car battery

on troubleshooting

• it's indication of failure is not like that of the flashlight battery that it slowly dims.
• volt meter should read 13.2 +/- when car is off or 14.0 when engine is running. if it does not, either replace it or wait for it to fail totally while your parked or driving.
• don't think that if it's new it will not fail. battery life can go from 1second up to 9years. have it checked.

on replacing

• disconnecting: negative first. connecting: negative last.
• don't try to charge a dead battery with the alternator. it requires battery to work properly.
• mind all the parts that uses electricity(alarm, ecu, audio equipments, etc)

big three upgrade

big three upgrade means:

1. lowering the resistance of a cars electrical system
2. stabilizing voltage which will reduce dimming and lessen voltage drops
3. less stress to your charging system

the big three got it's name from the three wires that needs to be upgraded, which are(in no particular order):

1. alternator to battery positive
2. battery negative to chassis
3. chassis to engine

now, visit big3 upgrade thread on sounddomain.com forums for more read. try visiting this page back for updates

more on fog lamps: piaa

source: piaa.com

driving lights

"Typically, driving lights are mounted above the front bumper about 14-30 inches from the ground to provide extra high beam illumination. Driving lights can be mounted below the bumper, although they will not be as effective because the light will hit the ground sooner and reduce the range of the light.

Visual aim is made with the center of the beam hot spot 1.5 inches below the lamp center at 25 feet with the lamp facing straight forward. (See below.)"

fog/foul weather lights

"Traditional fog lights are usually mounted under the front bumper about 10-24 inches from the ground. There are two important issues to address when installing fog lights, the first is to minimize the amount of return glare into the driver's eyes, and the other is to minimize glare into oncoming driver's eyes. Both must be accomplished while putting as much light as possible on the road.

These fog/foul weather light aiming instructions are suggestions taken from common practice and the S.A.E. standard J583. Some modifications to these instructions may be necessary to minimize glare.

Visual aim is made with the top of the beam 4 inches below the lamp center at 25 feet with the lamp facing straight forward. (See below.)"

how to choose your lights

picture from: gizmosforall.com - visit their site for a crash course on automotive lighting.

what i've learned?

3 types of light

1. driving light - midrange throw. enough for cruising. (eg headlamps)
2. fog light - short range throw. installed below the bumper, less than 24" from the ground
3. pencil beam light - long throw paired with driving light. ideal for rally and racing exceeding speeds of 80mph or 120kph

Fog Lights Installation

i'll be installing a pair of fog lights and i need a diagram to follow. where do i go? the net, of course! then i found the site: old burb club. the specs on the page is identical to what i'm working on. so, i'll post it here just in case. many thanks to the site and all people involve.

"This is the right way to wire a set of fog lights. The relay switches the heavy current to the fog lights with big wire, while the dashboard switch wiring can be very small. This keeps high current and large wires out from under the dash and in the engine compartment where they belong. A typical set of 55 watt lights will draw about 8 amps for the pair. The dash switch will pull only about 0.3 amps to operate the relay.

Be sure to run extra ground wires from the fog lights themselves. Don't depend on the cheap spring or case ground to work. Take the light apart if necessary, and add a real ground wire. Run these to the frame somewhere handy. This will keep the lights from being intermittent.

This diagram shows the wiring using a Bosch relay. These are found just about everywhere."

electrical diagram sources

i've been studying and working on some electrical wirings for my '86 lancer and found a great source of information over the net:

national t-bucket alliance (ntba)

my mopar

wiring legends from ntba

additional source:

from speedy jim's homepage inside netlink services - schematic diagrams