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1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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TerryLee
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Feb 9, 2012, 3:09 PM
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1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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Year of vehicle 1995
Make of vehicle i think Chevy.
Model of vehicle plymouth acclaim
Engine size 2.4
rebuilt engine with 50k miles. 189k miles on the dash
so i want to give as many details as possible, in hope that somebody can offer some help, and hopefully it will be as accurate as possible.
since ive had the car for about 2 years now, sometimes when i turn on my headlights all my dashlights light up and all my meters go to down to 0, gas meter says empty radiator says cold etc. and all my lights on the outside of my car will be on, every light brake tail light blinkers all stuck on. to fix this issue i hit my dash and then the problem goes away.
i dont know if this is relavant to my actual issue or not though. now my problem started last week. i was at my friends house. he left my passenger door open for about 3 hours. when we left my battery wasnt dead, car started right up. on the way to my house my battery was saying it was low. alternator was not charging the battery. my car died nd etc. when i got it home i got a new alternator and installed it after testing with a voltimeter and figuring the alternator was the issue.
after changing the alternator i still had the problem, so i started looking at my wiring and i found a melted wire in what i believe is called "the main junction" for your electrical system heres pictures
so i fixed that wire, everything worked fine. i thought i fixed my car so i was only out the 35 dollars i spent on a used alternator that i didnt need.
the next day i go to drive my car, and not even 3 blocks from my house my dashboard voltimeter is reading 8 volts when it should be 12-15 area, so my alternator isnt charging the battery AGAIN. so i turn around go home. and i try to track down the postive wire from the alternator to the battery.
heres a picture 
its the blue wire next to the green and orange wire, that blue wire is the wire connected to the positive of my alternator. and the wire is good up to this point. i searched it up as far as i could and i got to this
all the wires taped up, right before going into this weird 2 block looking thing. all the wires look so old and fragile i dont really wanna mess with it, and i have no idea what this 2 block thing mounted to my car is.
if anyone has any ideas id really appreciate the help. i read this article and im probably going to change all the wiring from the alternator to 4 awg if i can manage it.
i also have an amp, with subwoofer in my car. which im 100 pct sure is the reason this problem started in the first place. the amp and sub is not hooked up currently, not since the first time the car messed up.
any ideas please help. thank you so much
it seems like the alternator just stops charging the car. randomly. at its own free will. and i read something about a wire on the alternator that should tell it to charge, but that wire is always hot wether the car is on or off.
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TerryLee
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Feb 9, 2012, 3:19 PM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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also, i tried to bypass the main junction by using an 8g wire going straight from the alternator to the battery, and that worked for a little bit also, then just randomly stopped. soemtimes it works sometimes it doesnt, i litteraly had the car running and it sat there and died, then later on after putting a battery charger on it and starting it again it wasnt working after the battery was charged, then as im standing there looking at the car thinking wtf is the problem.
i heard the car rev up like it was getting more power, and sure as Sh!t the alternator was back to working. it litteraly has a mind of its own
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Feb 9, 2012, 3:52 PM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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You're pretty lucky you haven't had to call the fire department yet. That wire that you found burnt was a fusible link which is actually a fuse and you replaced it with regular wire so the circuit no longer has a fuse. The voltage regulator for this car is built into the engine computer so you need to have this tested by a competent shop to determine what the issue is.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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TerryLee
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Feb 9, 2012, 4:58 PM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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when i peeled theprevious wire apart that was there, it was just a smaller wire connecting to a bigger wire, it didnt look like a fuse, and the wire burnt before the thicker looking area, i just peeled the rest of it off to see if it was a fuseable link like a friend told me, and to see how far up the wire was burnt, it looked more like a wire size adjustment. so i have to take my car to a shop eh? i was really hoping to avoid that, its 60 an hr minimum around here. and i was hoping i could just find something and fix it. these people will rob me.
(This post was edited by TerryLee on Feb 9, 2012, 5:07 PM)
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Hammer Time
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Feb 9, 2012, 5:07 PM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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That was special "melt-away" wire that's called fusible link and it has to be repaired using fuse wire. It's there to prevent a fire.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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TerryLee
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Feb 9, 2012, 5:09 PM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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ill get more melt away wire then i guess, just so i dont get charged extra for that. id really prefer not to bring it to a shop tho. nobody has any other ideas possibly? im ready to rip out my dash and check the wiring for whatever ive been pounding on it to fix, if you read the first paragraph of my first post you'll understand
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Hammer Time
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Feb 9, 2012, 5:15 PM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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Electrical failures aren't repaired through "ideas". They are repaired by following a wiring diagram and testing. That's not for you. One mistake can fry multiple computers.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Discretesignals
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Feb 9, 2012, 5:18 PM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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If you have to smack the dash to get stuff to come back on, I think you have more than the problems under the hood going on. Chrysler was horrible with their electrical wiring back then. Most of those cars mysteriously ended up in the salvage yards, but nobody knows why. 
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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TerryLee
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Feb 9, 2012, 5:21 PM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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im actually very techy and i do alot of house electrical work. if i had a wiring diagram and a voltimeter i dont understand how i can blow multiple computers. but im going to call up an auto service tomorow and try to get in.
i read this earlier. what do you think of this? link deleted........... not allowed
when my cars fixed im thinking of trying it possibly
(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Feb 9, 2012, 5:54 PM)
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TerryLee
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Feb 9, 2012, 5:31 PM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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now i just started up my car, and it works fine. but of course come maybe an hour maybe a day it wont work. its really weird.
i mean just bypassing everything and connecting a wire straight from the alternator to my battery should make it work if the alternator is working anyways right?
why does the alternator randomly stop charging the battery, and randomly start. when i havent touched anything and everything is tightend down and secure.
it doesnt really sound like a wiring issue, but when you mentioned car computer issue, thats really the only reason ill bring it into a shop so they can test it i guess and see what its sayin.
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Hammer Time
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Feb 9, 2012, 5:47 PM
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That wire HAS to be fused
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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TerryLee
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Feb 9, 2012, 5:47 PM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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this is a picture of an alternator exactly like mine.
my B+ line is always hot
the ground works correct, and when tested with a voltmeter i noticed one of the field terminals was a postive and the other was a negative, the wire i bypassed going to my battery is from the positive field terminal. which im reading about and i guess thats more for the light system. the B+ goes straight to my battery or just about. and the grounds work fine.
if anybody could supply a wiring diagram of my car in detail, i cant seem to find any that would work for anything but wiring a stereo
i would like to go through my lines myself possibly incase the the car shop just wants to tell me its my alternator, or dick me around for hours worth of work.
(This post was edited by TerryLee on Feb 9, 2012, 5:48 PM)
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Hammer Time
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Feb 9, 2012, 5:53 PM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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TerryLee
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Feb 9, 2012, 5:58 PM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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the wire i found burned was off the (black rear of battery) plastic piece coming off the postive almost instantly. and it was off that nest of wires there going into my dash where the 1 wire was burnt. that doesnt seem like an amp would cause that would it? my amp takes power from the battery, that line should have nothing to do with my amp. or am i wrong? your the pro. im pretty sure i have a short in my dash if that could have caused this.
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Hammer Time
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Feb 9, 2012, 6:06 PM
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I really don't plan on spending any more time correcting your misstatements and giving you advice that your not taking.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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TerryLee
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Feb 9, 2012, 6:09 PM
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the only thing you want me to do is go to a car shop. your the pro that knows how that diagram works better then me. i figured out the wire i burnt is the A0 8BK, im pretty sure anyways. and it would be nice to know that my amp didnt cause the problem, that it was indeed something else.
thank you for all your help by the way. it doesnt seem like theres really anything else i can do besides take the car to a garage.
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TerryLee
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Feb 9, 2012, 6:27 PM
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i just have 1 final question to anyone still reading this thread. if the wire that was burnt was the A0 8BK or one of the wires coming off of it, could that be caused by a high draw of power through the battery? it looks like A0 8BK wouldnt be affected by this. im just curious if its possible, or not possible. thanks
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Tom Greenleaf
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Feb 10, 2012, 12:32 AM
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Re: 1995 plymouth acclaim WIRING MALFUNCTION!?
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TerryLee: Quick re-read sorry but from the pics (what a mess!) and now some amp (not a good idea) and things so hacked up you need some pro help with this in AUTOMOTIVE work and forget most of your said know how with house wiring as that doesn't equate well to automotive wiring.............
T
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