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[maddmike]

I have a 91 capri non turbo was running great the battery went low hooked up jumper cables in reverse the headlight open and closed opposite each other.  did manage to get it started and running again but have many weird electrical problems, the insind light only works with key in run position doors open or closed,  only the left front turn signal does  or work the other three are fine, if i unplug the cooling fan relay almost completely the fan turns on otherwise it does not work.  Has anyone else experienced this and can give some advise.
Thanks

[Rocketman]

There's been quite a few folks who have done this, usually the main relay under the hood pops and prevents any major damage though I have seen once where it seemed to fry the ECU.

Did you have to replace any fuses?

[mitch1204]

Yikes, not a good thing as many sensitive electronics are designed to handle current in one direction. Any diodes or IC chips can get fried. I'm not sure of this Capri as it's new to me. But starting back before it's production manufacturers started using BCMs (body control modules). Everything you describe would run through it. That's if the Capri has one. A BCM is a brain box similar to the ECM. One controls the engine while the other controls the body functions like lights, PW, PDL, radios, etc. It's one device that is sensitive to power surges and many weird things happen when they go bad. Older cars the ECM might double as a BCM. I'll see if I can't find some wiring diagrams.

That all said I would find out if your car has a BCM. That would be my first guess. I'm sure you seen a spark show and quickly reacted. It takes more than a second to burn a wire in two but I would start ohming out wires. The tech Capri manual, section 33 has troubleshooting procedures to check your circuits. Chapter 34 shows your harnesses.

It can be multiple problems and not just one. The headlights for example run through the turn signal switch along with your turn signals, brake and park lights. The turn signal switch uses a circuit board which is easy to fry.

The fan switch is a variable ground. Unplug it and the relay activates and turns the fan on. So you might check the fan relay or ground wire to it.

That's another thing is these Capris are bad about the grounds corroding. A power surge would be enough to finish one off.

I would start with finding out if the car has a BCM, then do some troubleshooting as in that chapter. Then inspect and clean your grounds. Then if none of that works I would think the turn signal switch and/or a few relays are shot. The ECM is not out of question. If I can find the wiring diagrams I can tell you more.:

Electrical problems are always fun but not impossible. You just have to isolate the circuits and have a multimeter or DVOM.

[aw2oban]

Would it cause any more problems if you swapped ecm's with another Capri and see which car has issues?

[mitch1204]

No, if it's the same ECM it won't hurt a thing and might save you some work. I'm looking for diagrams now. I'm not sure if tech Capri has that chapter.

[maddmike]

thanks for your information. I did have to change the main  fuse under the hood, every other fuse seems to be find.  where would i find the main relay? that seems like  a good thing to test.  I did put in a different ecm and nothing changed. I do not thing the car has a bcm.

[grantduffield]

Along the same lines.  The headlamps on my 91 na are in complete opposite synchronicity.  (One up with headlights on, one up with headlights off).  The linkage looks dead on.  can I reverse the polarity to "out of synch" headlamp motor and remedy the situation that way?  If so, can someone point me to the wires to splice and cross?   

[mitch1204]

I found the wiring diagrams. There is an Electrical Load Control Module under the center of the IP. I would assume near the ECM. It shows the fan circuit running through it.

Is your alternator working properly. I ask because it has an internal voltage regulator and bridge rectifier which could of got damaged.

I'm still looking for the head lamp schematics. It's most likely the headlight switch or turn signal switch there. Don't go crossing any wires. That's how the motors work but let's find the source. It could even be the relay if it has a double function. BRB

[mitch1204]

Unfortunately the head lamp schematic is not clear on my phone. But I can see a headlamp module. These modules are first victims to power surges as it's easy to fry a circuit board.

If you have a desktop or laptop maybe you can see better.
http://techcapri.home.comcast.net/~techcapri/Wiring.html

[grantduffield]

Thanks for the wiring diagrams - look like mesapotamian cave etchings to me but, ok.  if i am reading em right, it looks like I could cross the wires that have the diodes in the headlamp motor. Is that right, or am i just going to irritate the tigris river god?

[maddmike]

I think the alternator is working when the car is running i have 13v at the battery and no warning lights come on.  for me when i disconnected the battery cables then recharged the battery correctly then put the cables back on the headlamps synchronized themselves correctly.     

[Mike.Sasich]

You should have 14.2 to 14.7 at the battery. 13V could very well be a bad diode

[mitch1204]

I agree, the alternator is on its last leg. New is roughly 14.5v. 13.5V is wor,e but acceptable. 13.0v will still charge the battery but you are lucky to have a month left if you drive it regularly.

It could be related to the surge or it's just wore out. It's unrelated to your other problems. Make sure your chassis grounds are good. Check the one off the battery and by the passenger strut. There's another on the other front side of the head.

Edit: In fact let's back up to the beginning and make sure the battery is okay. This all started with you  having to jump it off. Get a voltage reading with the car off. it should be about 12.5v.

[blueamber]

First... Grant, if the headlights are always out of sync, the fix is to put the switch in the up position, remove the linkage nut from the motor that is down and reposition the linkage to the up position.  If they are out of sync sometimes but not always, one motor's internal contacts are probably dirty and not consistently activating.

Maddmike...Almost disconnecting the fan relay and the fan starts working probably means the fan temperature switch is bad.  Try pulling the wire to the switch, if the fan comes on then the switch is bad.

New bulb in the turn signal?  Check the turn signal contacts.  Those turn signal contacts are prone to corrosion.

Which inside lights come on with the run position?  The fuse getting volts to the courtesy lights is always hot, key position doesn't matter.  If so, you have a short somewhere, something melted, could be many places, you'll need a good wiring diagram to run it down, I have the 94 wiring manual over on the yahoo capri group (files, 94manuals)

[grantduffield]

Thanks Chris!