My car shut off while driving and everything is DEAD

[[GoaTSLonG]]

I have an s14 ka-t that i bought off of a member here and I am familiar with 240's... I have had no problems so far except today everything was fine just pulling onto my block after a 50 mile drive and the car just DIED. Everything shut down and none of my electronics work, no headlights, gauges, dome light NOTHING, turning the key does NOTHING. First instinct was bad alternator and killed the batt so I checked and got 12v at the battery. The previous owner had relocated the battery and fuse box to the trunk and seems to be a pretty clean job. I turned the headlight switch on and touched the positive prong of the multimeter to the headlamp fuse and grounded the negative and got no reading...

please any suggestions will help im willing to check anything I can. I can post pics of the trunk tomorrow when its light out.

http://www.aww-kittah-aww.com/up/files/3550/240engine.jpg

[HPKMotorsports3]

your alternator most likely crapped out on you happened to me twice... can you turn on the car at all or does it crank but wont turn over... take it out and have it tested before you replace it to make sure also check your fuses it could be a bad fuse... i know several members replaced the alt for nothing because it was a bad fuse...

[[GoaTSLonG]]

NOTHING happens when I turn the key, silence thats it. If it was my alternator wouldnt my battery be drained? Which fuses should I check? How do I test a relay?

[Slikk Logic]

id check the main fuse

[[GoaTSLonG]]

dont wanna sound dumb but is the main fuse in the fusebox under the dash or the one in the engine bay?

[holys14]

im gona do some research on this ill let u know asap

[HPKMotorsports3]

;3721654']NOTHING happens when I turn the key, silence thats it. If it was my alternator wouldnt my battery be drained? Which fuses should I check? How do I test a relay?

not necessarily... you can use a test light or a multi meter...

[I LUV MY S13]

If the main fuse was out and your battery has full voltage, then your engine would still crank over. Is your car lowered? could be your wheels burned through the fuse harness by the fenders.

[FaLKoN240]

Check fender harness?

Check the 75a fuse in the main fuse box?

Otherwise start going through that battery relocation shit.

[[GoaTSLonG]]

If the main fuse was out and your battery has full voltage, then your engine would still crank over. Is your car lowered? could be your wheels burned through the fuse harness by the fenders.

hmm it is lowered, not slammed its on tein s techs. I will def check on it tomorrow

[I LUV MY S13]

If it were your 75a fuse you'd still be able to start your car, alternator wouldnt charge the battery though. Also if you turn your key you'd hear the fuel pump wind. Maybe your terminals are corroded...?

[tomato]

try and clean the battery terminals. take sand paper and sand it down to where it gets shiny. cause when i was in mid drift my whole car just shut off completely and almost had the car off the mountain lol. after i cleaned both the battery (where the terminals connect to) and the terminals it worked perfectly fine. hope it works out. gl

[[GoaTSLonG]]

def not a corroded battery its new and so are the cables.

[I LUV MY S13]

When the battery was relocated do you know if thicker cables were used? Cuz if they're the same size then all you did was increase resistance which results in a drop in current.

[fliprayzin240sx]

Its the main fuse...on my S14, everything was dead after my 100a main fuse popped. My shit popped after my alternator died and grounded out.

[Slikk Logic]

engine bay.the big one thats like 80a or so..prolly screwed down..those do blow extremly rare tho

[[GoaTSLonG]]

looks to be 0ga cable, ive been driving the car for 2 months everyday with no problems at all

[klits562]

Friends s14 with battery relo terrible electric problems also. Go through all the wiring for the battery relocation make sure the fusebox is getting 12v from the battery. Its very simple this isnt hard to figure out if you have no power to the car, check the battery if the battery is good just keep going to the next part untill you find the problem.

[Rabboni]

Check to see if during the batt relocation he didnt also put another fuse at,or just after, the battery positive terminal. I know a few people that have put in a redundant 80-100 amp fuse just in case their cable rubs through and shorts somewhere.

[[GoaTSLonG]]

well if the battery and fuse box are in the trunk then theres no reason for cables to be run from the front to back, i dont think there are any. weather is crazy here right now so i have to put it off till tomorrow

[dgomez]

same happened to me. battery connections looked fine but when i unwrapped the tape to get a better look, i realized that the negative wire on the battery wasnt getting anyground. it completely ripped off. so check your main ground.
also, when you try to jump start it, does the car turn on? if so, its the alternator. means your car cant power itself when its running, which is draining the battery

[Drifting-pedobear]

happened to me when i sliced my harness on my tire.
easy to check. and if its not tucked, then chances are youve rubbed it taking a turn on those SPRANGS.

just look under, you will see if its been messed

[klits562]

;3722806']well if the battery and fuse box are in the trunk then theres no reason for cables to be run from the front to back, i dont think there are any. weather is crazy here right now so i have to put it off till tomorrow

Ok i didnt see the part were the fusebox is in the trunk with the battery, but none the less you need to determine if there is power from the battery to the fuse box, then fromt he fusebox to the rest of the car.

[Rabboni]

Even though the fuse box is in the trunk, there still have to be wires that run to the front of the car to power the starter. Check voltage drop across your battery cables, from the terminals to the load, to determine if the cables are bad.

[kamechikara]

I was reading this thread in an effort to fix a similar problem on my friends car. It just died while he was driving and has now been sitting for months because he didn't bother trying to figure it out. Now it's in my hands and so far I have checked the following:

The 75A alt fuse was blown so I replaced it and now the car gets power (lights work, fuel pump primes, etc...).

Now the car still will not turn over. There is no obvious damage to any of the wiring (checked under the fenders too and its well tucked and protected).

Any ideas what would prevent it from cranking or turning over at all? There is no response at all to turning the key. Could it be the alt is toast or still grounded out? Maybe the starter went bad? Just trying to get an idea what would keep it from cranking. Thanks in advance.

[godrifttoday]

From my what happen to me, it was the rotor in the distributor... Car just shut of while driving... Just take the cap off and see if it's burnt if so should be minimal in cost

[[GoaTSLonG]]

so my tire rubbed through the fender lining and through about 10 wires... any suggestions where to tuck it? i will be repairing the wires anyways so extending them wont be a problem.

[kamechikara]

You can rerout it through the engine bay if your going to be real low. For mine, which is bottomed out on the coils, I ticked the harness up between the fender and the frame. there is a skinny gap and if you can get it tucked all the way up in there then you will not rub out. My friends car has some aluminum tubing around the harness and that is tucked up for extra protection (especially good for wet weather areas). Hope you get it straightened out.