[Don Dario]

Hey there everyone.

I am having a bit of an issue with my 1984 GTV6 2.5... when I start the car some sort of "zzz" sound comes from the fusebox under the dashboard and then it goes away.

When I am driving the car it does the same electrical sounding ''zzz'' again and it drains power from the engine, the lights in the dashboard intensifies, the gages goes up (when the heater is on at minimum it feels as if it was at it's maximum), oh and the blinkers stop working too... It does for at least 5-30 seconds and then goes away and everything is back to normal for a while... And then comes back.


I am now clueless of what it could be and I need help.

Any links to any electronical diagrams layouts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Don Dario]

I would be suspecting :

1: A faulty Alternator voltage regulator???
2: Some encrassed grounds??
3: A faulty fuse?

 

[Ranz]

Sounds slightly scary...
I ain't no expert, but given it may be some hours before the BB electrical experts from the northern hemisphere chime in...
Make sure every electrical connection you can find is clean and tight, starting at the battery, including grounds, including at the fuse box, and that none of the fuse or relay terminals, or relays themselves, are burned or melted.
However, 'zzz' sounds like something shorting out to me, so proceed with caution, and keep a fire extinguisher handy.
If you have little experience chasing down electrical problems, and doing the above makes no immediate change, I'd call in a mobile auto electrician before anything dramatic happens.

 

[cda951]

I would check charging voltage to start, sounds like the alternator might be overcharging----the key phrase being that the dash lights "intensify." First check for loose battery terminal connections, as well as the major power and ground connections at the firewall and radiator support. If all of those are clean and tight, suspect the voltage regulator/alternator. Loose connections can lead to overcharging, but of course the voltage regulator can also fail on its own.

 

[martym00se72]

Do you smell anything - burning plastic? Ozone? just a 'hot' smell? If so, stop driving it until you work it out and as Ranz said - keep an extinguisher handy...

 

[sportiva]

The buzzing could be one of the relays on top and at the back of the fusebox.
The late and much-respected papajam did a schematic of an 81 GTV6 I was able to obtain one before his passing, I'm not sure how you could get a copy now.

www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/alfetta-gt...olor-gtv6-wiring-diagram-part-1-lighting.html

 

[Don Dario]

Do you smell anything - burning plastic? Ozone? just a 'hot' smell? If so, stop driving it until you work it out and as Ranz said - keep an extinguisher handy...

I did smell a bit of burned plastic once now that I remember.... I was on my way to the garage to go get it checked out before putting her into hibernation, then I noticed a strange smell, I pulled over right away, shut the car off and waited for a while, then drove it back home and it didn't do it.

The next day I think I drove the car again to go store it for the winter and it did it only 2 times for a small amount of time and there wasn't anything particular like a burning plastic smell or anything.

Really strange.

 

[Don Dario]

I just remembered something else too.

When I used to cold start the car, there was the battery light on on the dashboard and then when I would rev the engine a little bit the battery light would go away then it would follow by the same Buzzing ''zzz'' sound coming from the fusebox for a good 3-5 seconds.

 

[Don Dario]

Here's the wiring diagram from Papajam that Sportiva mentioned.

Thanks alot! it's quite more complete than the one that I picked up somewhere else.

This will be very handy.

 

[iachella]

I have a voltage gauge in my car and recently when the dash lights brightened up like you said, my voltage went to 16v intermittently. I changed the voltage regulator and it went away. My vote is on the voltage regulator. And a voltage gauge is a very nice companion in the car. They are pretty cheap too.

 

[Del]

I bought a really cute digital volt/amp readout device (similar to www.ebay.com/itm/4in1-Universal-Dua...hash=item3644a37c65:m:moX91bzHhUhFdY_TKkw1kgw) off eBay that you just plug into the ciggy lighter. Alternately reads out amperage and voltage in nice blue numbers. I used in the 91S to determine what the alternator was actually doing (even though the 164 does come with a volt meter as OEM, but this is more accurate).

Cost me about $5 or so.

 

[iachella]

I just deleted this post. I was thinking the wrong car.

 

[Don Dario]

Well guys, good news. I took the car out of storage and i don't know how but it seems that my Alfa just fixed the problem by itself, It stopped doing it.

Now she drives as smooth as butter like she used to.

 

[Del]

Good. Maybe the battery was just a little low, as relays can make that clicking/chattering noise if the voltage is not quite enough to flip it across or full engage.

 

[alfaparticle]

One thing worse than having a problem that you cannot fix is fixing it and not knowing how you did it.

 

[Del]

Or, as many do, you change a couple of things to try to fix a problem, and when the problem goes away, you don't know which change did the trick.

 

[cda951]

I would still be monitoring charging voltage, as a failing voltage regulator can be intermittent.

In the meantime, double check that all of the relevant connections between the battery and alternator are clean and tight as I mentioned before. The #1 killer of voltage regulators is bad/loose battery terminals.