help with electrical system - F-Body Road Racing and Autocross Forums

Background: I went to pick my car up today after getting the T2R installed. The shop owner drove it maybe five to eight miles this a.m. to make sure the gears sounded okay. It started up and ran fine for him. I got there, paid him, grabbed the keys and walked to the car. Nothing. No interior lights and it wouldn't even turn over. (Car has the original battery from 1999. I was going to replace it this summer.)

So we attempted to charge the battery with a plug-in charger. The lights came on and everything worked for a few seconds, while the charger was attached. Then it started acting funny, drawing huge amounts of current for a second or two, then switching back to charging normally. So we stopped that (quickly) and got a new battery. We installed that and everything came on and the car started right up--it idled sluggishly at first, which it has never done before, but it was fine after a few seconds.

Everything appears to be fine, now, but the headlights. They won't turn on. The foglights and dash lights work fine. The owners manual says the headlights are "protected by a circuit breaker" but it doesn't say how to find the breaker. Does anyone know where it is?

Thanks in advance!

-John

Spooner View Member Profile	Apr 5 2005, 05:05 AM Post #1
Advanced Member Group: Advanced Members Posts: 438 Joined: 1-January 04 From: BOS Member No.: 85	Background: I went to pick my car up today after getting the T2R installed. The shop owner drove it maybe five to eight miles this a.m. to make sure the gears sounded okay. It started up and ran fine for him. I got there, paid him, grabbed the keys and walked to the car. Nothing. No interior lights and it wouldn't even turn over. (Car has the original battery from 1999. I was going to replace it this summer.) So we attempted to charge the battery with a plug-in charger. The lights came on and everything worked for a few seconds, while the charger was attached. Then it started acting funny, drawing huge amounts of current for a second or two, then switching back to charging normally. So we stopped that (quickly) and got a new battery. We installed that and everything came on and the car started right up--it idled sluggishly at first, which it has never done before, but it was fine after a few seconds. Everything appears to be fine, now, but the headlights. They won't turn on. The foglights and dash lights work fine. The owners manual says the headlights are "protected by a circuit breaker" but it doesn't say how to find the breaker. Does anyone know where it is? Thanks in advance! -John

Spooner View Member Profile	Apr 14 2005, 08:30 PM Post #2
Advanced Member Group: Advanced Members Posts: 438 Joined: 1-January 04 From: BOS Member No.: 85	Obssd, Indeed there is. Nice recall and thanks... QUOTE Make: CHEVROLET Model: CAMARO Year: 1999 Service Bulletin Number: 990849009 NHTSA Item Number: 607568 Summary Description: SOME CUSTOMERS MAY COMMENT THAT THE TRIP ODOMETER RESETS TO ZERO WHEN STARTING THE ENGINE. *TT I was concerned that the PCM might also be resetting itself. But it seems like that's not the case. Phil, I don't believe I've done a complete PCM reset, unless removing the battery does that. (I assumed that it did, but I know that I've seen articles detailing how to reset the PCM.) Thanks for the advice on the cables. I'm going to try to get one of them ASAP... Based on the CEL and the other phantom lights I've seen, something else may still be going on... Huge help! Thanks, -John