Several problems at once. Computer?

[Dannylee1971]

97 Sidekick 1.6 auto has been frustrating to pinpoint culprit as of late.

Here's the problem list.
1. Battery light on (no flash or flicker).
2. Oil light on (on with a flicker).
3. Hard cold start (priming the pump with the key several times and a little petal before starting usually works).
4. Tranny doesn't want to engage top gear and overdrive (does sporadically and rarely)
5. On vehicle alternator test shows bad voltage regulator reading.

The thought it might be but didn't do much list.
1. New battery (old one was bad).
2. New starter (solenoid was going out in old one)
3. Refurbished alternator (same on vehicle test results, old one bench tested good)
4. Plugs, wires, dist. cap and rotor.
5. Fuel filter.
6. Fuel injector cleaner x2 tanks with Seafoam.
7. Quart of tranny Seafoam.

Think it could be but don't want to keep wasting money list.
1. Fuel pump (don't know how to do a pressure test)
2. Tranny or vacuum line to it (can't find a line or know if there even is one)
3. PCM, ECM, computer or whatever it's called (found a post on here somewhere that stated '96 and newer of these are well made and aren't known to go out)

So any help would be greatly appreciated.

On a side note that may be of interest, when I bought the Kick about 6 months ago to putt around in, the owner said they tried jump starting it once and quit working by jumping it since and then sat a couple months. I found that the bolted-in fuse by the battery was blown. Replaced it and it started right up. Soon after all these problems started piling up. Have put about 400 miles on it now.

[fixkick]

97 Sidekick 1.6 auto has been frustrating to pinpoint culprit as of late. 3speed, or 4 speed, 2 door or 4>?
what a great list !

Here's the problem list.
1. Battery light on (no flash or flicker). (alternator dead. or wiring to it bad)
2. Oil light on (on with a flicker). (rpm too low,pray) normal rpm is 800 not 400.
3. Hard cold start (priming the pump with the key several times and a little petal before starting usually works). ISC stuck closed.
4. Tranny doesn't want to engage top gear and overdrive (does sporadically and rarely) 4th dead and tcc lockup, use any scan tool to see why)
5. On vehicle alternator test shows bad voltage regulator reading. (the reg is inside, alt, and is bad, if wires good outside, 12vdc on wires or more.
running 800 rpm voltage is 13.3 to 15vdc, so its not?

The thought it might be but didn't do much list.
1. New battery (old one was bad).
2. New starter (solenoid was going out in old one)
3. Refurbished alternator (same on vehicle test results, old one bench tested good) rpm needs to be 800 rpm, not 400, or belt slipping.
4. Plugs, wires, dist. cap and rotor.
5. Fuel filter.
6. Fuel injector cleaner x2 tanks with Seafoam.
7. Quart of tranny Seafoam.

Think it could be but don't want to keep wasting money list.
1. Fuel pump (don't know how to do a pressure test) (the gauge is only 20 bucks at harbor freight) at the fuel filter test banjo port.
2. Tranny or vacuum line to it (can't find a line or know if there even is one) ahhhhh the 3speed tranny, its not 4. the 4speed has no modulator Vacuum.
3. PCM, ECM, computer or whatever it's called (found a post on here somewhere that stated '96 and newer of these are well made and aren't known to go out) TRUE !

So any help would be greatly appreciated.

On a side note that may be of interest, when I bought the Kick about 6 months ago to putt around in, the owner said they tried jump starting it once and quit working by jumping it since and then sat a couple months. I found that the bolted-in fuse by the battery was blown. Replaced it and it started right up. Soon after all these problems started piling up. Have put about 400 miles on it now.

the 97 is a best car , has OBD2, and all scan tools made work on it. even $10 ones.


i can not help much not knowing if transmission is 3 or 4 speeds.
the 4sp shifter is clear. the 3 speed is 1970 relic hyrdamatic, same as mail delivery carts cars.l the 4speed, is modern it TCM shifted, via PCM.

http://www.fixkick.com/tranny/slush/4sp-selections.jpg

has od button
and power button
and has OD lamp.
no 3speed has that. the 4speed is usually found on 4doors,


the alternator, even good alternator can fail, easy with bad wiring.
hit list: all
rpm hot 800 rpm, is it? and belt not slipping at Alt.
the 97 alt, fuse box has 2 fuse links, 60 and 80 amp , if either fail the whole car dies. every thing....

the alternator huge wire must be perfect end to end. and to same fuse box, top and bottom no GREEN.
the charge light is on, proving lamp is good, (it must be) and its white-red wire is good.
the alternator sense wire. blk-white must be at battery voltage key on, or fuse 16 is bad.
that leaves ground to the alt. it too can fail.
measure the voltage from alt case to battery neg, 0v is perfect. running.
keep in mind the alternator can shut itself down, at a discovered fault. and makes diagnosis harder. (after the fact)
got this:?
http://www.fixkick.com/electrical-failure.html

are these 96+ grounds (column)
good??
http://www.fixkick.com/Good_Bad_Ugly/com...lures.html

G107 must be on starter bolt mount, not moved.
[/color]

[Dannylee1971]

Thanks for the input helperbee! Looks like allot to go through and check. 4 door 4 speed by the way.

But now things have gotten even more weird. Went to go to the store tonight, and the truck didn't start. Didn't hear the fuel pump run. Checked the fuse block and found the 15A "ig coil meter" fuse blown. Put a 20A in (all I had) and it started right up, but almost immediately something started smoking under the hood and the fuse blew again. Tried to track down where the smoke came from, but was too late. Looked in the owners manual to see what the fuse was for (which was a long list of stuff), and one thing was "daytime running lights" that I didn't know it had. Went back under the hood and tried to inspect and move around the wire harness coming out of the firewall and along the sidewall to the headlights, looking for any bare or burnt wire. Nothing noticeable. Put another fuse in and looked to see if it would smoke again (I know, a little dangerous probably, but was too curious). Started right up, no smoke, no blown fuse. But the "daytime running lights" were on (a dash light said they were on also) and the battery light was off also! So, drove it to the store and got some new fuses and put the right one back in. While going to do that, the tranny started shifting like it's supposed to. ? Took it on a short highway drive, did fine mostly, but down shifted a few times. So I think there's definitely a wiring issue, but can that really have anything too do with the transmission?

Tomorrow I'm gonna take allot closer look all through that wire harness, and it's off shoots, and hopefully find something.

Oh, there's no belt slippage and I need to go back and have the alt. retested onboard. The fault reading they got about the voltage reg. was gibberish to me, so this time I'll write it down and post it later on. I suppose it might not show up now, since the light went out. Again, weird!

Thanks again for the help!

[fixkick]

DLR bad, (module) , if bad ,it can cause the alt to go nuts. (they are connected to each other) see my drawings?

the DRL monitors the charge light, and if the charge light goes on, the DRL shuts down, keeping lights off so the battery dont die, and you might make it home
in day time, but, thats all fine and dandy ,but not the DRL bad can cause a dead alternator. (or even damage it, possibly, damage the 3 diode pack in side, burns up.)

unplug the DRL module, you will see burned up pints, most do that. trick.
for not forget the tranny, the Tranny needs the TCM working right, and power feeds overload, its not going to.

the fuse blows for shorts, the fuse, prevents first. wires would burn up, and can cascade.

the short is in the DRL. just pull it.
i have a DRL by pass page. too. see my PDF,

the DRL does connect to the alternator, that is a fact.
can I assume you are not in canada and no DLR inspections?

fuse 16 I-coil runs spark and runs DRL, on pin 7 of 96 DRL module, pin 5 blk/white, 98. (many changes, 92,96,97 and 98. and newer) lots. is your car usa car? as ive never seen the canada wiring.
on most cars, the module can not just be removed, its need to make HL work.
Fuse 16 runs like 26 things (have schem, can say so..) including fuel pump.

usually the DRL burns up, wrecking its socket , as a door prize, not fun, as suzuki dont sell , connectors.....


my kill dRL page covers 97. but if the pins are burned up, i cover that issue now. (added it)
http://www.fixkick.com/power-elect/DRL/Index.html

---

if the pins are melted, and no inspections, (laws on DLR) we dont have that. here.

keep in mind there are many fail modes, here.
DRL module power pin shorted,, kills, F16 fuse. new module fixes all.
or far worse. common is worse and larger fuses cause worse.

---

here is one guy pulling the 96 DRL, (has diff pin numbers than 97)

http://www.fixkick.com/power-elect/DRL/96DRL.JPG

if burned up, pull relay, DRL module

the HL switch can still ground the RL1 head light relay and the head lights still work
and then fix the burned wires at the model if any.

[fixkick]

i just updated my DRL PDF that does 10 years of DRL.
after all there are folks that want it to work
or folks that want a switch to flip for inspections
or wires burned up and only want lights to work.,
or?
here is the solution, just unplug it and make the wire safe, No shorts, at burned pins.
see page 3 here. see notes and comment boxes. for choices as per your case.

http://www.fixkick.com/power-elect/DRL/95-97DLR-USA.pdf