The Project Pad

40v4kq wrote:

AngryTaco wrote:Ok...I think I may have narrowed it down. When I jump the battery posts together, I get 13v. When I go from negative post to the ground cable, I get 12.2v. Does this mean my ground is not sufficient enough? This was all I messed with as I wanted to get the intercooler hooked up.

Well, this could be the problem. 13v on a battery that is sitting means it either has a static charge built up or it is failing, i'm gonna guess that its a static charge form you charging it. What your meter shows you(voltage) is the voltage difference between the two places you have the probes touching...which means that if you are touching two points on the ground side and you see voltage there it means you have HUGE resistance between those two points. What you are doing is very similar to a voltage drop test but that requires amperage flow through the part being tested to actually see the drop in voltage through a connection or load or whatever you are checking for loss. What you are seeing is a little odd because even with a crappy connection voltage on both sides of a connection should be even(unless you have current flowing). Sounds like you have a very bad ground.

Thanks Dan,

That is exactly what one of the Diesel mechanics I work with said to do. Only thing he said though is test from one of the cable to the ground and see if you have voltage. I went from the negative post on the battery to the ground wire battery clamp. I would assume that because it is a ground, I should see 0 - 0.2v regardless of where I test a ground, correct?

No problem, just wanna see you get this thing making some noise :wink:

Actually you should only see 0 volts when you check the ground with no amperage flowing(everything off...ign,lights,etc.) Thats why i said its odd that you see such a huge amount of voltage on the ground side. 0-.2 volts is acceptable if you are doing a voltage drop test(cranking the starter and touching one lead to the negative post and the other lead to the negative clamp for example). Basically what that is showing you is how much resistance you have by the amount of volatge difference between the two sides of the connection. The more voltage you see the more resistance you have in the form of a poor connection. Also, always test everything as closely as you can with the two leads...all wiring does have resistance so if you test from the battery to say a ground under the dash you will see higher voltage because of the resistance through all of the connections and wiring in between making the results false.

Get a known good battery in and re-do your ground wire on the battery and make it just as big as the positive cable and be sure you have adequate grounding on the engine. I have two big grounds on my car...one on the block and one on the trans. If this doesnt fix it you have a problem elsewhere.

As noted earlier check your grounds When I did my 20vt swap and relocated the battery the ground that I chose on the bumper ended up not being good enough (didnt grind away enough paint for a solid ground). The result was all sorts of eletrical oddities, plus I had to make a brand new ground cable from the battery to body.

I dont think I did new motor mounts when I tossed in my MC motor either...oops!

Keep plugging away!!

Rear bilsteins arrived today!!!! Should have rear suspension done tomorrow or Friday. Should be ready to fire up this weekend

Did you get the electrical issue sorted?

40v4kq wrote:Did you get the electrical issue sorted?

I was wondering about that myself. What did it end up being?

:stupid:

I haven't messed with the ground cable yet as it will completely distract me from the other things that need to get done. I will re-do the battery ground on Saturday after I get the rear suspension and brakes done

Ok, so you pushed that to the side for now. I hope all it is, is the ground cables.

AngryTaco wrote:I haven't messed with the ground cable yet as it will completely distract me from the other things that need to get done. I will re-do the battery ground on Saturday after I get the rear suspension and brakes done

Good deal, sometimes a break from a problem will make finding the solution much easier when you come back to it.

While I'm 99% sure the battery ground is the problem, I want to stay 99% sure until I am actually ready to fix it. If I re-do it, and that doesn't fix it, it will drive me nuts and nothing else will get done. I have to finish the intercooler tonight so my buddy can TIG some mounts on to it as he'll be unavailable the rest of this and next week

Intercooler is complete! Got the rear driver suspension done too!

Just take a spare negative cable and try. I used a jumper cable to test if the battery ground was my problem.

:woowoo:

Cant wait to hear this thing run!

Also, found out the hard way that to push the rear brake pistons in, you need a 12mm allen key and you have to twist it clockwise. Found out the hard way that you cant push them in. Ended up breaking my little brake pusher tool :(

LOL, oops! I always had to use a c-clamp of sorts as the allen was stripped on my calipers. But yeah, push and turn

Well that sucks. Hope that doesn't deter you from pushing on :wink:

I was getting pissed when it wasnt moving. I thought it was seized and was getting ready to source some from here

Dang that sucks! Does it run yet?

To quote myself several times "should have it running this weekend". I think Ive been saying that every week for a month now or something

Course Ill just run into something stupid like more electrical gremlins

AngryTaco wrote:To quote myself several times "should have it running this weekend". I think Ive been saying that every week for a month now or something

bigtime ditto, the 16vt 4kq is uber close yet i cant pry myself away from the vrtcq, its jsut fun to build stufff!

my2000apb wrote:

AngryTaco wrote:To quote myself several times "should have it running this weekend". I think Ive been saying that every week for a month now or something

bigtime ditto, the 16vt 4kq is uber close yet i cant pry myself away from the vrtcq, its jsut fun to build stufff!

LOL. Just don't be the guy that gets 90% done and then sells it for a new project. I know a guy who has gotten done with like 3-4 projects 90% of the way and then quits.

well im stacked up in two projects and going to quick swap this nf into the 4kq very soon
im too busy working on them to update, but theres not way im selling either!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
a 16vt stroker 2.1L o1e 4kq thrasher for everyday
and a cq vrt race car will fit my needs quite nicely

LOL. My 4ktq is going to be the DD while the truck remains the weekend/friday night toy