My car went haywire. I need some help!

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Old Nov 15, 2006 | 08:51 AM
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My car went haywire. I need some help!

I was on my way into work listening to the radio and cruising along. Then the volume on the radio starts slowing going out. I changed stations and even switched to CD and nothing could bring back any volume. But the radio was still on. So I kept driving and looked at my dash and my ABS light was on, and my speedometer and tach were going nuts. They kept going from 0 to the speed and RPM's I was driving. Then they both went to 0 and sat there for a little bit. I got off the freeway at the next exit and parked the car in a residential, opened the hood, checked the battery connections. Everything was fine. Got back in the car and revved the engine a little. The revs would pick up then the tach would drop to 0 again. So I sat idling for a little bit and my ABS light turned off and the gauges all worked like normal.

I don't know what is going on. It was like I drove through the bermuda triangle, nobody told me they moved it to Fremont. I do have a belt squeel that I plan to fix today, since I decided to drive home. But the belt that I know to be loose is the belt connected to the A/C. Could a loose belt cause the car to do that? Or is it more likely that a ground wire came loose somewhere and was shorting out? Keep in mind, the car drove fine, stopped fine and had the normal amount of power and didn't make any unusual noises. Please help me out guys!
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 08:52 AM
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Localized EMP.
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 09:01 AM
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That's nuts. Your car has been doing weird isht lately.

Sounds to me like a bad wire or a bad ground somewhere...you did just visit my house after all. That road has been known to jack up some wireing.

Since your car was operating normally it's got to me something with that. If it was an ecu problem or an electrical problem in relation to anything else your car would have been running odd.
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 09:04 AM
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hmm.. wonder what it could have been.
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 09:07 AM
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my car did that...when it was a 1985 prelude si
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 09:20 AM
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Old Nov 15, 2006 | 09:28 AM
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Yea, guess I'm just gonna have to go over everything and double check to make sure everything is still connected. The oddest part of it is that just the volume of the stereo stopped working. Everything else on it was fine.
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 09:29 AM
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Originally Posted by sjt
Localized EMP.
FTW!


I think it's a dying alternator
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 09:40 AM
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$10 says it's your alternator.
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 09:54 AM
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crazy....

hmmmmmm. Maybe we should do an alternator deal. I want to rewind mine to get more POWA out of it and you might need a new one. Hmmmm....

Drop a line to that guy that was parting out all that stuff I sent you to before. I bet he's got one.
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 12:33 PM
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Originally Posted by joltdudeuc
FTW!


I think it's a dying alternator
Crap, that's what I was thinking. Hoping it wasn't though. But I do have 104,000 miles.
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 12:38 PM
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Originally Posted by OneManArmy
crazy....

hmmmmmm. Maybe we should do an alternator deal. I want to rewind mine to get more POWA out of it and you might need a new one. Hmmmm....

Drop a line to that guy that was parting out all that stuff I sent you to before. I bet he's got one.
Yea, I'm gonna do that now and see if he's got one.
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 03:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Paul@dbtuned
$10 says it's your alternator.
+1

also wiggle your battery terminals, see if they are loose
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 04:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Krinkov
+1

also wiggle your battery terminals, see if they are loose
Yea, did that while I stopped to check it out. So my battery before start up is 12.5 volts. Battery after starting 11.6. Then with all the electronics on, it goes down slowly. So it's not completely dead, but it's dying.

So that makes me ask another question. I have GFB pullies installed on the car. Crank and alternator. If I put a stock alternator on, can I still use the smaller belt with the slack that there is in the tension adjuster. Or am I just gonna have to fork up the money to have a shop do it and switch the pullies? Also, if I am able to run the smaller belt, will anything happen to my car using just the one pully on the crank?
Old Nov 15, 2006 | 04:52 PM
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Why not simply purchase a belt that's fit to spec?

Simply take a piece of string, wrap it around one loop, and measure the string. That measurement (usually converted to mm) will be the length you're looking for. Simply take the old V-belt in so they can count the grooves, and take the measurement (in mm) so you can get a belt which will support the stock alternator pulley while also fitting the underdriven crank pulley.



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