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Sep 23, 2022

When Alternators Strike. 18+ volts R32 GT-R

Brian's R32 GT-R stopped on the side of PCH near Bolsa Chica

Update below 9/29/22:

I've been driving Brian's R32 GT-R for a couple days, working on the tune, checking it out a little before his next track event.  Its on E85, and could use a little more boost and timing to get it happy. 

Thursday morning, it was a bit misty outside, start the car up, headlights on, defrost on, put some heat in it. Wipers a few times to clear off the windshield.  Its dark, and the cluster lights work, but the triple gauge lights don't work. Always that way with a project car. Always a few things you never get around to checking.   

As I am driving, about 3 minutes after I started the car, the car hesitates a bit, the ABS light comes on, and I hear a little belt squeal.  I didn't think much about it, as lights and things are pretty normal.  I turn on PCH, and the car is now acting a bit more funny.  So I turn the interior lights on, and see the volt meter pegged at 18v. 

Crap

I'm in a bad spot to try and pull over and stop. Its a 60mph two lane, with not much side. So I decide to see if I can keep going.  The car sputters, and dies. Now its clutch in, and see how far I can roll to the best place to stop.  I get the car stopped in an OK, but not ideal place. I go under the hood to see if I can see anything obvious.  I sort of poked around a little, then remembered that the battery in this car has a backup start feature.  I push the button, and try and car, it starts. But I am worried about the alternator, so I unplug the alternator, mistakenly thinking this might help.  The meter is reading about 12v, so I figured, fine. Hit the road, try and make it to the first gas station. 

As I am moving, I look over at the volt gauge again its 18v plus. Unplugging it didn't do what I thought it would do. So now the weird stuff starts happening. The radio cuts out. The ECB-1 goes off, the drivers side window rolls down on its own. The wipers go on their own. The AC control LCD goes out, but the fan is still running. 


The car actually still runs, but its a little wounded. So for now, change the alternator, and go problem chasing. 



Ernie has been doing most all of the troubleshooting on the car. So far its the ECB-1 that died. Then the drivers window is still stuck down, we pulled the window amp assembly (28515-01U00) and it "looked" OK. The heater blower fan amp died, and was replaced (27761-01U00) .  The wiper amp (28510-05U00) also died. That's the little brown box in the engine compartment. 


ECB-1 died. Will send it in for repairs

Radio still works. The AC control still works, but the fan resistor died

Window amp module also died. 



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