Electrical Gremlin needs squashing

[VinceW]

Hey everyone, name's Vince, I'm new to the mx-3 world and I've got a 94 1.8L v6, only upgrades its got is a body kit and euro head and tail lights, now my problem is that the battery drains overnight, now if I pull the injector relay from the fuse box under the hood its all good I just pop it in and start and go. So I've been trying to figure out why its draining power and have come across another thing which I think is connected and that's the 15amp Engine fuse under the dash, when it's in all dash lights and fans come on with out the key being in the ignition so at the moment its left out and no issues other than the power drain, also while looking around there was a wire from the alarm system spliced in to a wire going to a relay under the dash and it literally melted the plug but the relay still works..... so that's what I've gotten so far, I've stripped the dash down to the cluster the next step I will be taking if nobody can direct me is to pull the whole harness out of the dash and trace the wires and see if any have fused together or crossed somewhere, any info is greatly appreciated thanks for looking and I'll answer any questions to the best of my knowledge. I don't know how to post pics in here but I have some if you know how to do that.

[ganue]

Get rid of all traces of the alarm. Then start your diagnosis.

[mitmaks]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0

[VinceW]

Thanks for the info! I found the burnt plug when i was taking the alarm system out, one of the first things I did when I bought the car, I bought it knowing it had this problem, figured that it wouldn't be to hard. lol its what I wanted tho a challenge and something to get me off the couch, that Video Mitmaks is awesome I'm sure I'll find the problem I'll be giving it a go tomorrow.

[VinceW]

Ok so I double checked that I got the alarm system all disconnected and its all good, now I tried the parasitic draw test and have found I have two separate draws for a total draw of 5A, #1 is the injector relay under the hood, #2 the 15A Engine fuse under the dash which also is tied into the 15A meter fuse, they both can't be in at the same time, now its kool I found where to concentrate on but I don't have any wiring diagrams for those specific circuits. I have already checked the site and there is nothing for those circuits, any idea where i could go to get these? Now another theory I was going to look at is the ignition switch, being that the draw is the same effect as starting the car with it being connected to the injector relay, like its always running which in fact it does; having both 15A engine/meter fuses in I can turn the key off and pull it out and the car stays running. Only thing stopping me from driving is the steering wheel locks. I have already taken the back of the ignition off and looked at the contacts and it all seems good, I'm wondering if the tumblers where the key slides in has any bearing? again thanks for the help!

[Daninski]

If it turns out to be that switch I found they're cheap to buy at the P+P. I bought an ignition switche and door locks brand new off Egay delivered for like $45. First thing will be to disconnect the switch eh?

[VinceW]

Thanks Daninski, found that my switch was kinda worn so I went to our local wreckers and got one for free, popped it in and it starts better and feels like its got a stronger connection but alas it didn't fix either of the power drains so that rules out the ignition switch, I'm back to square one, just need the wiring schematics for the injector relay under the hood and the 15A Engine & 15A meter fuse under the dash.

[VinceW]

Update so far, got the interior all buttoned up just hunting down the wiring schematics so I can trace the wires. Thanks for the help so far

[VinceW]

Well I found my problem.....yaaay! On my 94 there is a relay that sits under the overflow tank and well yea the whole plug and bottom of the relay were one and all four wires were melted and twisted together, I snipped it off and broke away the wires to see each colour and to which prong they went to, I tried to get the same relay out of the 93 at the wreckers here but that relay doesn't exist....so I just snipped a relay plug from under the dash and I already had a bunch of relay's lying around so I wired it back together putting the right wire to the right prong. Ok now remember I've been driving this thing for 3 months with no problem besides having to pull the injector relay out each night and when I leave it sit at work and put it back in before I leave, it was working great just a pain but I went to start it the other day and it caught then died and wouldn't catch again, when i was checking for spark (none found) is when I found the melted relay, now I replaced and rewired the relay and still no spark, the distributor was cracked under the cap, (cap was fine) so I went to the wreckers and only thing they had was a 93 probe with I think the klz engine, so I took that distributor and put it in and still no spark... any recommendations?

[VinceW]

Hey everyone, hope all is well and tonight my mx-3 finally started , drove it around the block and was very responsive, while I was trying to get spark I had left the battery hooked up for two days and it still turned over so the Relay was my Electrical Gremlin, now to get spark.....I scoured this site for as much info as possible and found this: http://www.clubprotege.com/wil/howto/hei/index.htm I followed it to a "T" and just needed to adjust the distributor and it worked like a charm, couldn't be happier Cudos and much thnx goes out to the author Wil Fellows (Gro Harlem) and everyone who gave me direction. now its on to paint, gotta save a bit first lol I'll try to do a worklog and take some pics.