Couple of issues possibly linked

guy_27

Hey guys. Hopefully someone here may have some advice on what to do.

Car. 2004 astra hatch (z22se ofcourse)

Issues.
1)cruise control is tempermental.
Disengages itself and is hard to set at a speed. Pressing acc pedal disengages it. Pressing speed up or down button for more than 1 second does the same.
So far I have swapped acc pedal and stalk and no difference
2) car sometimes hesitates when pressing acc pedal.
Have changed plugs coilpack throttle body and fitted egr cheater. Again no difference.
3) new issue. Installed hid lights. Turning them on causes abs and tc lights to turn on for 3 seconds if car is at stand still. If driving then the whole dash cluster dies.

Where should I start?
I'm thinking of checking the earth for the fuse box and relays. Can anyone tell me where this is located.

Thank you. 🙂

guy_27

Changed a couple of relays and fuses today. Still no good with first 2 issues and 3rd is still tempermental. Although I've found if I turn Parkers on start driving and once abs has done it's self check at about 20kmh I turn hids on it doesn't give any lights on the dash.

astra22bertoneauto

Sounds like you have a power drain somewhere notsure.gif

Have you checked the alternator to see if its giving out correct voltage whilst engine is running?

Also HID's require a smaller fuse as they consume less power compared to halogen

guy_27

I've thought the same. Going to check it tomorrow. Just hope it holds out as I am currently 2000km away from my parts cars and have a track day in 4 weeks before I head back.

guy_27

Getting a reading of 13.89v across the battery with car running. Turning lights on does not drop voltage significantly.

Checked a few of the earth points in the engine bay and they seemed fine. Still gotta check the fuse box earth point. I have a feeling this is where my issues is.

guy_27

Bit of an update. Car ran fine this arvo till I pulled up in the garage. Stereo was buzzing and abs tc and airbag light were dim and pulsing with the buzzing feedback noise. Moved every relay and fuse and did nothing so I pulled the stereo fuse. Buzzing stopped and lights on dash went off. Took it for a test drive.
And it's still too early to confirm but.
No lights turning on dash with hids and throttle issue seems to of gone.

Cruise is still playing up though so I'm thinking clutch switch as if I press the clutch down and back up it will work again till I hit a bump or go uphill.

astra22bertoneauto

Ah mate I hate electrical faults - its like trying to find a needle in a haystack!

Glad you're getting to the bottom of it thou :thumbup:

guy_27

I'm hoping it is the issue. I'm 99.9% it's the cause of the issue. It wasn't very nice or assuring to drive with those issues. Especially seeing the airbag light turn on when you turn the lights on.

guy_27

Took the car for a drive last night. Dash issue no longer happens.
Hesitation only happened once and that was probably due to me bleeping the throttle a couple of times in 3rd then popping into 5th and floored it to pick up speed. But pushing the car hard didn't have an issue so I'm happy for the moment. If it gets any worse I'll look into that issue further.
I'll redo the headunit power and earth cables unless I can trace the issue when I do that.

Now I just have to fix up cruise control.

Does anyone know if the clutch switch causes rpm to drop when pressed?

guy_27

so i just ran a new earth and +12v wires for the headunit and put the fuse back in.
happy to say headlight issue is now rectified. cheers..

the throttle issue is now much less severe. this makes me think that it has to be an earthing issue somewhere and is linked to the cruise control issue.

anybody have any ideas on where to go from here? notsure.gif

guy_27

Driving the car today. Temp guage decided to drop off. this thermostat (genuine) has only done 2500km. last one (aftermarket made in usa) did 500km so i've got a feeling its the CTS so i've ordered another one.
Is it possible that if the cts is dodgy it would be sending a bad signal to the ecu and causing it to over fuel?
everytime it has a hesitation it tends to pop and rumble a bit more than usual like there is excess fuel in the exhaust.

Also ordered brake and clutch switches and will swap them out one at a time to see if they sort out the cruise control issue.

gotta love electrical gremlins :evil:

guy_27

ok so i've replaced air intake sensor, brake switch, clutch switch. taken for a drive after doing each one. problem still remains but not as bad.

I've got a new CTS so once the engine cools i'll swap that over.

I also got some earth cables so going to pop those in as well.

If none of these make any difference i'm going to swap the ecu over as i can't think of anything else that can be causing these issues.

guy_27

so just ran a cable from block to body and another from battery to body. After a quick test drive all signs looking good. Car feels like my old one. Much more responsive, better acceleration from 2500rpm and cruise control turns on when i want it to.
😃

guy_27

90km later and all looking good. Everything seems to be working as it should be.

Matt

Excellent news :thumbup:

guy_27

Matt said:
Excellent news :thumbup:

I'm stoked with it. Feels good to be able to drive the car now without having to worry about reaching for the fire extinguisher just incase.