drj434343
Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2010
- Location
- Portland, OR
I'm troubleshooting an electrical issue on my 1993 240 wagon. With the engine running, I see fast voltage drops in the cabin on my VDO volt gage, my interior lights (dimming), and a separate voltmeter hooked up to confirm the issue. The drops are fast and recover fast, like a flicker.
The problem is always there, but gets really bad after driving the car for a long time, and when loading the electrical system. Turn signal relays are especially bad, and can drop voltage to the bottom of the VDO gauge every click.
Putting a voltmeter on my battery and on the alternator terminals while this is happening shows a nice steady voltage of between 14 and 13.5. I don't see the flickering symptoms like I see inside. Also note that I've tried two known working alternators (both Delco 100A units), and have also replaced my battery, but the issue remained unchanged.
I've been through and cleaned the major 12V connections under the hood, including both ends of the ground cable, the engine ground to chassis, and the 12V connections to the alternator and starter.
Today, it got so bad, that the car actually totally died while driving for a split second, like I pulled the keys out.
I'm thinking corrosion somewhere on the 12V feed into he cabin fuse panel? I've been through the fuses themselves and nothing stuck out as a real issue. I also checked and cleaned the 12V distribution box on the drivers sidewall, but that also looked pretty clean and didn't affect my issue.
On my Vanagon, there is a common 12 V ground tree that can cause systemic issues like this, but my experience with the 240 is that everything has a local ground, so a system wide issue is more likely on the 12V side?
Looking for advice on where to look next.
The problem is always there, but gets really bad after driving the car for a long time, and when loading the electrical system. Turn signal relays are especially bad, and can drop voltage to the bottom of the VDO gauge every click.
Putting a voltmeter on my battery and on the alternator terminals while this is happening shows a nice steady voltage of between 14 and 13.5. I don't see the flickering symptoms like I see inside. Also note that I've tried two known working alternators (both Delco 100A units), and have also replaced my battery, but the issue remained unchanged.
I've been through and cleaned the major 12V connections under the hood, including both ends of the ground cable, the engine ground to chassis, and the 12V connections to the alternator and starter.
Today, it got so bad, that the car actually totally died while driving for a split second, like I pulled the keys out.
I'm thinking corrosion somewhere on the 12V feed into he cabin fuse panel? I've been through the fuses themselves and nothing stuck out as a real issue. I also checked and cleaned the 12V distribution box on the drivers sidewall, but that also looked pretty clean and didn't affect my issue.
On my Vanagon, there is a common 12 V ground tree that can cause systemic issues like this, but my experience with the 240 is that everything has a local ground, so a system wide issue is more likely on the 12V side?
Looking for advice on where to look next.
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