Alternator Harness issues

[Lil Freek]

http://pub.djgamblore.com/mazdap5/Workshop_Manual/01-02B.PDF

What's the Terminal B wire do? Looking at the wiring diagram from the On-board diagnostics page, it goes to the positive terminal on the battery. That's what actually delivers the charge to the battery, right? I never checked continuity with that wire. it should be plugged in right before the main fuse, so i'll give that a once over, too.

 

[sam1]

Looks like it. There shouldn't be any continuity between that wire and the ground, or you have some serious problems.

 

[Lil Freek]

terminal B goes to the positive, i get continuity, no problem.

I tested P and D to the ECU, didn't get anything, noticed that the underside clips under the fusebox (that connect the alt harness to the engine harness) were full of grease (god knows why) and i cleaned them out - wasn't getting any continuity for a long time, got really mad until i realized the battery was unplugged.

I plugged the battery back in and i have continuity from the terminal P and D to their respective pins on the ECU harness. So the connection is being made.

I've tried 2 ECUs and the car still sounds like s*** and if i give it a little gas, it sputters and then the pulsing issue comes back.

I just ordered another alternator from a junk yard... it's just $50 for the part, so figured I might as well, just in case the alternator is bunk, after all.

Any other ideas for the possible problem/solution?? It's pretty much surely alternator related, and i'm beginning to wonder WTF I can do to fix it.

 

[sam1]

Did you perform the voltage test? Are you SURE it's alternator related? May be part of a larger problem? Obviously it's not ecu related. Sputtering sounds more like a fuel/ignition/timing problem to me, but the voltage pulsing throws me off. Any cel codes at all?

I know the 'hopeless' feeling. I just had a blond moment, so-to-speak, last weekend and hooked the battery up backwards. D'oh! Blew some stuff, and I was stumped for 2 days before I just went out and started systematically checking stuff. Ended up being a really simple fix. But what I'm trying to say is just stick with it. There is obviously a problem, and we'll find it, just have to start narrowing it down one thing at a time. Already got the ecu out of the picture, so 1 down.

On that note, did you ever figure out why I got continuity on the opposite terminal you did? Maybe I was just looking at it upside down...idk...I did double check it twice. I'll brainstorm a little and see what I can think up.

 

[sam1]

Just had to ask, when did this problem start happening? Last year apparently? Any mods or anything noticeable happen/change in that time frame that you can remember? If so, may help narrow it down some...

Another thing, after re-reading your original post, it says everything works normal when the ground is disconnected. Still true? No sputtering or voltage fluctuations? Just reads a constant 12.x voltage from the battery?

 

[Lil Freek]

The only new thing was the Haltech... but lots of things kinda went on at the same time.
I'm thinking of going over the entire Haltech install again.
I didn't do the voltage testing just cuz I was by myself and didn't really have the time/will to lift the car and get under it. It's been pretty cold the last few days, so I'm waiting for it to warm up again (this weekend)

When I unplug the harness with terminal P and D, the pulsing goes away and it's 12.xx voltage, no prob.

sputtering is probably just a tuning issue...

Another thing I've noticed is that when I have the car daisied with another car (needed a boost), there's no pulsing, ever... I spent like 45min working on the car and no pulsing of any kind.

I just acquired another alternator, so i'll be installing that over the weekend and hopefully figure out some more. I'm working my way through potential problems, so it's just a matter of time before I figure it out. I have a whack of ODBII codes, I'm going to bring my buddy's reader with me on the weekend and check 'em out.

 

[Lil Freek]

so just a follow up.
I'm going to work on the car sometime in the next few days (assuming the bad weather stops) and I'll be replacing the alternator and checking the speedo sensor wires. I'm not sure if it makes a difference if i remove it entirely, but it doesn't work to begin with, and the haltech is tapping into that ground/wires for some reason.

I'll be checking all the wires for the haltech, visually, when i go replace the alternator... but on May 10/11 is when the real work kicks in.
I'm bringing 2 of my friends that are electronics whizes and they'll be helping me check every wire from the haltech, and uninstall the haltech if need be. If the stock setup can start the car without any problems, we'll reinstall the haltech and assess every possible wiring issue from there.

it would make sense if the Haltech's causing this issue, since it's the major electronic change that's occured in the car. I'm going to grind down the ground points that i'm using for the haltech and make sure the ground wire for the unit is properly ground to the body.

 

[sam1]

sounds like a plan. keep me posted. I'm interested to find out what the culprit is. gotta be a ground...

 

[Lil Freek]

alright.. i've been really busy lately, but I'm working on the car today, and i think i might, in fact, be the dumbest person alive.

There's 2 wires soldered together by Haltech (i'm assuming). One is an obvious black ground wire, the other is a long grey cable with a pink clip at the end of it. What is the long grey wire supposed to do? Looking at the pdf on Haltech's site(http://haltech.com/downloads/e6x_wiring_diagram.pdf), there's 2 grounds wired together - but I'm not sure if that means there's 2 ground wires, or if those wires are supposed to be in the harness.

Anybody know what the long grey, shielded, wire with the pink clip is for????

 

[Lil Freek]

If you look at this pic, it's the wire that's coiled up, next to the injectors
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=93161

 

[Lil Freek]

so i'm retarded.

we went over the instructions for the Haltech... I forgot to give wires 4 and 55 (memory wires) a 12v power supply, so the ECU was underpowered and probably leeching from the Haltech and ******* up in general.

We played with it for like 5min and NO pulsing

I now have 2 spare alternators, spare starter and spare alternator harness, lol

 

[ForceFed]

Glad to hear you got it fixed

Sell me an alternator....?

 

[sam1]

Got her fixed, eh!? Good job man. Now you can go enjoy that turbo!! =)

 

[Lil Freek]

It's not tuned well, at ALL... but I have a few maps to play with.

This is actually my 3rd EMS, so the turbo's just gonna start getting confused, lol.

LOL.. you weighed an alternator before? It's not worth shipping one. And I know me, I'll blow the alternators pretty fast.