Hello,

I've done some searching around on this issue, but haven't been able to find a solution. I'm sorry if this has been discussed before, but hopefully I can get pointed in the right direction. Here's a timeline of what I've been experiencing and what has happened.

Things to consider:
'71 4 Speed
Daily Driver
3 Month Old Battery


Thursday Night:
While driving at night, interior lights intermittently flickered and/or dimmed

Saturday Night:
While driving at night, interior lights dim severely and turn off. Parking in a parking lot and turn car off. Car doesn't turn back on. Interior lights on but shut off on attempt to start the car. Car gets jumped. Car rides fine on the way home, but lights start to dim again, accidently leave lights on when parked at home.

Sunday Morning:
Jump car again to drive to mechanic. Car dies on the way over to the mechanic and needs to get jumped again. Make it to the mechanic for a replacement alternator. Drive car around approxiamately 30 highway miles to charge battery and run errands. No wavering lights.

NOTE: Since the alternator replacement, Emergency Brake light does not turn off. Emergency Brakes work the same as before, as do normal brakes. Car rolls on a slight hill to signal that brakes aren't disengaging. Ride on Sunday night was the same as before issues occurred. Brake light turns off when key is taken out.

Monday:
Nothing. Car stays at home.

Tuesday morning:
Car doesn't start. No interior light on. Car's completely dead.


Now, I'm a novice mechanic at best. I'm figuring what happened is the strain on the battery with the failing alternator has essentially killed it, rendering it unable to hold a charge anymore, which is why it'd be dead Tuesday.

The real mystery is the Emergency Brake light. Why would that stay on just after the alternator was replaced? Could it be they possibly got the wrong voltage alternator and that is why the light stays on? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

What was your gauge reading while this stuff was going on ?

Grant

 

either the brake light at the junction block under the master cylinder is grounded, or the parking brake swich is grounded, causing your light to go on... how this happens when replacing the alternator is a mystery.. beware of harness issues.... get a wiring diagram and start chasing it down...

 

The battery gauge? It was pointing straight up for the most part. I wasn't keeping an eye on it like I probably should have. I may have seen it lean to the right for a short instance. I honestly don't have much information to give you an idea on that front. Sorry.

 

Joewill,

This may sound dumb, but is it safe to assume that either one of these being grounded cause the battery to drain while the car is off, and that that's why my car was dead this morning?

Thanks,

 

Over all, with all of the weird problems you have had, it does sound like a grounding issue. If you do not already own the proper wiring schematic for your year, I would suggest you do that. With that you can take a systematic approach to troubleshooting. I have used mine for a lot of issues. It is very straight forward if you can read a schematic.

Grant

 

Its not clear in your post...does the emergency light stay on even when the ignition is OFF. If yes, that is probably why the battery went dead.

Its hard to blame the mechanic for the fault with the emergency light until you figure out why the light is on...then you can decide what caused it.

 

71406,

The light would go off when the key was taken out and the ignition was off, sorry for the lack of clarity.

?????,

I have an assembly guide at home but I'm not sure on the brand or the extent of its electrical layout. I'm at work right now, so I can't look. I'm not trying to blame the mechanic, but the alternator replacement is the only thing that's been 'done' to my car that would cause any sort of change. I'm not familiar with the layout of the wiring and alternator enough to know if someone could have been pushed around that would cause that light to ground and stay on, but it's the only logical thing I can come up with without much car knowledge.

 

the lights are only powered when ignition is on.. they provide the ground circuit for the bulbs, that is why the bulb has 2 wires on the dash, one is power and another goes to your brake switches, which , when triggered, power goes thru the bulb to ground and light up the bulb...

 

Wiring Diagram - http://www.nrjvette.com/johdotukset/...tte%201971.pdf

 

Thanks Joe and Blu! Hopefully I'll have enough light to take a peek at this stuff tonight.