I'm posting here because I'm concerned that the problem may be from beating the piss out of the car on an autox course.

Sunday at our first test-n-tune the car started acting really weird.

Long story short: 2 weeks ago my alternator took a crap, so I replaced it. Sunday I started the car, pulled it off the trailer and shut it down. About an hour or 2 later I tried to start it and all it did was click. I was getting 12 volts from the battery, and 12 volts from the alternator with the key to the on position. My co-driver was trying to start the car and smoke started coming out from under the car. (I'm assuming the starter)

It would kick start with no problem, but later in the day, the starter started working again. However, at that point, the electrical problems started to happen. All 4 turn signals and both sidemarkers lit up (dim) and stayed lit. The turn signal indicators on the dash were lit dimly too and the buzzer would go off once in a while. At this point the headlights also stopped working.

It was mentioned to me that the crash sensor might have gone bad from driving hard on the course (there was a good bump at one point out there).

Has anyone else had this problem? The car will start with no problems now and runs great, but the electrical/lighting problems still exist.

I have the intake manifold off right now to check the wires to the starter, but they are look fine. But I'm not able to test anything until I put it back together and I'm waiting on new gaskets and nuts from the dealer because the manifold has been off and back on 4x since I put the motor back in.

TIA,
John

John,

Didn't you recently have the motor out?

If so:
1) check all the ground connections to make sure they are clean & tight.
2) check the positive connection going to the underhood fuse box.
3) check any areas where wires go through the firewall for chaffing.

Both #1 and #2 gave me fits. Tightened them all up and have had zero problems since.

Yeah, the motor has all of 1300miles on it now. I'll check all of that tonight again, but I've looked all of all of the wiring. :(

I'm starting to hate cars. It's been one thing after another, after another, after another.

Not sure if it's helpful, but I had similar problems after my car sat for 3 months after an accident. I ended up replacing the battery. Thinking it was bad. Then soon after had to replace the starter. Not too long after that, the battery kept going dead. Had to replace the alternator.

Even though your battery tested at 12v, under a load it could be insufficient. If the alternator wasn't keeping it fully charged, it could be damaged. Especially if the starter was putting an extra draw on it.

I'm not sure, but it seemed to me that each of these bad components adversely affected the others.

Good luck - Jay

The battery is less then a year old and is a RedTop. I'll take it down to have it checked though.

John, how soon after the motor install did the alternator die?

About 2 weeks or so. That whole thing was weird too. The AirBag and ABS lights on the dash would come on dimly and then turn off when the alt was going bad.

I hope it didn't fry anything. :(

I was getting 12 volts from the battery, and 12 volts from the alternator with the key to the on position.

Did you check to see if there is a drain on the battery when the car is off??

You didn't have to do any rewiring for the swap, did you?

Nope, the new motor was a direct bolt in. The battery has had 12volts everyday since the new alternator.

If you still have one, check to make sure the trunk light isn't staying on. They're notorious for that. The wiring harness for the trunk gets pinched, frayed (sorry Jeff) and shorts or grounds out.

Jay

If you still have one, check to make sure the trunk light isn't staying on. They're notorious for that. The wiring harness for the trunk gets pinched, frayed (sorry Jeff) and shorts or grounds out.

Jay

Jay-

Is this what you are talking about?

http://bimmerforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=771342&postcount=1

Jay-

Is this what you are talking about?

http://bimmerforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=771342&postcount=1
I think what Jay is referring to is the actual light in the trunk. It took me a few aggravating days to figure out that the light was staying on all the time and draining my battery.

I just pulled the rear wing off Friday, so I'll go digging in there to check tonight.

Check the terminal on the passenger side of the car, all 4 bolts, make then tight. This is the connection or positive terminal next to the motor. Does that make sense?

I think what Jay is referring to is the actual light in the trunk. It took me a few aggravating days to figure out that the light was staying on all the time and draining my battery.

That's why I asked if there is any drain on the battery while the car is off.

I don't think the trunk light staying on is the problem. His issue sounds like two frayed wires touching each other. Plus, the mention of smoke coming out from the bottom of the car leads me to believe it is not a simple problem to figure out.

John, does it seem like your car only acts up when it rains? Maybe water is leaking on some wires. :dunno. It rained Sunday, right?

I thought about the rain too, but the car sat for 24 hours which should be enough to dry it out.

Update:

The main ground on the passenger side engine mount was loose. The nut on the bottom fell off somewhere along the line. I think this was the cause of the starter clicking and not working.

However, the electrical problems with the lights still exists. If I disconect the headlights, all of the problems go away. So then I tried a second set of headlights and the problem came back. Pulled the fuses for the headlights and the problem went away.

Cars suck.

a loose ground could definitely cause intermittent charging/starting problems. I've seen a few people at my work replace batteries and alternators when the problem was just a loose/corroded ground. A slick way to check for a charging prob assuming a good battery is to check the alternator output w/ an amp clamp, or use a digital multimeter and check voltage drops between the ground, alternator, and battery. Amp clamp the battery also w/ the car off and all consumers off and the reading shouldn't be more than .05 amps draw(not 100% about the spec). while the amp is on you could pull fuses to see if the amp draw decreases.
As for your lighting problem, you might have to find the wiring diagram and use a DMM to diagnose that. I'd start by doing voltage drops along the lighting circuits. Like Andy said, you probably have a short somewhere cause by a cut wire/faulty switch/etc.

good luck.

I measured the volts from each low and highbeam plug. They are all at 10.5 volts with the lights turned on. The 10.5 volts doesn't change when the highbeams are turned on. :confused