Boy am I embarrassed
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 12-18-2005
Posts: 1,791
From: Middle Village, NY
Boy am I embarrassed
Or, you could call this post 'Grounded for Life".
This is a long thread with a happy ending.
When I first got my HHR in December, I began my first mod-adding airhorns. I connected them with a separate horn switch under the dash and used a relay. The installation came out beautiful. For power, I added a nut to the post next to the fusebox for the power steering, and for the ground I added a nut to one of the strut posts (they are marked to use as a ground when boosting the car).
Initially the horns worked, then they stopped. I checked for power using a 12 volt tester, and got none in either post or any of the circuits in the fuse box. I was mystified. Everything worked, yet I got no power from my test light. A few days later, I checked and all power was restored. But, the air horns would not work. When I put the test light in parallel, the light dimmed when I hit the horns, indicating a poor power source. I planned on running a new 4-gauge line from the battery. Then, I spoke with Mike (So-Cal) who advised me to tap into the red wire in the console fuse box. I did, and the air horns still did not work. I checked for power under the hood and did not get any. Yet, the test light lit up when I checked the wire coming out of the fuse box. I knew there were no breaks or shorts, since the inline fuse I installed didn’t blow. So, on a whim, I changed ground location for the test light and everything had power. Then, I switched to another ground for the horns and my problem was solved. I was now able to tap into the fuse box like I had first done, only with a good ground.
So, my lesson for all of you viewers is DO NOT use the recommended ground studs for ANYTHING. I have read other posts where people were not able to jump-start other cars. If they used the place GM marks with a label, then that is the reason it did not work.
Sometimes, I was able to get the test light to work using the shock tower as a ground, and other times it did not work. My guess is that there is a rubber bushing or stop at the end of the spring, and depending on how the vehicle settles determines if it is making contact or not.
So now I must apologize for all of those who attempted to help me, and for all of the time wasted due to my silly error.
This is a long thread with a happy ending.
When I first got my HHR in December, I began my first mod-adding airhorns. I connected them with a separate horn switch under the dash and used a relay. The installation came out beautiful. For power, I added a nut to the post next to the fusebox for the power steering, and for the ground I added a nut to one of the strut posts (they are marked to use as a ground when boosting the car).
Initially the horns worked, then they stopped. I checked for power using a 12 volt tester, and got none in either post or any of the circuits in the fuse box. I was mystified. Everything worked, yet I got no power from my test light. A few days later, I checked and all power was restored. But, the air horns would not work. When I put the test light in parallel, the light dimmed when I hit the horns, indicating a poor power source. I planned on running a new 4-gauge line from the battery. Then, I spoke with Mike (So-Cal) who advised me to tap into the red wire in the console fuse box. I did, and the air horns still did not work. I checked for power under the hood and did not get any. Yet, the test light lit up when I checked the wire coming out of the fuse box. I knew there were no breaks or shorts, since the inline fuse I installed didn’t blow. So, on a whim, I changed ground location for the test light and everything had power. Then, I switched to another ground for the horns and my problem was solved. I was now able to tap into the fuse box like I had first done, only with a good ground.
So, my lesson for all of you viewers is DO NOT use the recommended ground studs for ANYTHING. I have read other posts where people were not able to jump-start other cars. If they used the place GM marks with a label, then that is the reason it did not work.
Sometimes, I was able to get the test light to work using the shock tower as a ground, and other times it did not work. My guess is that there is a rubber bushing or stop at the end of the spring, and depending on how the vehicle settles determines if it is making contact or not.
So now I must apologize for all of those who attempted to help me, and for all of the time wasted due to my silly error.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 12-18-2005
Posts: 1,791
From: Middle Village, NY
I know, but it was such a basic thing and I really drove myself crazy trying to figure out why I was not reading any power from the fuse box yet everything was still working...
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 12-18-2005
Posts: 1,791
From: Middle Village, NY
Ground
VERY IMPORTANT
The strut bolts are not a reliable ground (my problem and the common problem discussed on this post about jumpstarting). This means that the body itself is not a good ground. This can cause many, many, many problems. My friend, a mechanic, even asked me if I had any problems with the radio (reception, etc). He had a solution-a ground strap (under 5 bucks) from the engine to one of the bolts. I attached it to the passanger side bolt that holds the bracket for installing the engine.
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The strut bolts are not a reliable ground (my problem and the common problem discussed on this post about jumpstarting). This means that the body itself is not a good ground. This can cause many, many, many problems. My friend, a mechanic, even asked me if I had any problems with the radio (reception, etc). He had a solution-a ground strap (under 5 bucks) from the engine to one of the bolts. I attached it to the passanger side bolt that holds the bracket for installing the engine.
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