MikeKaduce

I have an 88 22re pickup, and a lot of things recently started going weird with it.

It started when I grounded my CB to a screw underneath my glovebox. That proceeded to short out my CD player, as well as blow the fuse for my horn and hazards. After replacing the fuse, I still have no CD player.

I was screwing around with the CD player today, making sure everything was tightly connected, and once I reassembled my dash, I realized that my interior light, brake lights, dashboard panel lights, and taillights all didn't work. After taking a right hand turn with my truck, all of the above stuff started to work but all of my idiot lights on the right side of the dash (charge, fasten belts and brake) were on. Blinkers didn't blink, they just shone constant. Sometimes when I brake, all of the above things shut off again until I fumble with turning my truck really sharp or something. When I turn my air on full blast, all my dash lights become really dim.

I'm pretty sure my battery isn't bad, but maybe something is just brushing against something that it shouldn't be? All of my fuses work and are intact. If anyone has encountered a similar problem, or knows what could be wrong with my electrical system, help would be appreciated!


Cliffs Notes:
grounded cb to screw, shorted out cd player and blew fuses

changed fuses, fiddled with cd player, blew out a bunch of electrical functions

electrical functions resume working when the truck is under certain circumstances



UPDATE: put a new battery in after the old one completely died, and drove it fine for a day. tonight it died again. Won't hold a charge at all. I think there's a ground issue somewhere that fried my new battery but if anyone has dealt with anything like this before and can give me an idea on where to begin, that would be helpful.

89macrunner

crazy electrical stuff usually has something to do with the alternator..have you gotten it tested at an autoparts place?

misterzee

Dude, more than likely you have a missing ground. There are several places on a vehicle where circuit grounds come together to a bolt to the body or chassis. If you check the wiring diagram on a FSM they are (kinda) easy to find. The problems you're having sounds like ground for one circuit is being sourced through another circuit/device.

heliax007

This is exactly what's happening to me- do you know what fixed it???