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Old 18th August 2010, 11:08   #1
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Swift - Issue With Electricals

Hi guys,

Last night when I reached home from work and was just parking my car, I had a very weird problem. There was a major electrical fluctuation. The headlights started flickring (I have HIDs), the parking light were sort of dimming, the music system switched off & came on again on its own and the engine almost stalled. All these incidents occured together. I switched off all electricals (lights, music, AC, etc) but it happened again and then stopped and everything was back to normal. It felt like the battery was being disconnected & connected again or like power was being interrupted. I feel like this issue happens only in the night when all electricals are being used.

However, this morning the car was absolutely normal with no issues what so ever. I called up my mechanic and explained the situation and he said that it could be an alternator issue and it could be failing but he needs to check it up.

I am very disturbed as I do not want any short circuit happening in the car or getting stranded anywhere due to this. Has anyone experienced a problem like this? What do you guys think is the issue here?
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Old 18th August 2010, 14:11   #2
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Guys, any inputs? Anyone??
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Old 18th August 2010, 14:44   #3
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I think your car's electrical system might be getting overloaded due to some reason. It could be loose or substandard wiring somewhere, which might be giving up now.

Or it could be some component drawing more exceptionally large amounts of power.

I'd recommend getting the entire electrical system checked up.

When this happens the next time, try measuring the voltage across your battery terminals. If it's less than 12V, then the alternator may be a problem...

You can also try isolating the problem by cutting out (not using) one electrical component at a time, AC, stereo/amp, HIDs etc, and find out which is the likely culprit for this problem.

The experts can perhaps throw more light..
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Old 18th August 2010, 14:50   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Epic View Post
Hi guys,

Last night when I reached home from work and was just parking my car, I had a very weird problem. There was a major electrical fluctuation. The headlights started flickring (I have HIDs), the parking light were sort of dimming, the music system switched off & came on again on its own and the engine almost stalled. All these incidents occured together. I switched off all electricals (lights, music, AC, etc) but it happened again and then stopped and everything was back to normal. It felt like the battery was being disconnected & connected again or like power was being interrupted. I feel like this issue happens only in the night when all electricals are being used.

However, this morning the car was absolutely normal with no issues what so ever. I called up my mechanic and explained the situation and he said that it could be an alternator issue and it could be failing but he needs to check it up.

I am very disturbed as I do not want any short circuit happening in the car or getting stranded anywhere due to this. Has anyone experienced a problem like this? What do you guys think is the issue here?
1. How old is your swift ?
2. Are you using Stock battery still ?
3. Exide (or) Amaron ?
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Old 18th August 2010, 15:46   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnruben View Post
1. How old is your swift ?
2. Are you using Stock battery still ?
3. Exide (or) Amaron ?
Hi,

1. 5 yrs old. Purchased in Dec 2005
2. No. Replaced with Amaron from authorised service center in last quarter of 2009. Old stock battery was also Amaron.
3. As above
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Old 18th August 2010, 16:02   #6
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Epic, one advice. When it happens next time, please check the voltage from the batteries, it it is normal voltage then can eliminate the alternator issue (dont go straight into alternator replacement)

I feel that you have a electrical issue due to some wiring problem (possible rat bites as well). Please chack on the electricals and connectivity thoroughly to iron out issues one by one. You can probably arrive at one/two electrical items (headlight, park light, ac, music system etc) when turned on creating the issue.

All the best
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Old 18th August 2010, 16:08   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by narayanang76 View Post
Epic, one advice. When it happens next time, please check the voltage from the batteries, it it is normal voltage then can eliminate the alternator issue (dont go straight into alternator replacement)

I feel that you have a electrical issue due to some wiring problem (possible rat bites as well). Please chack on the electricals and connectivity thoroughly to iron out issues one by one. You can probably arrive at one/two electrical items (headlight, park light, ac, music system etc) when turned on creating the issue.

All the best
Most probably this may be a loose contact or a short circuit issue. My suggestions on the issue will be.

1) Once this happens again, switch of the engine immediately and see if the problem goes away (I hope you are having the issue while engine is running).

2) If in step 1, the issue went away then it may be an alternator issue, as when engine switches off, all electricals will take its load from battery.

An alternator check up from A.S.S can be the last step.
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Old 18th August 2010, 17:18   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by narayanang76 View Post
Epic, one advice. When it happens next time, please check the voltage from the batteries, it it is normal voltage then can eliminate the alternator issue (dont go straight into alternator replacement)

I feel that you have a electrical issue due to some wiring problem (possible rat bites as well). Please chack on the electricals and connectivity thoroughly to iron out issues one by one. You can probably arrive at one/two electrical items (headlight, park light, ac, music system etc) when turned on creating the issue.

All the best
Quote:
Originally Posted by bhp_maniac View Post
Most probably this may be a loose contact or a short circuit issue. My suggestions on the issue will be.

1) Once this happens again, switch of the engine immediately and see if the problem goes away (I hope you are having the issue while engine is running).

2) If in step 1, the issue went away then it may be an alternator issue, as when engine switches off, all electricals will take its load from battery.

An alternator check up from A.S.S can be the last step.
Thanks for your inputs guys. I am leaving the car with the mechanic tomorrow itself as I am really worried about driving the car in this condition and especially now during the heavy rain in Mumbai which can lead to a major short circuit and probably destroy the electronics in the car. He will check the voltage of the alternator and other wiring incase there is a lose contact or grounding issue. Will keep you guys posted on the same.
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Old 19th August 2010, 10:48   #9
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Problem Diagnosed - I Think.

Hi guys,

I believe I have diagnosed the problem. My bad, as I this is the first thing I should have done myself. I parked my car just now and decided to open the bonnet and just take a look and see if can spot abnomalities. On checking the connections to the battery terminals, I found one of the connections to be fairly loose. I am pretty convinced that this is the cause of the problems faced by me. However, I will get the connection tightned and observe for a week or so and then see.

Thank you for all your suggestions and inputs. Will keep you guys posted on this.
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Old 19th August 2010, 23:38   #10
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Just to be sure if its the battery terminal or other things. If the battery's main terminal was the culprit, its fairly easy to diagnose if you have a music system. You will loose all your personalized settings including clock returning to factory time, usually 12:00 pm.
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Old 21st August 2010, 15:50   #11
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Problem Solved!!

Hey guys,

Just to update, the problem has been solved and was caused by the loose connection at the battery terminal as suspected by me before. Have used the cars for 02 days now with all lights, AC, music system, etc on and there has been no issues. Even the slight alternator whine has reduced drastically and barely audible and disturbance while pressing the brake or switching on the headlights that used to come through the speakers has vanished.

Thank you all for your inputs.
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