My car is acting crazy! - Automotive Wiring and Electrical


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My car is acting crazy!

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Auto Repair Home>> Automotive Repair>> Automotive Wiring and Electrical

cutygruss
New User

Sep 13, 2008, 2:21 PM

Post #1 of 3 (1349 views)

My car is acting crazy!	Sign In

I hope someone can point me in some direction because I REALLY need it. I ahve a 1996 Honda Accord EX (V-Tech) and it has had some major problems that seem to keep multipying! I went to start the car the other day when leaving the store and when I first turned it over it acted like the battery was dying and then there was some kind of surge and it started up but then the a/c compressor no longer worked but the fan still worked and blew out (not cold) air. Well the other morning I was driving to work with the a/c fan blowing and a gray-blue smoke started coming from my dash (1st from the defrost across the top and then from under the dash on the drivers side..It even came out of the speakers in the dash) It started lightly then started pouring out and it smelled like burnt plastic. I pulled into work and turned the car off but the running lights (the yellow ones on the end) would not turn off. I opened my hood because there was a little smoke coming out. When I got back in my car I turn the ignition switch to on and the lights on my a/c control lights were no longer on, my radio did not work, my wipers did not work and my headlights did not work (but the running lights remained on) I disconnected my positive cable and let all the smoke clear out. When I went to look at it with one of our mantenace guys a couple of hours later the condenser fan fuse in my main fuse box under my hood was melted and the running lights were still on. We checked the fuse box under my steering wheel inside and there were several blown fuses including the wiper. He stayed out there for a little while longer, replaced some fuses and removed the melted one and told me I could drive it home. When I went to leave the windshield wipers came on but would not cut off and my running light was off. Now when you try to put a fuse in the condensor fan it starts smoking and smells like something is burning right under my steering wheel. The wipers will turn off sometimes when you start the car but come on when you try to turn on the headlights and shortly after driving. They will also come on when you turn them on and of course you can't turn them back off so I just removed the fuse. My headlights do not work at all and the a/c fan came back up (still no compressor) but the car will over heat if you turn it on. The radio is back on and my maintenance indicator is now yellow. I also have problems trying to start the car it will turn over, but has a hard time getting fire. I sometimes have to charge the battery because it takes so long to start, but sometimes it will start OK. When I finally get it started it sputters a little before coming to an idle. I tried to research this online and get several different answers. Can someone please give me an opinion on what could be causing this? I get scared everyday because I keep thinking it is going to catch fire will I am driving it or when I take my seven year old son to school. I can't pay $100 just to get a mechanic around here to diagnose it. (I am going through a rough seperation and have been left to care for me and my son on my own) Any advice would be so appreciate!

bbednarck
New User

Sep 27, 2008, 4:15 PM

Post #2 of 3 (1325 views)

Re: My car is acting crazy!	Sign In

I had a similar situation on a Pontiac I owned once. The smoke and odd electrical things on or off and wouldn't respond to the switches. It turned out several wires in the wiring harness had melted the plastic between them and shorted together, so if power went to the lights it also went to the wipers, etc. and could not be turned off without disconnecting the battery. I had to find the shorted area (melted plastic, bubbles) and separate the wires and rewrap them separately. You just have to examine the harness carefully to find the area. Good Luck.

paulklux
User

Oct 2, 2008, 2:04 PM

Post #3 of 3 (1307 views)

Re: My car is acting crazy!	Sign In

You have a serious electrical short in your car and should absolutely no way be driven. At this stage from the sound of it there is a lot of damage done. Somewhere in your vehicle there is wires shorting out and may lead to a fire happening. Electrical repairs of this nature tend to be expensive to fix and you really need to think do you want to pay that amount of money to have it repaired

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