Hi Guys!
I'm Larry,
I'm new to the forum.
I need you're help.
I've been a member for a short period (2 months) but so very impressed with what I have learned and what you guys have to offer;
THANK YOU.
I have an electrical prob thats kicking my butt.
Started last week on a work trip from NOVA to Conn. Stop in traffic in NYC (BIG Suprise there), stall (that was a big suprise) .
Started up no prob. This happened a few times on "stopping" Ok, for the next few days. I'm thinking fuel psi, temp related etc.

Ok, I start contributing the problem with de-celeration / breaking.
Not until now have I noticed a problem associated with "zoomies "(elect!).
At speed, tap the break,, ign. studder and .05-1.0 sec radio cut out. Well, no brainer, we have an elect issue.
Get home, Un-lode the car, start up (no prob) and drive 1.5 blocks, Go to start... Zap... Nothing.
All electrical OUT.
Tow home. Start T.S., Every thing is fine again. On the road (w/ concern)
Ok, We have a short, .....Where???
Funny thing is, I thought I had it isolated to a fusible link ....Na,,
better than that ;
Two days I'm operational. ...not long lived, (I know, ,,expected);
Jump in, turn the key...Zap...All dead...
ALL DEAD, Under hood lights, Ign, head lights, , rear hatch, ,,,,everything...
Checked Fusible links (as no fuses where blown)
At this point, nothing. On a thought, I disconnect the neg. term and reconnect...... P.F.M. .. We have life..................?????????????????? ??
WTFO.
Any ideas?????????
sconnect the Neg. Bat term, and re-connect,,,, we are back "????
:mad

 

I've heard of ignition switches doing crazy things like this.

 

there are like 27 separate grounds in a Corvette... I would start at the battery connections and work out.

 

Something else I just thought of. Have you checked your connections at your starter?

 

I had this exact same problem on my 87. I would have a total electrical failure intermittently. One day it it totally went out. I found that I was having a heavy load on the battery. I pulled it into the garage where it sat for a week. I got into it and found that there is a clip on the master cylinder mounting stud on the passenger side of the booster. This is where the positive cable is supposed to be held. Mine was out of the clip. If this happens the positive cable will drop down and rub on the frame. Mine was rubbing on a bolt in the frame and had worn through the insulation. It was shorting out my battery. It is a miracle that the car didn't catch on fire, or the battery blow up.
Check your positive cable all the way to the starter. It comes off the battery goes through the clip on the master cylinder, then goes behind the engine and over the top of the transmission down to the starter. It is tight down there, but you need to confirm that it's ok. I slide some of the black plastic conduit over mine where it went over the trans.
Good luck :U

 

Oh yea, I forgot to mention, I would loose everything, it would all go black, radio, gauges and ignition.

 

First, remove your battery cables (neg first) and clean the cable lugs and the battery posts and then replace (neg last). You may find upon removing the cables that you have a loose battery terminal which makes an intermittent connection to the battery cables. Next, check the tightness of the nut on the jumper terminal just behind the battery. A large portion of your cars electrical loads pass through this junction. There are 8 wires under this nut and power comes from a large red wire from the positive terminal on the battery. This wire may have an intermittent connection to the cable lug. Next check the tightness of the bolt that the negative battery cable goes to on the frame and also check the tightness of the nut on the left side of the block that connects the jumper from the frame ground to the left side of the block. With the engine idling, wiggle all the mentioned wires above and see if the engine quits. Last, try replacing the battery from one of your other vehicles as the battery may have an intermittent intercell connector.


[Modified by jfb, 11:42 PM 5/25/2004]

 

When your dash goes black do you have interior lights when you open the door?

If the problem is isolated to the dash area, service the ignition switch; otherwise start at the battery.

 

I still seem to think he has a short on the positive battery cable. The only way to kill all electrical devices at once is to remove all voltage. If the battery is shorted out, it kills the voltage from the battery as well at the current/voltage that is produced by the alternator. The star ground problem would probably not kill all devices at once. a loose starter connection or battery connection wouldn't kill everything.

 

I still seem to think he has a short on the positive battery cable. The only way to kill all electrical devices at once is to remove all voltage. If the battery is shorted out, it kills the voltage from the battery as well at the current/voltage that is produced by the alternator. The star ground problem would probably not kill all devices at once. a loose starter connection or battery connection wouldn't kill everything.


by the way, let us know what you find!!

 

A shorted battery that causes the battery voltage to drop so far that his electrical equipment goes out will make fire and smoke!!! I doubt very much that it is a short! But, if you interrupt the connection from the battery positive to the jumper terminal, then no power can get to most of the car's electrical circuits including the alternator which will shut off and not run the cars electrics and your whole car will go dead. My money is on this wire!

 

:nono: I thought it would catch on fire too, but I'm speaking from direct experience. This did happen to my car. If alternator is already putting out voltage, it doesn't need an outside supply to start putting out voltage. Once the field is created, it will run off itself. The only way everyting would die at once, would be to ground out the positive cable. This would kill the supply from the battery and also quench the alternator voltage and field. It does sound suspicious that these problems started after the starter replacement. Now if he had any other accessory that worked I would look elsewhere.

 

By the way, you can check to see how easy this problem can happen if the positive cable is not clipped into the restraint by the master cylinder mount stud. If the cable is not in this clip it will drop directly across a bold head in the frame. Over time, the sharp bolt head will wear through the insulation and ground out the entire electrical system.

 

Darn I just realized that there's another guy that has this problem. He was the one that changed his starter

 

When my car went totally dead, it ended up being a fusable link along the line of the FP relay. Turns out the five wires plugging into the relay had corroded and finally started touching. It took the shop quite a while to find that fusable link. They checked every other fusable link they could find including the main ones behind the battery, but that's my story.

Shayne

 

A short to pos will cause this ..so will a bad/loose ground..so will faultering alternator or loose or corroded connection there...if you disconnect the output lead of alternator the car will run for a short bit depending on load on battery but when the battery dies..thats all she wrote.but with a loose or bad connection the charge comes and goes..making the prob intermittent.. I had this same prob with my 84 vette and it was a corroded connector at alternator (hidden by a boot)..might want to look there. :yesnod:


[Modified by skateparkdave, 12:47 AM 5/27/2004]


[Modified by skateparkdave, 1:58 AM 5/27/2004]

 

I also had this happen, I replaced the neg & pos wires and terminals from the battery to solve it. :iagree:

 

Appreciate all the good feed back!

I think everyones in the ball park.
JFB, Agree that wiring would definately be smoking if I had a direct and sustained short to gnd. The problem I am having is a very intermittent short or as Bogus suggested, a possible open in the gnd circuit. However, I think, as Nassau, that it would have to be close to the top of the food chain (bat) to knock everything out.

I checked / cleaned and re-secured all connections at the bat, alt, terminal lugg behind the bat and physically inspected all wiring in between. Car started up fine and had no problems thus far. But I had two days of no problems the last time. I'm going to continue to track down the line of possible loose connections and look for areas where a grounding could be taking place.

Appreciate all who have pitched in with this. I'll keep you posted. :cheers:

 

Hey shark, I didn't get excessive continuious smoke, but when my problem started, it was intermittent and due to the location in the engine compartment, I would get a puff of smoke out of the steering column. I tore my dash apart looking for this inside the cockpit. Even after it went totally out, I was sure it was inside the car. I was really surprised that it didn't burn all the insulation off the positive battery cable or cause the battery to blow up or catch fire. Before you drive yourself nuts, just take a quick look to make sure that cable is in that clip on the master cylinder mount. If you problem last long enough, it will probably completely die like mine did.