Electrical issues, many fuses blown, 2002 zx2

[Robert Adams]

Hi guys, where to begin…

I have a 2002 Ford zx2 that is having horrible electrical issues, and here’s how it started:

1. driving down the highway I turn my left blinker on and the car hesitates HARD, just for a split second, then it drives fine but with no turn signals or blinkers. The 10 amp fuse was bad, but didn’t show signs of it being broke/blown. The car did this twice, each time I replaced the fuse and it ran good for a while. (weeks)

2. Going to work the battery light would come on at a certain rpm, and I knew the alternator was the original and needed replaced, but need to wait a few more days until I could find the time to do it. As each day goes by the light comes on at lower rpm’s, until the alternator died out on me while in my car on my lunch break with the ac running. The tach said 0 rpm, and the car was trying to stall out but would jump up the revvs until I turned it off.

3. Changed the alternator and the car seemed to run fine in the parking lot…let it run for about 15 minutes then drove it around the parking lot, all seemed well until I turned the headlights on and they both instantly blew out. Fog lights that I had on the car for years worked, so I was able to drive it home.

4. I drove the car up and down my road a few times, and took it on a few short trips and it seemed to run OK, then one day the tach went to 0 as I’m driving, and we smelled/heard fuses popping, then the car died, and blew the main fuse under the hood. The plastic around it was melted, and we had to literally destroy the fuse to get it all out. Replaced main fuse, but then the wipers will stay on until I remove the fuse or unplug them. Drove it home, replaced headlights which worked, and haven’t really moved it since.

The car blew numerous fuses during all of this, and the day it killed the main fuse it smelled like wires melting, and blew about 5 others. I’ve inspected the harnesses under the hood and from the alternator and didn’t see any signs of physical wear. Also, behind the fuse box inside of the car looks fine. I’m assuming there’s a short somewhere, and have electrical diagrams but never used them to troubleshoot, and don’t know much about electricity in the first place. Any suggestions?

Topic

[EricTheCarGuy]

Normally the switch controls wiper operation, it’s the DELAY that’s normally inside the motor assembly. You might try unplugging the switch to see if the wipers stop. You could also ohm out the switch to see if it’s in the stuck open position. Check the wiring diagram for the terminals to check.

[Robert Adams]

Thanks for the suggestions. I don’t know much about electricity, but I did buy a multimeter the other day and I’m itching to use it. When you say “ohm out the switch” what do you mean exactly? Hopefully I’ll get the time to unplug the switch this week or weekend.

As far as an update goes, with the new alternator I put about 100 miles on the car and it runs completely fine, and the 20 amp fuse that I had out for the wipers also controls the blower motor, which works fine. I did notice last night that the gas gauge is stuck at a quarter tank, which may be the level it was at when the electrical issues started. The tach/speedo/temp gauge all work just fine. Any suggestions on this one?

Thanks again for the suggestions, and I’ll let you guys know when I test the switch

[dave]

there are known issues with fuel gauges getting damaged from a voltage spike. it is also common for a fuel sending unit to go bad.

if the problems is with your fuel guage, more than likely you’ll be replacing the entire IPC (instrument panel cluster). This will involve placing an order with a company who specifically sells your IPC and signing legal affidavit for odometer milage. Replacing an IPC is relatively simple and straight forward. There are many youtubes on how to do this repair.

if the problem is with your fuel sending unit, you will have to siphon the gas from your tank, drop the tank, and more than likely replace the entire fuel pump (which will probably cost between $200 and $300; it’s not cheap by any means). if you have a GM product, then you might be able to get the sending unit itself from an AC Delco parts dealer only for about $150. This is because GM sending units go bad so often that they can actually make money by selling the sending unit itself.

you may have some follow-up questions about how to test for either of these problems. a little internet research will more than likely provide answers for these common problems.

[EricTheCarGuy]

When I say “ohm out the switch” what I mean is that you get a wiring diagram and find out what terminals goto what on the switch and hook up the ohm meter while you move the switch to different positions checking to see if the switch is sending the correct signals when it needs to. I should really make a video on this at some point.

[Robert Adams]

[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=35135]When I say “ohm out the switch” what I mean is that you get a wiring diagram and find out what terminals goto what on the switch and hook up the ohm meter while you move the switch to different positions checking to see if the switch is sending the correct signals when it needs to. I should really make a video on this at some point.[/quote]

I agree! Funny thing is when I started to have the electrical issues with my zx2 that’s when you started with the electrical videos, so it was perfect timing!

[EricTheCarGuy]

I do what I can to help. Keep us posted.

[Robert Adams]

update: I replaced the switch and the windshield wipers are fine now. Bought it at the salvage yard for about 20 bucks compared to 100 plus new.

to determine that the switch was bad I just unplugged it and turned the key, and they didn’t come on. The only issue with the car now is the gas gauge stuck at quarter tank. How likely is it that the cluster itself is bad/frozen?

[dave]

update: I replaced the switch and the windshield wipers are fine now. Bought it at the salvage yard for about 20 bucks compared to 100 plus new.

I love junkyard success stories. :silly:

When it comes to instrument gauge diagnosis, first thing i like to do is plug in a scan tool (such as a techII) and command the gauge to operate. If the gauge fails to operate, the gauge is most likely bad (or possible fault in the information bus but this is unlikely) and the IPC will have to be changed out. If the gauge operates, then there is a fault in the circuit; in your case, most likely the fuel sending unit. Depending on the electrical schematic, your PCM might also be an elligible player.

You do not have a scan tool. I do not have a scan tool. Autozone does not have a scan tool. Neither of us have $2,000 to throw away on getting a scan tool. Therefore, you’ll have to swing by a local independent dealer with a 6 pack of bud light and offer beer for techII usage.

One diagnositc you can do on your own though is to force the sending unit to send “full” or “empty” to the gauge by manually moving the float in efforts command the gauge full/empty, but most computers have a “anti-slosh” algorithm which will disregard short-term drastic inputs; however, you can beat the computer by cycling your ignition off/on (which is what happens when you fill up ye’ car at the pump). and… if you determine the sending unit is as fault, it would only take a minute to change since the tank is already dropped. 🙂

[EricTheCarGuy]

That’s great news! Thanks for the update and thanks for using the ETCG forum.

[Author]

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