powewr draw?? problem
 

about a week ago i started losing the pre sets on my radio stations(57
beetle converted to 12v).when i would start the car i would notice the radio
eaither not come on right away or flash or dim when i turn on the
headlights(onetime radio came on but no headlights) for a few minutes.
i had a leak under the hood and some of the fuses were corroded i swapped
out the fuse block and new fuses in hopes that it would cure the problem
well the wife came home yesterday and said the car lost all power and died
(we have an alarm on the car were you have to touch a metal battery looking
thing to the flashing light before you can start it) alarm light starts
flashing and alarm started to go off,touched the button fired right up and
away she went,well it happened one more time on the way home
all i can tell for sure is that there is a definate power draw when i start
the car with the stero dimming ect..i am at a loss on this one electrical
stuff is not my strong point???
any ideas on where to start
i converted to an alt in the summer also has a 1year old battery.
about a month or so ago i swapped the headlights for halogens (not the super
bright ones)
does this sound like a ground problem?55amp can't keep up? i should also
mention that the battery does not have a problem has lots of power does not
turn over slowly even when the car died it fired right back up again.it is
like a breaker goes off and resets itself????
thanks russ

Russ wrote:

> about a week ago i started losing the pre sets on my radio stations(57
> beetle converted to 12v).when i would start the car i would notice the radio
> eaither not come on right away or flash or dim when i turn on the
> headlights(onetime radio came on but no headlights) for a few minutes.

<SNIP>

A voltmeter will be the best tool to track this.

Oh.....and a diagram:
http://www.vintagebus.com/

On your car, ALL power up front is distributed from the Headlight
switch. Often, the switch terminals become overloaded and develop
high resistance. Get under there with a bright light and look
for signs of burning.

If you don't see anything obvious, connect the voltmeter from chassis
to various points on the Main power from the switch (Term # 30) and
see what happens when you turn the key to start.

If no problem there, maybe move on to the Ignition switch, etc.

Speedy Jim
http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/

ok as of late i have thought i have smelt a burning contact but very
faint.closer inspection i have found burned terminals on the ignition
switch.(they are corroded)
so does this mean if i replace the switch with a new one i will be ok or
have i overloaded the power with the alarm and radio attatched to it??both
of them have been on the car for 2 1/2 years no problem

thanks for your help
much appriciated Jim

russ
"Speedy Jim" > wrote in message
...
> Russ wrote:
>
>> about a week ago i started losing the pre sets on my radio stations(57
>> beetle converted to 12v).when i would start the car i would notice the
>> radio eaither not come on right away or flash or dim when i turn on the
>> headlights(onetime radio came on but no headlights) for a few minutes.
>
> <SNIP>
>
> A voltmeter will be the best tool to track this.
>
> Oh.....and a diagram:
> http://www.vintagebus.com/
>
> On your car, ALL power up front is distributed from the Headlight
> switch. Often, the switch terminals become overloaded and develop
> high resistance. Get under there with a bright light and look
> for signs of burning.
>
> If you don't see anything obvious, connect the voltmeter from chassis
> to various points on the Main power from the switch (Term # 30) and
> see what happens when you turn the key to start.
>
> If no problem there, maybe move on to the Ignition switch, etc.
>
> Speedy Jim
> http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/

> about a week ago i started losing the pre sets on my radio stations(57
> beetle converted to 12v).when i would start the car i would notice the radio
> eaither not come on right away or flash or dim when i turn on the
> headlights(onetime radio came on but no headlights) for a few minutes.

I would check the battery voltage with the car off. On a new battery
you may see as much as 13.1 volts, but normally it's been my
experience that a battery in good condition will usually sit around
12.6 volts. Once the car is started, you should see this go up to
something between 13-15 volts.

You mentioned corrosion on the fuseblock, did this possibly get into
the ignition switch as well? How about the wiring? Did the wiring get
damaged at all(corroded connectors on the ends of the wires?). How
about the battery terminals and the battery ground connection to the
body of the car? Another place to check would be the ground strap
between the transaxle and the body.

Losing -everything- while driving tells me that the problem is
probably a bad ground connection at the battery, bad positive cable
going to the fuse block, or possibly a problem with the charging
system.

Chris