a month. It's still not fixed. His excuse "They don't make the module for that car anymore, and no-one has one" He'll have to wire around it. Hell-no. He can't have my baby any longer. I don't even trust that the "module" is the problem. I've picked up my car. I have no heat, no radio, and no dash air. This makes for some very cold, boring driving. Which brings me to my question. Does this sound like a module problem to you? I'm kind of thinking that (durring the tow) one of the vacume hoses fell off the back of the control unit, and disconnected the power to the radio below. I street park, and don't really have a way to get under there and check it out myself. Sound plausible to anyone else? Also, anyone have a recomendation of someone to take my car to in the Los Angeles area? I'm not interested in just keeping it running... it's my daily driver, but i'm looking at making it something i can be proud of. Seems that every mechanic i go to is of the "do the least i can to keep it on the road" mindset. Even when i tell them i want the works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I personally have no idea whats up with your car, but I would continue to work with the original guy to get the problem fixed. He should be paying for it even if another shop does the work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver280zx Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 This issue sounds similar to the one i was having. Theres two ways of going about fixing it. First, the cheapest, is to check all the fuses. If its not a fuse, i would check your ignition/ACC relay. This can cause what you were talking about. mine made the blower go out, and the signals, all my guages, and such went out. Good luck, -Tyler- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjuju Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 yup, that's a 280zx electrical issue alright. happened to mine, i ended up buying a new car. take it back to the guy and crap down his throat about this. tell him there's a way to get anything. hell, z specialties or z sport up here in washington will have any part you need, or will be able to get any part you need. it is absolute bullshit when a mechanic tells you a part can't be had. there's always a replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrism Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 You should get the schematic to your car and see what common circuit connects all those components together. It's probably a common ground wire that was loose or not reconnected. I have a 75 280 and there is a PID terminal connector in the steering column that connects all kinds of junk. My wiper blades, half the dash lights, turn signals went out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger.svoboda Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 well first off the guy gave you a line of crap about the battery being overcharged. Over charging a battery causes boiloff and you have to add water to keep the electrolyte level correct - UNLESS you have one of those crapola gel cells which die for no apparent reason they only work in a fairly new car with charging system in good order and driven every day. If you actually paid this clown you are screwed. Small claims court maybe. The fact that putting on the brakes did weird things would indicate that there was some sort of ground in the brake light circuit. The guy might have blown out one of the fusible links or disconnected something cause he obviously doesn't know the first thing about auto electrics. Sounds like a ground got taken off if the fuses are all good. Or you lost power which feeds through the ignition switch. Are all your battery cables in really good shape ie no corrosion no one size fit all clamps. Does your ground cable go down to a bolt in the frame and thence to the starter. The ground cable should first go to a bolt just below the battery box. Lots of people cut this off and go direct to starter but that can cause ground problems. Other good thing to do is run a 10 or 8 gauge wire from the battery negative terminal to either side of the engine compartment. Find a convenient screw to tie them to. Good luck take a gun with you and go see the guy who screwed you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedsaid Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 Yeah, i had a bad feeling about the guy from the git-go, but was in a pinch. Thing is, the car runs now, so whatever he did has at least gotten me that far, even if it killed the radio, the heat, and the dash vents. There's no noticable drain when braking at this point. (never did understand how braking was supposed to spotlight the symptom of no charge in a battery that never had a problem holding a charge before) I just need a shop down here that knows what they're doing. In the meantime, thanks for all your input, i'll try to check out those things i can... the fuses, i've already checked, and they checked out fine. As for the wiring to the battery, a previous owner did some weird stuff in there, I've got an extra connector cable that runs to who knows where, which isn't currently hooked up to the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plexus Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 This issue sounds similar to the one i was having. Theres two ways of going about fixing it. First, the cheapest, is to check all the fuses. If its not a fuse, i would check your ignition/ACC relay. This can cause what you were talking about. mine made the blower go out, and the signals, all my guages, and such went out. Good luck, -Tyler- that sucks i think im having some elec issuses as well. hey Tyler where is the ignition/acc relay located my plroblem seems to be more common to what you went through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver280zx Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 that sucks i think im having some elec issuses as well. hey Tyler where is the ignition/acc relay located my plroblem seems to be more common to what you went through. Ya man no prob. The relay is located behind the glovebox. It is mounted on the wall right beside the passenger fender under teh dash. If its a pre 1980 i think is just one relay, mine was, on later models, it was 2 relays interconnected. I think they sell the individual ignition relay and acc relay. I actually ordered mine from the dealer, it was the cheapest i found. I think it was like $59.95. Hope it works for ya man. -Tyler- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilbertZ Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 I had my first one last night... Driving home from the airport (after parking it there all day) - everything works fine, except the turn signals don't. The hazards never have since I got it, but the turns worked fine - even that morning! 10 minutes into the drive, in rain and gloom, they started working again - I didnt' do anything different - they just decided to work again....strangeness! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinhZXT Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Your original problem was caused by a weak battery. It just simply won't hold the charge. You were just lucky that it held just enough charge to start the car. The alternator was fine and that was what kept your car running. You didn't need the new alternator. For your heat issue you never mention you have auto climate control or not. The manual climate control used a manual heater valve and controlled by the lever in the front. This means it is not control by vacuum. If you have auto climate control then yes the heater control valve is control by vacuum. Many people have problems with auto climate control system. You are not the only one. This is a typical example why mechanics never want to touch old cars period. Unless that mechanic knows the in and out about that particular car. You have to understand that with old cars any problem can come up at time. If it just happen to occur while the mechanic is working on your car sometimes it is not the mechanic's fault. I was in this position before so I know. Philber, Look in the FAQ section. The answer to your problem is in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedsaid Posted February 1, 2008 Author Share Posted February 1, 2008 Sorry, yes, Autoclimate, which is why i suspect the vaccum hose issue, the problem is would that take out the radio? Also, since getting it back, it starts rough. Runs fine once warm... It's fuel injected... so??? Is there a part that would mess with all three of those things? Did he fry something? None of these issues were present when he got my car. The only issue was that it wouldn't start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger.svoboda Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Maybe he disconnected the cold start valve or the cyl head temp sensor those will cause hard cold starts. Mine doesn't like it below freezing. If I let it crank a while and she don't start I give it some air by depressing the accelerator and that seems to let it fire up. These things do flood even tho fuel injected if they don't start right up. When it floods giving it some air is all that will make it go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver280zx Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I had the temp sensor go bad, and mine wouldnt run at all, it completely floods. I tells your motor that the engine is below freezing all the time, so it runs the cold start valve wide open all the time. When mine was out, i could run it without my fuel pump relay in, it would syphen fuel through the lines into the engine. lol, but wouldnt run at all with the fuel pump running at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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