Hey guys been awhile since i've been here, but i need some help. Got up this morning and started the truck and when it fired up my Edge Evo lit up orange with everything on the screen blank. Normally the screen is the same color green as the rest of the dash. It also will not shut off. The truck ran fine on the way to work, it is on level 2. But when i turn the truck off the Edge is staying lit up with the blank screens. Any ideas on what happened and what i should do?

 

i think the last time this happened, the guys battery was dying. He kept driving it (not knowing the problem) then a few days later his battery died, and i think it messed his edge up.

 

If that is the case, while the truck is totally off I would unplug the edge and have the charging system checked so as not to mess up the edge or your ecu. I don't have one, but I wouldn't want my Livewire hooked up when the charging system took a dump. JMO.

 

It won't harm the Edge if the battery goes dead. It just won't function properly until it has enough juice. The Monitor requires a lot of juice to funtion properly and it's telling you the battery is going. Change the battery.

 

Cool, you know all those horror stories about people's tuners/ecu getting messed up when their battery/alternator goes.

<<---paranoid.

 

I understand. The reality is that whatever program you are running is in the trucks PCM. The Edge is functioning as a monitor only. You can unplug it, plug it back, whatever. Now, if you spiked the voltage, that would be different, plus, you would lose light bulbs and other electronics. As long as you are dealing with 12 volts, it won't hurt the Edge.

 

One thing to keep in mind...

The battery acts as a very large capacitor and absorbs power fluctuations in much the same way; It provides power when the charging system is momentarily taxed by high current draw and also absorbs any voltage spikes that may occur in the charging system. If the battery is starting to fails or has a weak cell, the capacitance capability of the battery quickly diminishes and can result in voltage spikes in the power grid.

A quick example:

Years ago, circa 1975 (you'll remember this, Jack ), we used to test the charging systems on cars by removing the negative battery cable while the vehicle was running. If it stopped, the charging system wasn't working. If it ran, it was probably OK.

Fast forward to 1985 when computer controlled systems were becoming mainstream. Old school (and some shade-tree) mechanics were still used to the fast & easy method of testing the charging systems. Unfortunately, they didn't realize just how sensitive the computers on these cars were and in the process of disconnecting the battery, the charging system would momentarily spike due to the loss of the battery in the circuit. Result? *POP* goes the computer. Oooops.

Today's computer systems are certainly more robust than those of 20 years ago, but voltage spikes can still have a significantly adverse effect on the electrical systems in the vehicle. This includes any peripheral devices such as alarms, phone chargers, and yes... even your programmer.

I'm not aware of situations where the PCM completely failed, but I don't doubt that there may have been a few programmers damaged along the way. Of course, if the battery is failing and you try to program the vehicle, then you may end up conking out the PCM to a point where the programmer can't recover it and it will need to be returned to either us or Edge for repair.

Rule of thumb: If the display starts acting up, disconnect the unit and get your charging system checked immediately. In most cases, replacing the battery will resolve the problem.

Hope this information is helpful.

 

Yup! I remember the "pull the negative cable" trick, and, I remember the problems that cropped up when people tried to run stuff with the battery out of the circuit at a later time too! I actually long for the good old days of generators and ammeters (loadmeters). An ammeter that started reading high was a sure sign of a weak battery. And, generators didn't have diodes that got killed by bad batteries.

As I recall too, certain battery problems can cause your electronics to get toasted if you try to jump start the vehicle.

Weak batteries make me nervous!

- Jack

 

Mine did this also. I have since unplugged it for the time being. I figured it was from the extreme cold up here (-34). I just looked at my indicator light on my battery and it is still green. My question is once the truck is running shouldnt the edge or gryphon be running off of the alternator?

 

One common mistake people make with batteries is thinking that the green "eye" is a good indication of the battery condition. It's not. It is merely an indication of the current charge state of ONE cell. It doesn't indicate if you have any weak or sulfated cells in the other five. It also doesn't indicate if there is a physical problem with the battery (bad cell connections) or corroded terminals, although corroded terminals are pretty obvious themselves.

The battery I just replaced had the green eye but wouldn't even start my Expy without a jump.

As for the alternator, it is the main power source for the vehicle when the vehicle is running. The battery is really just there to start the vehicle and to act as a current stabilizer for the charging system. As mentioned before, if the battery is in poor condition, it doesn't stabilize the charging system and voltage spikes of 16 to 20 volts (or higher) can occur when certain accessories turn on or off. These spikes can damage electrical accessories.

 

interesting..... yea makes sense that the indicators would be to good to be true.... I'll have to get my electrical system tested.....