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weird electrical problems 98 contour

F

ff_drift_lol

New CEG'er
Joined
Aug 3, 2007
Messages
28
I have been sitting here troubleshooting for hours with a voltage meter and a sharp eye....and I've never been so stuck! I have my battery in my trunk, 12v on the battery, 12v on the pos on the distributor block in the engine bay. My interior lights go on but my headlights do not and when I turn my key I get nothing. It was running less than 8 hours ago and the last thing I did was reconnect the postive terminal to my voltage gauge. I tried disconnecting all of my gauges from the ignition wire and still nothing. Anyone? I have work in like 4 hours helpppp!!!!
 
Hmmm, I can't recall if the headlights work or not with the megafuse being the culprit. I want to say they don't, but it can't hurt to check out.

The megafuse is under the coilpack, against the firewall. If you have fog-lights, can check that instead.
 
Jump start the car at the battery terminals. If the car starts, you know it is the battery terminal clamps.

If it doesn't, jump start from the engine side (end of the cables). If the car starts, you know it is the wires from the battery to the engine.
 
I'm talking about everything, not just the headlights. The only thing in the car getting power is the interior lights. Thanks for the quick response.
 
Yes, I did read your post. Usually, if the interior lights come on but not anything else, it means there is power but not enough for anything else. Which means, dead battery or wiring or terminal clamps. How old is the battery?

ff_drift_lol said:
I'm talking about everything, not just the headlights. The only thing in the car getting power is the interior lights. Thanks for the quick response.
Click to expand...

Edit. Car should crank (and start) even if the megafuse is blown. It will just eventually drain the battery if it is blown.
 
Check that your grounds are tight. Fully charged battery helps too, should be at least 12.5 volts.
 
I'm still getting 12v at the front of the car. The battery is reading 12v. It's probably about 4 or 5 months old. I know my battery is not dead.
 
My interior lights are also getting 12v. What single fuse could have blown to cause the car to lose headlights, accessories and ignition, but not interior lights? If not a fuse, what wires/harness? I've tested just about everything and nothing is giving me an answer.
 
Look in the engine compartment fuse box. There's a diagram inside the cover, each headlight has its own fuse, plus there are two relays hi and low beam.
 
It can't have anything to do with that since all of the red wires going into the interior fuse box have power, correct?
 
I jumped a 12v from the main line to the ignition AFTER the fuses and my car started fine, still no lights though. I'm figuring it out slowly but man...to do this right is going to be a pain in the ass!
 
ff_drift_lol said:
I have been sitting here troubleshooting for hours with a voltage meter and a sharp eye....and I've never been so stuck! I have my battery in my trunk, 12v on the battery, 12v on the pos on the distributor block in the engine bay. My interior lights go on but my headlights do not and when I turn my key I get nothing. It was running less than 8 hours ago and the last thing I did was reconnect the postive terminal to my voltage gauge. I tried disconnecting all of my gauges from the ignition wire and still nothing. Anyone? I have work in like 4 hours helpppp!!!!
Click to expand...
I need more information. What were you doing on the car during those eight hours? The troubleshooting or doing a mod, like relocating the battery to the trunk? When you do get the engine running, what is the voltage on the battery terminals? When you reconnected the voltage gauge, was the battery disconnected first?
Karl
 
ok, here we go.
i just got over the same problem a couple of days ago.:mad:
now i'm good!!!:laugh:
disconnect your batt and take it out.
take out that little pad it sits on too.
now you should see the wire harness that comes out of the bottom of the fuse box underneath.
your short is there.
there should be a black/grey wire that comes out of that harness....DON'T BOTHER.
The should also be 4 red wires as well. There must not be a good connection from one/(all?) of those wires to the pos. trml (batt.) make sure they are not shorting/or losing connection.
These red wires should hook directly up to the pos. terminal.
The previous owner put an aftermarket cable end on my SE but did not properly connect to the terminal and when i would hit bumps, my car would shut down (1-2 sec). sometimes i would go to start my car in the morning or something and nothing........i would get interior lights but nothing else. I checked and by accident came across the problem and after rewiring, no problems!!:laugh:
i hope this solves your problem.
pls let us all know!
 
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