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very strange Grounding problem

5K views 18 replies 7 participants last post by  SD_GR 
#1 ·
Well i'm having a grounding problem but i can't seem to figure out what is the cause. Here is what is happening:

When i get into the car and move around in the drivers seat and proceed to get out of the car by putting my foot on the ground and stepping out i get shocked. It either comes from the body of the car or through the steering wheel. The shock is so big that it can jump up to 2 inches through plastic and has even caused blown fuses when ever i touch a wire while inside the car. I have even seen it go from my foot inside my shoe, out the top of it and around the rubber soles and into the ground. Now it is causing my fingers to go numb for a few seconds.

I can't seem to figure out what is the cause of it and its starting to get really annoying and i'm getting a little bit nervous that it is going through the steering wheel, i'm afraid it will set off the air bag.

Can anyone provide diagrams of ground wire locations or can shed some light on what is going on.

p.s. it only happens when someone is in the driver seat.
 
#2 ·
Any mods to the car?

Have a moderator move this to maintenance or something.

You're getting shocked through leather?!

Which fuses blew? When those circuits are not working, do you still get shocked?

It's dry and windy up here, I don't know about San Diego, so I get shocked too, but only when touching a metal surface on the car (or on anything else metal, like a building door etc.). When did you begin getting shocked?
 
#3 · (Edited)
I don't believe any of my mods would have caused this problem but i will list them:

Alpine deck
full speaker system
(had them for over 6 months no problems)

Full TBE exaust
Up pipe
Turbo inlet pipe
Boost gauge (started before i put it in)
IC hoses
Catch can
Engine management

I have the momo steering wheel option and i believe it is coming from the side of the of the steering column. The shock coming from there is rare but it hurts more than the others.

When i put in the boost gauge and connected the it up as i was trying to soder the wires a shock jumped from my finger to one of the wires and blew the 15amp fuse controlling the cabin main light, radio and clock. I mainly said that for effect because it takes a crap load to burn a 15 amp fuse.

sorry about posting in the wrong place i didn't see the other one. I posted here because it may have something to do with my EM but i don't think dies.
 
#4 ·
What you are describing is much more than a common static shock. Have you tried disconnecting circuits one by one, beginning with stuff you've added first, to see if anything changes? Does the car do this when it's humid out?
 
#6 ·
It may be one of your coils shorting out to something in the steering column?
 
#9 ·
It's probly more of a static shock, caused when you drag the butt out of the seat... I just got in the habbit of holding onto the door untill my foot touches the ground, that way it's my shoe that gets the shock. :cool:
 
#10 ·
i think the static shock adds to it but i don't think is the main cause. There should be no way possible to move around in the seat for 3 seconds and cause a spark to jump 2.5 inches. I can't even do that moving around a hotel in nevada for 30 minutes with only socks on, trust me i've tried it only got 1.5 inches. :)
 
#11 ·
OK let's assume you've got a fault. Start pulling fuses to try and isolate the circuit. Does your battery die when you leave the car parked for several days? Anyway, see if you can figure out which circuit is faulty by isolating it.
 
#12 ·
its not a grounding issue, 12v isn't going to arc to you, period.....if you were to get 'shocked' by anything its the iggy(thousands of volts) thru the steering column but thats pretty much knock you on your arse & it'd be only when starting the car.

you've got some really really bad static issues, proper grounding is only going to make it worse.

try different shoes, I have a few pairs of shoes that light me up pretty well....I rarely wear them anymore because of the annoyance.
 
#14 ·
did you get new shoes for Christmas? or maybe your shoes' soles are starting to wear down.

All I know is that 12v isn't enough for you to feel that shock, so it isn't your car.

Try this, don't shut the door of your car after you get out & don't touch your steering wheel, walk over & touch something else that is grounded, faucet, metal frame of sorts, etc if you get shocked its static.
 
#16 ·
Ok i think i figured it out, when i put in my amp i didn't secure it with a grommet because i couldn't find a hole to put the grommet in. So i just snaked it next to the big grommet on the passenger side behind the down pipe. Apparently it ate through the rubber siding and exposed it to the firewall. So i took out the wire and wrapped it in a crap load of electrical tape and it fixed the problem. Now i only have the normal static where i can hear it but i can't feel it twinge all the way up my arm. I guess the original little static shock made it able to gather the electrons near the site for a monster shock.
 
#17 ·
LOL..dude...you were getting shocked by the capacitors discharging from your amps into the frame. When you mentiouned about your fingers going numb and feeling it up to your elbows....major clue. Glad you found the ground source though. Might want to monitor your battery though. I can't figure out how the improper ground was responsible for a charge build up around your area. Just doesn't seem likely. More likely was that the entire car built up an opposite polarity charge that you were isolated from while sitting in your seat. As soon as you touched something inside...ZAP.

I think someday I'll write something up in here about electron hole theory.:tongue:
 
#18 · (Edited)
yea i thought i may have been the cause because i know what 12volts feels like that it take a crap load more to jump 2 inches than 12 volts, also my amps been wigging out, dropping power in and out.

I thought it was a grounding problem because even if the whole car was building up a charge the ground should have been able to handle it.
 
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