safari electrics on the blink... ...ooooh bugger

gary_in_nz · Post by **gary_in_nz** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:20 pm

i shall try my best to describe what has happend.

last weekend my dear sister borrowed my safari (1988 GQ) and ran the batteries flat.
the next morning we push started it.
Somewhere in the process of all the above, either batterries fadding in and out it has surrged something terrible through the electrics.

it blew the fuse in my head unit cd player, and the 40amp fuse on my amp. i then found out later that it has actally cooked my amp, but thats the least of my worries at the moment.

anyway, heres the major;

when i press the brake pedal, the parking lights and the interior dash lights come on. the brake lights come on at rear as per normal.

when i put the headlights/parklights on the the rear brake lights come on instead of the 'taillights'

i have also noticed after about 10mins driving that the interior clock fades away and the time on it speeds up about half an hour from what i set it at.

this is a serious problem especially for night driving as other people following may think that i am driving around with my brakes on all the time.

any help would be awesome, but i am not into the electrical side of things, but really dont want to have to part with mega bux for an auto sparky!

cheers guys

coxsy · Post by **coxsy** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:27 pm

with mine the clock only lights up after a major rut is hit, if i push the cig lighter in i lose the speedo , and a few other gauges ,minior compered to your problem

Post by **SV1K** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:34 pm

I had the same kind of thing, the clock is supplied power from the left hand side battery and that is the one that is charged last, until both batteries are fully changed again you will continue to have all your problems.

I brought two new batteries as I left the AC button on and it drained them both, didn't want to risk charging them as they were rather old and I guessed if I have to get one I may as well get two

Solved my problem, may do the same for you. Remember you can always take them back within 7 days and get a refund if it doesn't fix the problem.

coxsy · Post by **coxsy** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:33 pm

have new batteries, may of distrebed the conections when i fitted the radio it one the one day list

Elmo · Post by **Elmo** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:26 am

Its sounding like it could be an earthing problem. When earths fall off, or burn through all sorts of funny things, especially when it comes to lights and bulbs (they earth out through other bulbs and bring them on)

It does sound like its more than that though, but maybe check your 'body to chassis' earth. It doesnt exxplain the stereo/amp.

Call an auto sparky? Have him do an hours work, save you the trouble.

MudBum · Post by **MudBum** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:43 am

Just a note on the clocks,they fade due to a factory fault caused by dry solder joints.I removed the clock and got a mate with a small soldering iron to redo them and presto now its sweet.

Steve_t647 · Post by **Steve_t647** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 8:55 am

It does sound like an earthing problem, even the amp with a bad earth could get that sort of damage.

I would remove the earth strap clean it up and reattach it to affect that much it could be the chassis earth as Elmo suggested, I would also look at running a separate earth cable to the firewall either from the body or the battery.

I had the same kind of thing, the clock is supplied power from the left hand side battery and that is the one that is charged last, until both batteries are fully changed again you will continue to have all your problems.

Not sure how this works? dual battery's means 24 volts on a safari so alternator would charge both (24V alt), one battery may be less charged (had more drain on it) but eventualy will come right.

You could also try swapping the batteries in case the lesser charged one is the earth, have you tried charging the two batteries (one at a time) from a battery charger?

Shane · Post by **Shane** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 8:57 am

Try checking the earths like Elmo said and make sure no wires have been left of the battery's.

How are you running the head unit/amp? 24v truck 12v amp?

gary_in_nz · Post by **gary_in_nz** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:55 pm

yeah running the head unit and gear off the one battery so 12v. i have checked everything mentioned above, every earth etc, but in the week end i took it for a long drive and noticed when i jumped in this morning that every thing seemed to be back to normal??? :roll:

so i guess the batteries just needed a long drive to get them fully charged???
strange to me!!, its all learning!!

smurf182 · Post by **smurf182** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 8:14 pm

gary_in_nz wrote:yeah running the head unit and gear off the one battery so 12v.

Not a good idea, you will shorten both your batteries lives doing this. Purchase a 24v-12v converter of suitable rating.

MudBum · Post by **MudBum** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 7:17 am

OOOh What smurf said.. A BIG NO NO to run 12v off one side..alternators cost around $400 to $600 to fix :shock:

Henry · Post by **Henry** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:32 am

you can get a box from a auto electrician that will let you tap 12V off one battery.

It basically sorts the charging out. costs more as you draw more current. I think 12 amps was about $400??

that would mean that you can run the radio/fridge/aricompressor etc from the battery.

Not cheap though.

MudBum · Post by **MudBum** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:17 pm

I scored a new 15amp reducer off TM from Kaiatia Auto Elec for $70 and its runs sweet.It's small and has a fan mounted on it and fits behind the glovebox.