Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 07:30:52 -0000 From: "Pidgeonpost" <Pidgeonpostnospambrain.com> Subject: Re: Electrical Mystery
"Ludwig" <ludwignospamrdeluxe.com> wrote in message news:1141105306.149129.38460nospam2000cwu.googlegroups.com... > This problem has me stumped (and stranded in Reseda.) Mechanic's > looking at it tomorrow morning anyway, but I thought I'd throw this out > here as a sort of a Car Talk gedankenexperiment. > > A few days ago the left headlight started acting flaky, randomly going > out on normal beam but always okay on high beam. Probably a loose > connection, but I hadn't gotten around to checking it. > > Drove four hundred miles down to Los Angeles without incident, and then > around town all weekend. On my way back this afternoon in moderate > rain and heavy traffic, the OEM Clarion radio's audio cut out, although > the display was still on. Shortly thereafter, the LCD display and > separate EQ unit started flickering, but the backlight remained steady. > Very shortly after that, the engine stuttered and stalled out. Not > enough juice for the starter to even try to crank. A jumpstart worked, > but the engine only ran for a minute or two after the donor was > disconnected. The charge light never came on throughout all of this. > The battery and alternator are both brand new, and the belts are fine. > I disconnected the left headlamp on the chance that it was causing a > short, but that didn't help. > Sounds like an earthing and/or short cct to me. I guess your mechanic will check your earth straps - I had one on my C900 that looked OK, but virtually fell apart when I took hold of it. I guess it wasn't a critical one though, as no symptoms elsewhere... > Clearly there's a short somewhere, maybe caused by the wet weather, but > what could be shorting that isn't protected by a fuse? I know a > burnt-out charge light will interrupt the charging circuit, but that > wouldn't account for the radio symptoms. The headlight issue seems > probably unrelated. There's no visible water leak into the engine > compartment, except maybe into the ventilation system's fresh-air > intake door (but the air conditioning was off -- actually, it's been > drained and I've pulled the compressor out altogether, so...) > > Any ideas? The garage AAA towed it to is just some random place with > no particular Saab experience, so maybe they (and I) would benefit from > informed suggestions. > > Thanks, > Ludwig > 1990 C900T >
