Short. (What'd you call me?)

What a bunch of jerks!!!!

Speaking of jerks... how's about you come down here, help me strip the Escort. Bring a truck, you'll be going home with things.

Alright, spend 5 hours under the hood of this thing today, including 2.5 hours on the phone with N20_matt. (Thanks Matt!)

No love, though.

What we found was that with the headlights on, the power wire to the ECU showed no voltage. Normal 12v (actually 12.4v) to the ECU with headlights off, and nothing with headlights on.

Car stayed running if i pulled the 40A headlight fuse, and turned the headlight switch to "on."

Cooling fan still doesn't work, wipers are still functioning strange.

I pulled the main relay, and from Matt's directions, jumped the wires. It ran just fine, even with the headlight switch turned to "on." However... no headlights.

I had the alternator checked, and it was fine.

We're reasonably sure that something is wrong with the main relay, but that shouldn't have anything to do with the lights, so what's up with that?

Oh, even better. NOW, when i turn on my headlights... the headlights don't turn on, but my TURN

SIGNALS turn on, and don't blink. Turning on my running lights makes all the running lights AND turn signals turn on. Flipping a turn signal makes my running lights and turn signals blink. Well... BESIDES the turn signal that SHOULD be on.

This sucks, and i'm on the verge of parting out the car. I checked the main engine grounds, and they all seem to be fine.

The main relay, nobody can get (though i haven't tried Mazda yet.) Advance gave me a number to their supplier, and they can special order it for $110. (hahaha!!!! screw that.) Don't know if i'll have time to go to the junkyard tomorrow.

Any other ideas? Any way possible that a bad headlight relay could cause this? I haven't tested that yet, but i finally found it (along with my blower motor relay) today. Moron PO had it just hanging out banging around in the area underneath the battery tray.

I'm at a loss, and need to figure something out, since this is my DD and i'm not getting my new car for at least another 2-3 weeks.

Put the headlamp fuse back in ;) buy a power supply relay from Mazda id you buy one.

Sounds like the perhaps PO had some issues and rewired some stuff? Maybe they tapped a different power wire for the headlights and accidentally got the ECU main or something? did you see any add on wires? (obvious, I know, but hey) That sounds like a non-standard location for the headlight/blower relays, maybe other stuff was changed too...

Continuity testing could help you figure out what's connected to what, but be sure to isolate the ECU since continuity testers apply voltage to the system. Figuring out crap like this is one of the most frustrating repair jobs out there.

I don't see any re-wiring from the PO... Some of the relays aren't exactly in the same position they were from factory, but none of the harness looks messed up. Those two relays were relocated (albeit badly) because the spot they occupy from factory was taken up by intercooler piping.

John, is "power supply relay" the same as "main relay?" I know the main relay, or at least the wiring leading directly to and from it have to be part of the problem, since the car will still run with headlight switch "on" if i remove the relay and jump two of the wires.

I suppose i could try jumping everything on the connectors on the relays... if it works then, the relay is toast.

Look for anything that Lucas on it and that will be the problem.

I have a feeling you are correct on the relays. If that doesn't work, don't part the car. That thing is way to awesome to part.

Replaced main relay, still no love.

Interesting to note that if i take out the headlight fuse, and turn the headlight switch to on, the car still runs, and the turn signals do NOT just turn on like they "normally" do now. However, when i flip the turn signal, all the turn signals blink.

In addition, even with the headlight fuse pulled, the hazards will still shut the car off.

AARRRRRGGGGGGG

Which two relays did the PO relocate? Also did you trace back the wiring they had done to relocate those relays? I wonder if there might be a short in that.

Have you considered buying a real car?

93EXCivic wrote: Which two relays did the PO relocate? Also did you trace back the wiring they had done to relocate those relays? I wonder if there might be a short in that.

HVAC blower motor and headlight relay. No wiring done to relocate. They just tucked them under the battery tray. No shorts.

John... normally i would laugh at that, but on the local forum, i've gotten nothing but those comments instead of actual help for the past week.

The car is getting fixed, and that's the end of it.

Don't worry, i still <3 you in a strictly "bro" way.

Probably going to pay someone to track the problem down. Don't have time to deal with it anymore. If there are any geniuses close by that want to try their hand at it, shoot me an email!

check all your bulbs for filaments shorted together. Yes, it sounds crazy, but i had an '88 civic that got rear-ended, and immediately thereafter when i turned on my right turn signal my dash lights blinked. i found that one of my two-filament bulbs got smashed together, so energizing the turn signal provided +12V to the running light circuit, which includes the dash lights.

i will revisit this thread tomorrow and i'll sketch out all the info you've provided so far. i'm too tired to do it now, but i think the answer is in here already.

^Thanks Angry.

Let me know if you need more info or if you need more clarification of anything. I've spent quite a few hours on it at this point and i feel like i'm just missing something within the "clues."

I think combo switch makes the most sense, but there's one or two aspects of that idea that don't quite make it.

$100 + all the beer you can drink to fix the car! Payment amount negotiable!

Looks like i get $100 and all the beer i can drink.

Apparently the car just decided to get pissed off randomly because of a ground that hadn't been connected for at least two years, and it picked last week to get pissed about it.

You can give me $100 since you have it sitting around.

Damn, I just deleted a post saying it still sounded like a ground issue. Probably a redundant ground (whether intentional or not) lost contact last week and the disconnected one you found is the one that was truly supposed to be connected.

Congrats! :BeerClink:

John Brown wrote: Bad ground

Hmm... Checks Payable to That One Mofo, 666 eVilmuffinfodder Drive, KidRock Village, Mi 48854