Electrical Gremlins Driving me crazy! (short drive I know)

[Memphis]

Ok. So car has been acting really odd this last 4-5 weeks. Some days running perfectly, other days, the idle fluctuating wildly, random cam sensor codes, stereo turning itself off and on, and now I have lost my headlights (The bulbs are still good, running lights come on, halo's work, turn signals etc)

What I have checked-

Smart Junction on passenger side- No moisture or blown fuses

Battery Checks out.

Any recent wiring work have checked and double checked grounding

Fuse box-no moisture, no blown fuses.

I am leaning towards replacing the alternator, having read that they will cause odd electrical behavior- Any suggestions from anyone? Any thing else to check? (If so how? Electrical confuses the hell out of me)

Thanks in advance

 

[05moneypit]

Alternator

 

[my07silvergt]

I'm having similar issues with electrical problems. I swapped my alt and it got worse. Before I was just getting p0340/344/345 and occasionally p0349 but then today I switched alternators and now I'm still getting those cel codes as well as a warning on the dash to check charging system and the battery light coming on.

Point being, a new alt may or may not fix your problems. It's a good place to start but it didn't do me any good.

 

[Fullboogie]

I had similar problems after a radio install. There are two grounds you need to check - one behind the driver's kick panel, and the other behind the glovebox. For the one behind the glovebox, pull the box down and you will see a metal crossbar immediately behind it. There is a large ground wire attached to it - check it to see if it's loose. That's where mine was loose, and once tightened, cured all my problems.

Specifically, I would remove both grounds, clean the metal, and reinstall with dialectic grease.

 

[Memphis]

One more thing to check. Cheaper than an alternator. Thanks!

 

[Memphis]

So- Had another shop take a look at the alternator and battery.

Battery is evidently dying. Alternator is on the edge of needing replacement (whatever that means- To me it just means replace the damn thing before it dies) and the headlights were not working because the Raxiom harness's that adapted the stock bulb to the H9 bulb of the projector headlights melted at the connector. Ordering new harness's and having a shop install those and double check the wiring to make sure it was just bad harness's and not my bad. Ordered a Optima Red top, Alternator, and alternator wiring upgrade. Hopefully between all this my gremlins will piss off and die a horrible death far away from my car

 

[Kylar]

So- Had another shop take a look at the alternator and battery.

Battery is evidently dying. Alternator is on the edge of needing replacement (whatever that means- To me it just means replace the damn thing before it dies) and the headlights were not working because the Raxiom harness's that adapted the stock bulb to the H9 bulb of the projector headlights melted at the connector. Ordering new harness's and having a shop install those and double check the wiring to make sure it was just bad harness's and not my bad. Ordered a Optima Red top, Alternator, and alternator wiring upgrade. Hopefully between all this my gremlins will piss off and die a horrible death far away from my car

Are you running HID's? Sounds like something is putting too much of a strain on that wiring. Might want to run a relay setup directly off the battery, and use bigger wiring on that adapter. Also make sure to check all your grounds. Connectors shouldnt melt, something must be wrong.

 

[Memphis]

Not running HID's. I have tried 6 different sets of HID's and finally gave up. All of them seemed to start flickering after a day or two and then go out. That is a good point to let the shop know though.

I know something is wrong. That is why I am going to admit defeat on this one and let someone who knows wiring in and out take a look. Its only an hour labor, and I don't have to worry about my car burning down! I will do the alternator, throw in a new belt while I am in there, install the alternator wiring upgrade and do the batter. I don't think at this point that the headlights were related to my other issues. Definitely worried about the wiring, been in a car fire before, no fun, time to back off and let a pro do that part.