SERIOUS problem with car

[danz24 10+ year member]

Ok so today my HU was professionally installed . I got home turned off my car and whithin a minute or two of playing with my deck my electrical system shuts down on me. I inspect all around the car and electrical turns on when I closed my trunk. So maybe a loose connection. Since it was working fine after I finished the rest of my system by installing my relay and connected the power wires for the amp and everything powered up normally. No sound was coming from any speakers though, but thats for another thread. After a few minutes more, the electrical shuts down..permanently.

There is NO power whatsoever, I cant even honk the horn. I checked the wires and found this thing connected to the + wire near my battery. It looks like a holder with a penny as a fuse....ya i know //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

I bought the car used so there were mods before. When I touched this thing my electrical system came back to life again!!!! However, when I try to start my car the penny sparks and my electrical dies again. Can someone tell me WHY MY CAR IS ACTING LIKE THIS!!! And WHAT IS THIS THING?!?!

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[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

wow that is as ghetto as it gets, it's a fuse holder, there's suppose to be a fuse there, but i guess whoever installed it decided they wanted to use a penny as the conductor.......

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

ghetto-rigged lol.

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

copper conducts

wow i have never seen anybody use a penny to bypass a fuse.. wow..wow replace that with a fuse

 

[danz24 10+ year member]

So it is a fuse.. But I don't even know where to start figuring things out

does that mean that the connection just came loose which is why I have no power??

Should I replace that and what size fuse?

Is my electrical problem something else?

Why is it sparking when I try to start the car??

Im really hoping to solve this tonight, I NEED my car tommorow...

 

[DeViOuSoNe 10+ year member]

There is a short, put a fuse in there, I bet it blows, get that shit outta there...LMAO never seen no shit like that before...

1. Remove penny try to start car

2. Check ALL wireing and connections

3. Put fuse in, and see what happens

If it blows, Do step 2 again, And then give us more info on what's in the care

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

back in the day they used pennys to replace the round fuses on old house electrical boxes...but i've never heard of it on a vehicle...i guess it beats tin foil....

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

wow

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

all i know is u need to find the person that sold u the car and smack him/her in the back of the head for pulling something like that.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

yeah if they pulled something like that... u better hope there isn't sawdust in the oil pan to stop the leaks.....

 

[danz24 10+ year member]

That might explain why he dosent respond to my emails anymore...

Jokes aside, I was thinking that I could have possibly grounded a wire. If this happens i'm guessing a normal fuse would blow. But since its a penny, what should I expect?

Im kinda scared to try starting the car w/o the penny because there is no fuse whatsoever.. Also when I touch the fuse thing it goes back it place and my electrical comes alive again...

but never enough to start it.

 

[wesl56 10+ year member]

haha ive seen so many of those cheapass walmart fuseholders melt... penny or no penny

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

haha ive seen so many of those cheapass walmart fuseholders melt... penny or no penny

I'm suprised they haven't caught a car on fire...lol

 

[Calikid 5,000+ posts]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/ohsnap.gif.17c4c91be09a7a4a3995fb7145adac39.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif that is GHETTO

 

[wesl56 10+ year member]

I'm suprised they haven't caught a car on fire...lol

yeah me too... they are just shittily (is that a word?) build and they hold the fuse too loose... then a little arcing action gets going on and heat + cheap plastic = melt