The vehicle is fitted with a low-maintenance (or unattended) 55 Ah battery (see more details. Battery - Description"). The battery ensures the operation of the starter when starting the engine, as well as the operation of the car's security system during parking, the operation of the electric door lock (central lock) and other electrical equipment when the engine is not running.
Comment. The electrical equipment of the engine control system of the car VAZ 2110, VAZ 2111, VAZ 2112 is considered in a separate chapter (see "Engine management system").
When the engine is running, power is supplied from the generator (see more details. Generator - device, description, diagram"). Part of the energy generated by the generator is used to recharge the battery. If at the same time several powerful consumers of electrical energy are turned on at the same time (fog and headlights, heated rear window and heated seats, windshield wiper, electric heater fan), then the voltage in the network will be insufficient to charge the battery.
Advice. If the vehicle is regularly used for short trips with frequent stops and starts, the battery should be checked regularly and, if necessary, recharged (especially in winter).
In the event of a generator failure, the vehicle's electrical equipment will run on battery power. The operating time of the engine in this mode will depend on the degree of battery charge and on the number of electricity consumers turned on.
Most electrical consumers are supplied with power through the ignition switch
(except for emergency, sound and light alarms, interior lighting, position light, brake signal, burglar alarm and electric door locks). Switches and switches of the main and additional electrical equipment are installed on the instrument panel lining, on the center console of the instrument panel and on the steering column. Part of the auxiliary equipment switches is installed on the floor tunnel lining (see more details. "Controls on the floor tunnel overlay", items 1-5 and 10-14).
Power supply circuits for powerful electricity consumers (headlights, windshield wiper, heated rear window, engine cooling fan, fog lights) switched through a relay. Also, through the relay, the windshield and rear window wipers, the headlight wiper, the alarm and the direction indicators are switched on.
All vehicle electrical circuits (except for the power circuits of the starter and generator) protected by fuses.
The rated operating current of the fuse is indicated on its body. In addition, the color of the fuse body corresponds to a certain current value:
- 5 A beige;
- 7.5 A brown;
- 10 A red;
- 15 A blue;
- 20 A yellow;
- 25 A white;
- 30 A green.
Fuses and relays are installed in the mounting block (see more details. Fuse and relay mounting block - device, description").
The electrical wiring is assembled in bundles of copper wires with multi-colored insulation.
Most electrical connections of electrical equipment are made on connectors.
To troubleshoot electrical equipment, you should have a tester - a combined electrical measuring instrument. There are several types of such devices: analog with a pointer indicator; digital with liquid crystal display; universal - having both a pointer indicator and a liquid crystal display. When repairing a car, it is more convenient to use a digital device (or as it is also called a multimeter, see "Special tools and fixtures", item 23). It is compact and shows accurate values at any position in space.
To check de-energized circuits, the multimeter is switched to ohmmeter mode. When measuring very small resistance (within a few ohms) it is necessary to introduce a correction - from the obtained value, subtract the internal resistance of the multimeter, the electrical resistance of its wires and probes (typically 0.6-0.8 ohm). To accurately determine this correction, you should switch the device to the mode for measuring small resistance values (up to 200 Ohm) and close the ends of its probes.
To check energized circuits, the multimeter is switched to voltmeter mode (with a measurement limit up to 20 V). The multimeter allows you to measure the current consumed by the electrical equipment of the car (up to 10 A).
If it is necessary to determine only the presence or absence of voltage in a circuit section without measuring the value, then it is more convenient to use a special 12 V light indicator (see "Special tools and fixtures", item 24) or a control lamp that you can make yourself (from a car lamp with a power of not more than 4 W, soldering to it two wires with a length of at least 50 cm).
Advice. When looking for the causes of a malfunction of any of the electrical equipment, first make sure that its fuse is in good condition (see Fuse and relay mounting block - device, description" tab. 13.4) and reliable contact in the connectors of its circuit. Oxidized terminals of connecting blocks are a common cause of inoperability of electrical equipment, clean them if necessary. Especially carefully check the connection of the negative terminals of electrical equipment with «weight». Often it is the lack of reliable contact with «weight» leads to electrical malfunctions.