1989 3door vitara : Runs, then dies?

[nuzuki]

Hi guys n gals,

I picked up a vitara a few months ago and have had a brilliant time in it until recently where it has been running then dieing for no reason. I thought no problem its bound to be the alternator, I got a used one from the scrappy fitted it and didnt think anything more of it.......that is untill 2 days later I was driving along and it died again. After looking on the web I decided it may be the battery, although I had been charging it whilst changing the alternator plus overnight it was still flat after driving. So this was it I thought what could go wrong I had a new battery and this used alternator for 2 weeks or so I had no problems then it happened again this time blowing both headlight bulbs in the process
I got my hands on a suzuki manual and had a read about finding short circuits, from that with the negative cable of the battery disconnected I put a test light inbetween the negative cable and the nagative battery terminal with the keys out of the ignition and it lit up. This apparently meant I had a short somewhere?
I believe finding this will sort my problem out but im not overly sure so I thought I'd join up and see if its maybe a common problem and if so is there a common solution

[Shconer]

Are there any burnt fuses?

[nuzuki]

The fuses are all good. I forgot to say I pulled each of them to see if the testlight would go out and it didnt. I then pulled the big green fuse in the engine bay and the test light went out so its something to do with the lighting circuit or the circuit fed by the big green fuse (30amp rating I think?!?)

[nuzuki]

I traced it to a fault or more so a short in the door lock (wires used for the auto lock button). I removed the fuse and the fault has now dissapeared

[tracka96]

Good job! Tracka

[driving _suzuki]

Dear Nuzuki,
the same thign is happening to my car. It broke down 3 days ago, I installed a new battery, it didnt start, I called for a two truck, adn towed it to teh shop where I bought the battery. They started my car, put anti-corrosion solution to protect the battery cable, I drove away happy, and then 15 minutes later it broke down again. I took it to the same repair shop. They installed a new battery, checked the car, everything seemed to be fine. I paid the bill , got behind the wheel, and 15 minutes later the car died on me AGAIN! Battery!

Needless to say, I am furious, I yelled at everybody, the tow service of that repair shop (though the operator has really nothgin to do with this), the repair shop manager... But it does not really help.

Could you please tell me exactly what you did to fix your car, adn I will do my best to relay this info to the whoever will be working on my car. It seems to me thatwhen I am driving , it is workgin fine. But when I stop for a red light or in the parkign position with the engine running, this is when the battery dies.

You help /advice/suggestion/hint/clue/guess will be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks

Driving suzuki and going crazy

[nuzuki]

Hey Id be happy to help! I cant say whether the fault will be exactly the same but it does sound simular, I put it all down to a short (basically a live wire has come in contact with earth or chassis) somewhere on the car. The process is a bit tedious to trace the fault but will be rewarding when you have done this. You or the person working on your car shall need a DC clamp type multi meter. This is clamped over the negative cable of the battery and the reading noted. Now you must turn the key to position 2 so the electrics are on but the engine is not running (thou the same procedure must be used later with the engine running if the fault is not located). The DC clamp meter measures the current being drawn from the battery, you shall now have to pull out the fuses one by one and see if this affects the reading on the clamp meter. Once you have narrowed it down to a certain circuit then you must trace all the wiring to see if its been spliced into for accessories or generally to see if the fault is obvious. A series of continuity checks with a multi meter will narrow down where the culprit is. this took me roughly 3 hours to figure out and mine appeared to be down to faulty window switches or some old wiring left behind for fog lights, I removed the fog light wiring and did away with the door lock function on the window swtich and the fault strangly vanished. What is worth finding out is the charging current of the alternator from a working vitara then I guess this is what youd be shooting for. Hope this helps

[jtgh]

to "driving Suzuki" and anyothers with major elect. problems.

you have an electrical fault. ( yah)
to find it, takes a person who knows how to trace these faults.
there are two tactics to solve this problem.
1. ampmeter placed , see fault pull fuses. (easy huh)

Next, is divide and conquor method. (I came I saw , I ....)
for poor weekend warriors:
2. no ampmeter, disconnect every fuse that is not needed to run car.
make a list from the schematic. be very agressive.
like radio, cig, ligher, head lites, tail lites, (blinkers and use handsignals) radio, heater fan, interior lights, dash lites.
Its day time not night.
You can disconnect the whole door power under dash other places as well. You must look. some connectors under carpet , maybe.
then when all is removed and car still runs, drive the heck out of it and see if it fails. if does, add a fuse (any). Dont pull "FI" fuse.
repeat.
find safe , place to drive , non city. back road somewhere.

I might add the DC amp clamp in DMM form is very expensive tool.
as most are AC amps only. ( talking $20 AC versas $300 DC type)
however there is a cheap stand alone amp only meter that goes to 100amps. for about $10

if after disconnecting every thing, you still blow the fuse then
you may have a bad ECU ,just like the guy one posting back today.
His rebuilt ECU shorted.

look very carefully for anything that is not OEM, like above fog lamps.
if you see any bastradization , panic, no correct it immediatly.
like ALARMS, (pull main conn, to it , and hope starter still works)
fog lamps, socalled head end power amps.
most faults are cause by PO, PO's that heywire in new equip.
restore it and it will work as Suzuki intended.
look for harnesses touching metal of any kind.
sometimes just looking will find the problem.