You guy's have been a huge help to me in the past so I thought I would give this another try. There has been a electrical/starting problem with this car since I brought it home. I had a problem with the chip in the key but I fixed that with 3 little resistors. Now when you go to start it, sometimes it wil make the starter relay in the car click very fast but not start the car. Sometimes when you turn the key to start it, all the electrical will go dead. It comes back by it's self and you can start it right up. It is like there is a major short in something or a bad ground. The battery and terminals are both new and I have removed, cleaned and reinstalled all the wires on the starter. Hope you can help.

Phil

 

Phil,
It sounds a lot like a bad bunch of parts.
1. the symptoms you describe sound like a bad battery cable connection.
That said, it could be any of the following:
2. an internal open inside the battery due to poor manufacturing (not a short)
3. a battery cable that is corroded inside the rubber insulation
4. the battery cable bolt that bolts the batery cable may not be screwing the battery cable tightly to the battery even though it gets tight
5. a bad starter solenoid
6. a loose connection on the starter solenoid on the big wire (battery cable)
7. poor ground cable on the battery
8. bad ground on the negative cable going to the frame
9. bad ground cable on the back of one of the heads from the engine to the car.
10. a bad clutch safety switch
11. chafed wire
Happy hunting!!!!

 

Great list. Here is what I can tell you so far.

2. It does it with two different batteries so I can pretty much rule out a problem with the battery it's self.

3. I will check and replace the positive battery cable. I had not thought of that.

4. All battery terminals are tight and new. I know what you mean about the bolt on the terminal getting tight before it is tight on the battery it self.

5. the starter has been replaced and the problem is still there.

6. All wires on the starter have been cleaned and tightened.

7, 8, 9. All ground wires have been replaced in all locations. All mounting points were cleaned before installing new cables.

10. Would this be the same as the park/neutral switch for the automatic?

11. This is what I am affraid of. I have been hunting for the last two months. Too many people have had there fingers in the electrical.

Thank's for the help.

Phil

 

Phil,
I once had a transient pilot come talk to me about his airplane. It was a Hawker Jet, and when they turned on the battery switch, all was fine until they hit the start button, and the whole airplane went dead. it would do it over and over. It just had to cool for a sec.
Turns out, the battery had an open in it, and changing the battery fixed everything.
They had just gone through a service, and installed a new battery and left generator. I replaced the battery under a hailstorm of protest from the pilot, and BING! it was normal. (hint hint)
That guy tipped me $50 for sticking with my convictions.
I had a bad battery when I got my 86, and it was hit and miss when it would start.
Now it's possible that you have a fusible link with a bad crimp on one lead or something.
You can also put a volt meter on the connector right behind the battery when it acts up and see what the reading is.
It really sounds like a battery or battery cable.

 

All the electric going dead can be caused not only by a poor battery cable to battery post connection, but also by the ignition switch contacts and/or ign sw plug onto the ign sw. You say the starter relay clicks fast. Do you mean the start enable relay or the starter solenoid?
The start enable relay coil is turned on by the module that the resistors you installed are connected to. Measure the battery voltage when it won't crank, it should not fall below 9.0 volts or the battery is discharged, cable connections not tight/clean, or the battery is at the end of its life no matter how old it is. If the battery voltage holds up and the lights are out in crank position, then the ign sw is suspect. The ign sw is activated by a rod from the ign lock to the switch which is located behind the dash on the right side of the steering column. Check to see that the rod is positioned correctly.

 

Here is what was found so far. I had both of the batteries I was using tested with a load tester and that both passed with flying colors. I started to go through all the things that I have allready done to make sure I didn't miss anything. As perfect as I know I am I was sure I couldn't have done anything wrong. When I got to the starter and removed the wires I noticed that the three orange wires that go to power the rest of the car looked odd. I thought all three of the wires were crimped into one connector but I was wrong. There were two of them in one connector and one of them in another. They were rusted together and I had to pry them apart with a screwdriver. I cleaned them up untill they were like new and I put them all back together with a little elecrtical lube. As soon as I did that it was like a new car. I don't know if that was the problem but it couldn't have hurt. The ignition switch will be the next piece to be replaced. It looks like some one at some point tried to pry out the switch. It also looks like some one jamed something in the switch and I don't think it was the key. The ingnition switch being messed up inside is why I had to install the resistors. Sometimes the little chip would make contact and sometimes it wouldn't. I think with all your help so far we will have this figured out in no time. Thank's for everything so far.

Phil

 

My vote would be the ignition switch.

Especially given the rapid cycling of the relay, the dash going dead, and your past problem with resistor in the key being read.