Hey got a ohnoes of a problem, getting electric shocks through the gearstick and pedals (metal) and today thru the key when i tried to turn it off after the shock. my legs felt like jelly when i got out of the car. changed plug leads this morning, happened again then 30 mins later stopped shocking me so i drove it home. been shocked a few times in the last 3 days and after a while the problem has stopped. 2 years ago same thing happened, was a plug lead arcing over to the rubber intake hose. The grounds seem okay, at least i believe so as the shocking isn't constant. i'm looking for common causes or if anyone has heard of this; auto elecs are away for xmas in my area. thanks
Check the coil wires for grounding, if not the coil itself may be stuffed internally. Surprised you haven't damaged the computer or battery yet?
thanks for the warning i've found an auto elec to look at it this week, i'll keep it off the road till then. didn't see a spark in the bay when i looked this morning but i will check again in the dark. is the coil on the firewall connecting to the centre plug of the dizzy? can it be repaired at all or replacement only? a stock distributor will be pretty expensive here so i'm thinking of getting an aftermarket one for a similar price. can i do this with the stock ecu? even worth it with a stock engine? thanks.
you could try disconnecting it and just taking it off the car and cleaning all the grot off it u... i know they can get pretty rusty and that could stop it from getting an earth off the car... as to the dizzy... is it the full think or just the cap? i know dizzy caps here are only €10
alright i'll try cleaning it now. i want to try a new cap first and see if there's any change in the rough running, then maybe a full dizzy. see how it goes at the electricians. thanks.
no prob!! i shouldnt think you need a full dizzy... just the rotor arm and the cap then its good as new!
Weird and dangerous. Obviously, some ignition component is jumping. Sean has a point - one time I was adjusting my timing and touched the distributor cap and got a shock. The cap was worn out and the gasket all crumbled and broken. Replaced both items and all was well again.
Usually when the cap goes there's a miss in the engine as the spark jumps around inside. Good points, I've had worn leads that shocked the crap outta me as well
Fixed - electric shock through pedals n gearstick cleaned up the screw points on the ignition coil which were already okay. new plug leads made no difference. found a fair bit of black soot in the dizzy plug holes. electrode/pin inside ignition coil looks melted in one spot on the edge of the tip - maybe general wear. then i found it: When i got the car, there was a relay box coming from the drivers kick panel, with 3 wires going to LEDs behind each pedal. only the brake was connected and its been fine like this for a long while. last night i found the wire to the brake pedal had come off. I think that when the circuit was semi broken it was making the pedals and chassis live. removed the whole relay and no more problem. scary stuff getting shocked when driving, don't recommend it. i can see oil seeping around the dizzy so time for a new cap n gasket to join the rotor i have lying around. thanks for the speedy advice everyone, helped me pinpoint it real quickly.
Makes absolutely no sense to me Contacts burning and black soot are a sure sign of current arking across the metal. LED's run on 5v DC, no waaay they can shock you! If the chassis was "live" nothing would work and the battery would go flat in hours (current won't flow from + to +) Unless you mean the battery was shorted somehow To get a shock from DC (battery current) would require the battery to release most of it's power in one go and would probably kill you & fry your electrics.(fuses and wires would burn instantly) Please show us this relay/wiring? The dizzy leaking oil needs an inner seal and an outer o-ring as well as one under the cap to keep moisture out.
change the dizzy cap and the rotor arm any your car will thank you for it... maybe a grounding kit from your engine would help too! :thumbsup:
automotive led's run 12v with an inline resistor. silly interior leds, look good and appearently shock you when you short them out to the body/pedals. hopefully you run the wires for the leds better next time!
i don't know a lot about wiring just some theory behind it but i'm sure the led wire was the cause this time around. i think the soot in the dizzy might be from a while back and never cleaned out. the leds were in the car when i got it in 2004, never been a problem til last month when the rubber carpet protector unglued, so i removed it and quickly wore through the red wire. fixed that and tucked it out the way. no probs til these shocks and now it's removed there's no problem. going to look for some standard pedals as mine are old, large, and wearing down a bit. look real purdy lit up though :thumbsup: the box. the inline fuse (not pictured) says 0.5A, 250V. would this box be any use for the starter relay mod? has power in, ground out, 3 generic wires out. red is power from kick panel to relay box. guessing the red/green is headlights, triggering the leds? going to find a new cap n seals, tidy some wiring and clean the grounds, then take it to get the timing and ignition inspected just to be safe. thanks everyone
Holy crap! - that looks like an inverter (converts 12vDC - 250vAC) Those bulbs can't be LEDs unless there's a 12v wire from it as well It's not a DC relay and no you can't run your xbox or laptop from it as it's too small. No wonder you were getting shocked, lucky at 0.5A it's harmless but you could have a lot of fun with it (ie. a friend of mine had one wired to the drivers seat via his alarm) A lesson to make sure all wiring is properly soldered and shielded and the wires covered by plastic tubing, as well as tying everything down with cable ties! Tip - 1)get yourself a cheap multimeter and start learning to use it 2)Use 12v PC neons next time or LEDs with resistors, or 12v LED bulbs 3) Never trust electrical tape - it's useless
