Richard Berg |
04-10-2008 08:53 PM |
Actually the repair was pretty involved; we only found the problem thanks to some luck. We did check & recheck all the wires around the coils, the ECU, the Link, and everything else in the engine compartment. We took the piggyback out of the circuit and bypassed the electronic boost solenoid. We replaced a plug that looked deteriorated. We scratched our heads at an engine code (P0103 - MAF high input) that we were all pretty sure was a red herring but wanted to be sure. We put a multimeter on several components & compared the voltage drop / lack thereof to the schematic to see which circuit(s) were losing power. This revealed some overvoltage (up to 15.4V at times) that made us wonder if the voltage regulator in the alternator was getting wonky and causing the more sensitive components (ECU, head unit) to complain.
In the end it was the last train of thought that brought us to the battery. We were trying to rig up something that would let us monitor the voltage @ the battery while the car was in motion, when we discovered that the battery wasn't quite secure. Then we noticed the black marks on the metal retaining bar that looked an awful lot like electrical bolts had arc'd thru it. Sure enough there was enough play in there that the + terminal could get within a mm or so of the bracket and spark intermittently.
Hope that settles the debate :jerkit:
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