Within the last two months, everytime I exit the car I get shocked! Not a little bit but enough. If the car is running and I get out of the car I get shocked. What's not grounded or needs to be? Initally I thought it was static electricity, but I am convinence that it is something more of a problem.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

well, it's VOLTS that you feel when you get shocked... and cars run on 12 volts... you can't get seriously hurt from a 12v shock.... it's about as bad as sticking you tongue on a 9v square battery. If you're getting shocked, it's prolly static electricity built up in your clothes. Don't they make static sheets to put in the dryer w/ clothes these days?

 

agreed, most likely static. you will notice it more in the winter when the air is drier.

 

Thanks for responding. I know the wife uses those bounce sheets. But I was thinking there was something else wrong with the car. Could there be a ground wire lose some place that I have over looked.

 

drier sheets wont fix everything. static just builds up naturally. in the winter the air is drier, more static builds up, you get shocked. i get a little zap a lot of the time when i get out of my z32.

 

LoL... I hear ya. Everytime I drive my woman's Saturn (plastic car) I get a nice Zap getting out.


ADukes: Don't drag your feet on the carpet so much

 

If you hold onto a metal part of the car as your foot touches the ground you won't get shocked. It works for me everytime, though I do get reminded when I forget. I just hold onto the door.

 

Yeah I had that problem with our Prizm. I'd just grab the roof before I got out of the car to avoid the shock. That car scared the crap out of me cause I hear the stories of a static spark causing an explosion while refueling. I have a habit now of touching the car before I unscrew the gas cap because of that car

Oh and a static shock is usually a very high voltage. In the thousands. It's just such a short burst that it doesnt do any damage. If it were only 12V you wouldn't even feel it. What you're feeling is voltage surge which is why those things give you the nice little zap. Also, and I dont know why, but winter weather seems to cause a static problem as well. Seeing how as the problem started a couple of months ago that could be it. My wife always complains about her hair getting static-ee during the winter months.

EDIT: I just read Entroypy's explanation on the winter weather thing, so that explains it.

 

Dude! I got ROCKED by the PT Cruiser the other day! I have never gotten zapped so fiercly by a car before. friends sitting at the outside table right in front of where we parked (about 8 feet away) both HEARD the zap, and SAW the little lightning bolt. My finger hurt for a couple of hours after that. It's the dry Winter air that makes it so bad.

Rod.

 

Some folks are just more prone to static than others. I always draw fire when I get out of my chevy p/u. I can walk across Sam's Club and touch my wife on the ear and draw fire, she hates it. Just getting out of my chair at work and touching something metal and I get zapped.

 

my friends civic always zaps the hell out of me...

I went and visited my friend in nevada and his carpet was FULL of static so we thought it would be funny to shuffle around for 5 mins at a time, shut off the lights and zap each other...good times

 

My last car, a celica, I would avoid getting out of it if i could help it becasue the shock was so bad. Then again I was wearing a wool coat in those days.....

Haven't had a problem with the Z... maybe it was the coat after all....

 

Things that will affect it are the type of tires and the type of shoes you wear.

Also, you can buy grounding straps that you attach to some metal point under your car. They are designed to touch the ground when you stop and get rid of the static electricity.

BTW: Those cars with the tire inflation devices run off this static buildup. They don't take much power to run, but that's where they get it from.

 

i was woundering, I saw a gadget that collects the static energy and uses it for your cars electronics, do you think its a gimic?

 

gimick. it would take forever to collect enough energy to run any electronics for any length of time.