alternator?

[mountaineerjeff]

the wire was just bare and hanging, nothing is atached to the ps pump, so I bet yes.
so I took the wires off the fuses to check to see if they were bad. I was dumb and took them all off at once, I dont know which goes where, I put them back with my best guess and the car runs. I replaced the alt. tonight with a 75 amp from a dsm. I get surges constantly. bad connection? weak/bad alt? fuse box back together wrong? battery just not at full charge? Ill check all the connections tomorrow, and im charging the battery over night. I had the alt. checked before I installed it, but Ill have it checked again tomorrow.

 

[joec]

Low battery can cause a lot of bad ecu behavior, also, all the "learned" ecu settings have been erased from having the power disconnected.

This is where the power steering switch connector goes:



It's labeled as #1 in the picture.

 

[mountaineerjeff]

i figured that out, but what does the ps wire do, and how do i make sure that it is that?

 

[joec]

The ps wire is actually an on/off input to the ecu. I believe it's used to maintain a smooth rpm at idle when the power steering is being used. According to the this diagram (lower left corner) it looks to be a yellow wire and I'm pretty sure it comes out of the same bundle of wires as the alternator connectors. On my dsm manuals it shows it as the same bundle, but I couldn't find a good diagram of that in the galant manual (cd).




Looks like its just a switch to ground so even if that wire touches ground it shouldn't be too fatal.

 

[Rausch]

Yes, It's the power steering pressure switch. You are correct.

 

[91GSR]

well the one i hooked to the connector on my alternator was just a connector. like u would use on speaker wire or something. it had a matching male connector on the bottom of the alt so thats where i put it. i will take a look at it when i get home.

and anyway, if its a ground does it really matter where it is grounded? whether its grounded to the PS pump or the alt its still grounded right?

 

[joec]

The connector for the power steering pressure switch is one of those bullet connector (it just pushes onto the stud shaped fitting on the ps pump, labeled #1 in the first picture I posted). It doesn't connect to ground normally, ONLY when the pressure switch on the ps pump is activated then the switch connects the terminal/wire to ground.

If you grounded that connector then the ecu will think the switch is always activated. Probably not a big deal, might have a slightly higher idle or idle fluctation when turning the steering wheel.

 

[91GSR]

hmm. ill have to look into that. didnt get a chance to today. had to make dinner and such. ill be spending a lot of time under my hood tomorrow trying to figure out why my belts are squeaking.

 

[Hertz]

I think what you're describing is just a mount for one of the wires, not actually a ground or a connector.

 

[mountaineerjeff]

well when 1630 has quit a few wiring mishaps, lots of dry rotted pieces that were patched, or just hanging. for the most part I have gone back and fixed everything right, solder,crimping,electric grease, and shrink tubing. all to make it safe,reliable,and presentable. Im gonna check the wire first, but if it is the ps wire it should not have any power to it right? it doesnt have a connector, its just looks like it fell apart from age.