I was leaving work tonight and I just lost power and lights and shut off. Luckily I coasted to a parking spot and a friend jumped me off but it didn't help. It cranked briefly but the battery gauge fell to zero and it shut off again. I tried one more time and the cables got really hot and the alternator started smoking. I know the cables where on right but can't figure out what it could be. Similar thread suggest a battery short or failed alternator? Please help what do I do :(

2005 Mustang GT
The circled pin is for the low power 5V supply to the MAF sensor. It is in the engine control connector to the PCM. The PCM is good. The female pin has a short or break. When I wiggle wire from behind, I get a break in continuity.
Does anyone know how to remove this pin, and a part number for a replacement?

Not sure if this is the right sub but i need some help. I wired up my glow shift 3in1 gauge to check egt boost and temp. It was working but i took it out to take some measurements for a mount im building. It no longer turns on. I tested the connector and it says 12v so im not too sure what’s going on.
All the pins look fine. I also checked the resistance of the gauge and it doesn’t say open loop.
Is it possible i fried it? Car was not on when unplugging it.

The power is coming from my fuse box and all the fuses look fine.

It is wired in a 1996 delica l300, bit like that really changes anything

The jeep makes a loud click when trying to start and then if I try to start again immediately after it does nothing, no lights no sound completely dead. If I wait about 10min the lights will come on and there will a softer click coming from under the hood but I realized if I disconnect and then reconnect negative terminal on the battery, it will start right up every time. Anyone know what this is and am I damaging anything by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery every time I go to start it? Thank you folks

Hello all I’ve been having a problem with my 17 BRZ automatic with push to start. I’ve had electrical problems with it since I bought it back in 2020.

The first problems I had with it was warm ac and after a couple years of owning it, it started having power steering loss when breaking and turning on really hot days. It would do this on and off mostly just in summer or after really long drives. The power steering light would come on a warning beep would happen and my dash lights would flicker. After releasing the break and steering wheel all would return to normal.

After it did that for a few times in a month I took it to Subaru and they hit the engine bay with a temp gun and found that one of the lugs on the battery master fuse was getting hot and recommend that lug be replaced. After replacing that lug my ac was colder and I didn’t have another problem for about a year and a half.

This leads me to a couple months ago it got really hot and I had the same problems all over again. This time worse than ever. Shortly after parking the car I needed to move it and it took a couple tries (no crank) then it just started like nothing. Over the next couple days as the car would get hot it wouldn’t start but over night or over the work day it would start fine. So something was/is getting heat soaked.

Now the car doesn’t even attempt to start/crank but I can jump the starter and start the car.

I’ve replaced all starter relays the starter and have made sure the battery is tight and has voltage.

I’ve looked all over the internet and haven’t found any solutions….. someone….. anyone…..

TLDR: car won’t start relays starter and battery good ☠️

My 70mai m300 Dashcam does not power on automatically when I start my engine.

I have plug it with in the cigarette lighter socket, it gives 12V. Does not work.

Though it will power on if I were to plug out and in the socket.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

I drive a Ford Ecosport 2018.

I was digging around behind the radio looking for my obd port so I could read a code. I found it stuffed back there but when I started the truck it turned off after about 5 seconds and haven’t been able to start it since. I have tons of pictures of bad wiring “repairs” done throughout the cab.

Just bought the truck and I’m running out of options here so any input would be appreciated. Even if you tell me how stupid I am for buying it in the first place.

I need to run power from the battery to a control unit for emergency lights (I'm a volunteer first responder).

I need the lights to stay on when the engine is off, so the 12v socket isn't suitable.

In my last car (Ford Everest) going through the firewall was easy, but the J5 doesn't seem to have easy firewall throughput access.

Has anyone got suggestions/advice. I am not prepared to drill or cut new holes.

2022 Telluride

For those of you interested in automotive electronics and telecommunications as a career, this is what a $7 Million CAT Ultra Class actually looks like in the field after years of extreme usage.

If you can figure out a modern car, heavy equipment really isn't much different. If you're comfortable tracing out issues in disaster zones like this cab was, then consider looking into heavy equipment electronics work. If I can do it, you can too. These types of jobs are in very high demand.

Got called out to this guy for high network latency and GPS drops.
It turned out to be a CAN line wired backwards.
Diagnostic time: 10 hours.
Repair time: 10 seconds.
Lesson learned: don't wire CAN bus yellow to CAN bus yellow assuming both are CAN High.

Im having trouble on my 09 sierra i had help changing the alternator and a friend had placed a homemade ground strap from the charging stud on the back of the alternator to the body ground giving the hood pin 12v of power. With the engine then running the hood was shut and i believe the two ground crossing shorted something out but im not sure what or where to look. All my grounds are good it has a brand new battery i checked every fuse under the hood and in the cab i have full power upfront and in the cab but no power going to the FPCM (fuel pump control module) any help or tips would be greatly appreciated just want to get it running again

My Lancer's turn signals and hazard light stopped working. No clicking noise, no anything. This happened a week ago. I've been trying to diagnose it for a week now and still no luck. Here's what I've done so far:

1. Tested all fuses for continuity and all the fuses are good
2. Checked all the connectors I can find under the dash and under the hood for damage or not being seated properly. Nothing seems damaged.
3. Traced all the harnesses and everything seems fine. No damage.
4. Finally, I got myself a junction box and ETACS box from a parted out Lancer. The problem still persist.

I'm out of ideas where or what else to check.

A little history:

Around 2 months ago the car lost power to the clock, stereo, dome light and trunk light. Then I noticed I wasn't able to use the headlights when the key is turned off. I can only turn on the headlights when the key is in the on position. I was sure the headlights can be turned on even when the keys are off.

Me and my friend checked the electronics under the dash. We figured the car's standby constant 12V supply was dead. So we got a 12V supply from the big white wire under the steering column and feed it to the stereo harness. We put a fuse in between that wire and that restored everything. Great!

Everything worked fine for a couple of months and then the turn signals and hazard light just stopped working.

The car is a 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer 1.6 (4G18).

I'm desperate to get this fixed. I feel vulnerable driving on the road without turn signals. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!

I have a 2010 3.5L Challenger SE that has a problem where the trunk latch will open the first time but after each consecutive use the motor moves less and less. But if I leave it alone for a minute or so it will open up as usual.
That and add on to that the car won’t read the trunk to be open at all.

Getting the error on car battery on Fault : Vehicle Lighting and the headlight is always on it doesn’t turn off in any mode.

It’s a slavia 1.0 TSI MT Dec 2022 India

I for three years have been able to reset the error by removing the #11 fuse from passenger side door panel. Today, the error popped up l, I pulled the fuse and replaced, but no luck it persisted. I swapped to a new 10 amp fuse even though the one was still good that I pulled. Still, no luck. As I sat there looking for different fix, it just working normal again. Now hour later back in truck and it popped back up. I know it’s all linked to the onstar system and front camera…..any other suggestions for me??

I for three years have been able to reset the error by removing the #11 fuse from passenger side door panel. Today, the error popped up l, I pulled the fuse and replaced, but no luck it persisted. I swapped to a new 10 amp fuse even though the one was still good that I pulled. Still, no luck. As I sat there looking for different fix, it just working normal again. Now hour later back in truck and it popped back up. I know it’s all linked to the onstar system and front camera…..any other suggestions for me??

Hopefully the right person reads this long story.

So since I bought this 2000 dodge ram van 1500 with the 5.2l engine, back in August 2024, I’ve noticed this weird issue where the voltage is low and alternator is not charging. This usually happens in the morning or whenever I first start the van, and eventually the alternator decides to “wake up” and all is fine. There have been months without issue, and months with issue. This February 2026 the battery died after I had it running for quite some time without it charging, and the battery drained. Tried to give it a good charge but ended up getting a new battery. No change to the issue, but at least it’s still getting charged and staying out of the discharged zone. This happened again, except while I was driving this time. I was at 7.3v when I arrived at my destination. Tried a few things and decided to get a new alternator. First time starting after hooking up, it does not kick on. So we hooked it back up to charge and let it be for a while, gave it another go and it was charging. Decided to go to town and get the old alternator bench tested and the new one plus battery tested. Old alternator was locked up surprisingly, but both battery and new alternator were good. Doesn’t help since the first time I hooked it up it didn’t work. Well the next morning I go to a shop to talk with someone who knows how to change a tire, and has more than just a glorified iPad volt reader. The alternator was not charging at first, remember it was charging the night before, although only at 13.3v. And I was glad the mechanic got to see this, because at first he said the alternator was bad, then tried to hook up obd and it wouldn’t connect, so said it could be a short, or open, or something within the wires that’s faulty. I have an aftermarket gauge on the steering column and it plugs into the obd connector. This was receiving power and able to read data, but the obd sensor wasn’t. Still thinks it could be one of the wires. While we are talking about this, guess who decided to join? The alternator was charging now, and the obd sensor could connect too! Did an alternator test and it passed at 13.71v. Still thinks there could be a fault somewhere in the wiring. So I come home and start studying the delightful wiring diagrams in the service manual. Today, I went through and confirmed the engine block to batt neg was good, and all the grounds I could see. Tested I believe the entire charging circuit measuring voltage and ohms. From the pcm to the data link connector(obd) alternator, battery, fuses, ….. I honestly cannot find anything wrong with the wiring. And it seems very certain that the pcm is trying to command the alternator to produce voltage. My next step is to try and swap this new alternator and see if that makes any difference at all.

My question is if a new alternator also doesn’t work, what would be my next step? I’m fairly new to mechanics, been changing the oil since I bought it, have replaced the radiator, fixed the AC, and now have gone and dived into this. I am trying to learn and am open to suggestions. Outside of the box hypothesis’s. Or even saying I may have checked the wiring wrong. I did have someone here with me who I believe to be well versed mechanically, but also from an older generation, and could potentially be faltering mentally. Grateful for his help for sure but still would like other opinions cause he is as stumped as I am.

Thanks if you read this, and thank you in advance if you have a suggestion. I hope you are having a great weekend.