2001 Grand Am Short Circuit?

Question

Every time I press on the brake pedal, turn on the lights, or turn on the turn signal all of the lights and the radio flicker off for a split second and then turn on as usual as if nothing had happened. Also, I have to put in a new battery about every 6 months because it is dead. This problem is driving me up the wall!
Thanks in advance to anyone who could help me diagnose and find the problem!

Answer 1

Sounds like two separate problems. The first one seems to be a load problem. Start by doing an output test on the charging system. If all is okay, start looking through these circuits for a common power connection or ground connection. These did have some grounding issues and when the system is loaded with power going all over the place, a bad or corroded ground could be interuppting the flow. The faulty battery is not the battery. Yes, it is dead but it's dead because of the battery being drained by something left on or a fault in some component. Install an ahmmeter in between the negative battery post and the battery post itself with all the doors closed and nothing left on. After about a minute the draw should come down to no more than around 25mA. If it is too high, start looking for drains by disconnecting things. Once you disconnect the right one, you will see the draw go to the normal level. These can be hard to find. Good luck.

Answer 2

Sounds like you have a low amperage short to ground.If your radio has a digital clock that is on a time delay shut off and it continues to stay on after it should have turned off ,disconnect the radio fuse because the radio clock is the problem.Thier could also be a low amperage short in the brake switch.I had a cierra cutless that had a radio clock problem as I have just told you and went through 3 batteries in 6 months.

Answer 3

Grand Am is noted for electrial problems. Sounds like a bad ground on your Body Modual. Sorry to tell you but it has to be hooked up to a computor to check out.