Wierd electrical issue

[FattyMcBaggins]

Well, I just finished painting my car, and I haven't really driven it in like a year. It's being very finnicky now. It seems nothing is getting power unless the motor is running. without the key in the ignition the lights will turn on, but not pop up. The automatic seat belts won't move unless the engine is running. Now, next problem. I have to turn the key twice before the motor even tries to crank. Then once it's on, still no power to most stuff. if I rev the engine up a bit, all of the lights and motors and such kick on. While I'm driving, the interior lights get brighter as I get past 3000 rpm, but will flicker on and off when I go over bumps. Any ideas? I'm sure there is sanding dust in connectors everywhere, so I'm gonna get some air cans and some contact cleaner and start spraying the hell out of most of the plugs. ??????????

[n_bushaw]

did you pull the motor or rewire anything? before and after paint?

[FattyMcBaggins]

nope. Nothing has been touched in the engine bay. The interior is stripped though, so there are alot of extra connectors that aren't plugged in yet. Could that be it?

[cmfireman]

If you didn't disconeect anything, go get a new battery. If the car's not been driven in over a year, it's probably toast.

If that doesn't fix the problem, Autozone will check you alternator for free. You don't even have to take it off.

It could be many things, and probably isn't the alt. It almost sounds like maybe your battery cables are corroded and aren't making good contact. Hence the flashing light when going over bumps and having to turn it over more than once before it fires.

Once the engine's running, the alternators sending power, hence the seatbelts and headlights. They require more power.

[FattyMcBaggins]

I was thinking something like that. The battery was dead when I started the project, and I've been jumping it to move it until about 4 months ago. I got a new battery for it then. So I doubt it's the battery. Should I replace the battery cables? Or spray the contact points with some corrosion stuff?

[cmfireman]

Get some baking soda and a wire brush. Scrub the posts and wire connectors with the wire brush and then Pour the baking soda on the posts and the connection wires.

The baking soda neutralizes acid, and the wire brush provides better contact.

If this dosen't work, get out the mult-meter and check you voltage across the battery. My good battery read 13.4V with the switch off.

Also look at the wires connected to the battery to see if they look badly corroded, if so, you may need to replace them.

Also check the fuses (underhood and in-car) you never know.

[FattyMcBaggins]

ok, more wierd stuff is happening. I cleaned the battery terminals and such, but it didn't help any. I don't have a multi meter, so I'll have to get one before I can figure this out. Any time I turn a turn signal on, they don't blink, they just light up and stay lit. I need to go through and start checking fuses. I'm horrible with electrical stuff, so we'll see how long it takes me to figure out the problem

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Did the turn signal issue only happen when your headlights were on? I've having that issue. The turn signals will work with the headlights and running lights off but as soon as those come on my right signal light stays on.

[centralcoaster33]

9 year old thread...

Try removing the light and signal stalk from the steering column, clean all the contacts on the large surfaces between the stalk and the column, put it back together and try that. They do get gummed up over the years. I had turn signal issues and cleaning mine fixed it all.