Wiring/ Power Problem

kevin29 · November 13, 2004

Ok I have a serious problem, my truck is getting low power to my lights and guages and stereo. My alternator and battery test fine but my guages will not light up all the way and they will not read correctly and when I hit my blinkers and brakes it bounces all my guages and will shut off my stereo. My power loss is worse when my headlights are on though. Also I am not sure if it has to do with it but my truck idles finny it will run fine then all the sudden cut out and almost die.

any suggestions/solutions? >> [email protected]

Thanks Kevin

apache sierra · November 13, 2004

Welcome aboard kevin. How about some specifics like year and type for your truck? It might help narrow the problem down a bit It could be a short in the wiring or a problem with the charging system. Maybe a overloaded electrical system? What have you installed lately that could have changed the wiring or added a load on the system? Electrical problems can be tough to troubleshoot and find

kevin29 · November 13, 2004

1192 GMC Sierra K-1500 305 V8. Well all I have installed lately was new subs but I alrady had the amp in they did take more power so when I would turn it up loud my amp would shut down but I could fix that with a bigger power wire but all the guages worked fine for a few weeks running them. I recently went on a trip in it and my tranny is getting old and I overheated the tranny in OD so I ran it in 3rd the rest of the time but they still worked until one night in moab is when i started gettin screwey so I unplugged my amp but still have the same problem. Could I have hurt something by drawig such big hits to my stereo or could have overheating the tranny hut something.

Thanks alot

budhayes3 · November 14, 2004

Sounds like a problem with the charging system. If the alt and batt are checking out OK, I'd look for corroded connections or some other form of high resistance. Low voltage will cause runability problems like you mentioned also. If the ignition system isn't getting the proper voltage it could cause a weak spark and possible misfire.

mcreyaufmiller · November 14, 2004

It sounds like the sound system is drawing too much amperage and overdrawing the voltage from the system. By doing this, it is leaving no amperage or voltage for the truck to run on. When you hit the brakes, the lights draw power from the rest of the truck and the truck runs bad. The largest reason for this is most sound systems are hooked directly to the battery and get primart power draw. Try driving without you sound system on and see if there is a difference.

Mike

budhayes3 · November 14, 2004

To add to what mcreyaufmiller said, you should have a capacitor to store voltage for the sound system that allows the vehicle to have volts and amps to run on. You may even have to upgrade your alternator if that's the case.

kevin29 · November 14, 2004

Ya I have had my stereo off and it still has the same problem, all my guages seem to work better w/o my headlights on but they still bounce a bit when I hit my brakes and blinkers but they get real bad when my headlights are on. Do you have any suggestions on what connections to check, my batt. terminals and ground looks fine.

sperry · November 14, 2004

As well as the previous suggestions, I would check some of the distributed common grounding points. You could be getting the necessary grounding via other components, to their respective good grounds. When those components are powered up, you lose the "ground" they were incidentally providing. Check those grounding "shorting" blocks and lugs where grounds bolt down. There's always a voltmeter securely connected to the battery (-) and the (body/chassis) connected grounds in question. Power-up the devices that have effect and see if there's a considerable voltage change in the grounds.

1192, that's an old truck!

Edit: Rephrased it a little bit.

kevin29 · November 15, 2004

Ok I found a ground hoooked from my firewall below my a/c it is like a flat copper wire and hooked to the frame it was fine. but there was another wire of the same type coming off from the same place but was broke or cut about 6 inches away should this hook somewhere or did someone just get a new one and leave the old one too.

mike holl · November 16, 2004

that second strap goes to the backside of the head. go to the second page of the posting and look at 94 silverado electrical problems. i had about the same problems and these guys gave me a lot of suggestions. mine was that the straps were very corroded at the body connectiom.