Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting HELP

I made it about two blocks from my house when my car backfired, killed, and smells burnt. I was driving slow and breaking it in. The dash lights went real dim, tried starting it again but nothing. Turned the key off and took the first side street. I made it about two blocks coasting when i gave the starter a shot and it fired right back up. Now the Battery Light is on and i'm only getting about 12V on my Voltmeter vs the 14 i usually get when it's running. Anyone have any ideas??? Has to be something electrical right? Maybe i don't have something hooked up right.

Did a little searching... maybe i shorted out my main power wire running to the alternator and blew the maxifuse/megafuse?? i found a picture that is supposed to show where its at, i will have to take a look to see if it can actually be "checked" otherwise i'll try testing the voltage on the main power wire on the alt.

If anyone has any other suggestions i want to hear them

It *can* be checked. behind the coilpack is the fuse, in a black plastic container. There are going to be two metal probes sticking out on either side (one on either side). Test resistance across those two. Should be none.

Thanks for the tip, I found where it was there is a short in the wire where it was rubbing on the EGR Looks like i'm going to need a new set of cables...

Alright I had to replace the cable running between the megafuse and the starter but have gotten rid of the battery light, got my volts back up to 14 and the alternator seems to be charging the battery again. Now i'm hearing an interesting ticking noise that almost sounds like an exhaust leak from the back side of the motor (right around where i was working for the cable) I don't know if this is something i just caused while replacing the cable or if it just started. It sounds lower than the valve cover and on the back side for sure. I can't feel any excessive vibrations on the motor and am out of ideas. I just replaced my clutch and diff, but its not the chatter i'm hearing because i can push the clutch in and it doesn't all go away. This ticking is MUCH louder when i'm on the gas with a load on the engine but you can almost always hear it when it's running. It has the symptoms of an exhaust leak but i don't know that it is...

BTW my cable was bad because the EGR melted right through it looks like i routed it incorrectly last time. When it shorted out it killed the car and was not pretty.... It didn't blow the fuse though and i'm just wondering if that could've messed other things up?

I'm starting to lean towards the exhaust leak idea. I would guess it is coming from around the manifold or egr area in the back. Maybe i didn't torque the headers quite tight enough i'll try and get them a little tighter tomorrow and check to see if anything on the EGR is loose... Any one have any other ideas?

When you get under, just feel for the rush of air with the engine running. You already know it is near the gaskets/exhaust.