Weird electrical "episodes", now DOA - stumped! - Saab NG900 & OG9-3 Bulletin Board - Saabnet.com
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Weird electrical "episodes", now DOA - stumped!
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Posted by David The Impaler (more from David The Impaler) on Thu, 22 Sep 2005 09:17:04 Share Post by Email
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Car: 1996 900SE
Background:
- 2 weeks ago fuel tank replaced (old one sprung leak, looks like I ran over something)
- Alternator 2 years old
- battery 5 months old
- big ass stereo system with 2 extra amps, subwoofer, installed 2 years ago and no problems since.

Symptoms:
About one week ago I noticed a pronounced engine RPM-specific whining sound and all of the lights (SID, mileage readout, etc) were dim and pulsing in brightness. Low/uneven idle and any extra electrical load (headlights, backup lights, etc) would almost kill the engine. I'm not sure, but I think the whining sound was coming from the stereo speakers - regardless of whether the stereo was turned on or not. Over the next few days, this "episode" would come and go at random, sometimes the car would be fine and then it would jerk like it shut off for a half-second and the episode would begin, then another jerk/cutout and the car would be back to normal.

If I shut the car off during the episode, when I turn it back on, it tells me to "set clocks" and input the radio code, like the entire system rebooted. The radio code just freezes on the SID and I can here hiss from the speakers but no sound. I have to pull the radio fuses to get it to work, but then it works fine.

If I shut off the car when it's acting okay, it starts up again normally.

This morning, it is DOA, I got half an alarm beep but the doors didn't even unlock. I assume the battery is drained.

So, I'm not even sure where to start to troubleshoot. Is there a way I can check the output of the alternator with my electrical tester? If the alternator went bad (after two years?!) would it still work part time/cut in and out like that?

Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks!
David

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