Complete electrical failure, intermittent.

enkeivette

enkeivette

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Joined
Mar 30, 2008
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So I was driving on the freeway and the motor cut out, everything died for about a second. Then kicked back on. Then around a left turn, same story. So I thought maybe the spark plug wire was shorted to the header again, nope.

Any ideas? Could this just be a corroded battery cable? I didn't have time to check anything last weekend.
 
First thing I'd do is check all the ground wires. The braided chassis wire may be severely corroded, loose battery cable, etc?
Cheers - Jim
 
Check that big white plug on the passenger side near the blower motor, it goes to the starter. All the power goes through there and those connectors are known for being too small, they melt and oxidize and maybe yours is loose.
 
Twin_Turbo said:
Check that big white plug on the passenger side near the blower motor, it goes to the starter. All the power goes through there and those connectors are known for being too small, they melt and oxidize and maybe yours is loose.
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:D Anytime you find a Molex Connector in a electrical/electronic circuit and you have any intermittent problems, look there first....tap it with a screwdriver, you most likely will have the problem, they put that there as an assy line aide for production reasons, it's nothing but a problem, BTDT myself....I just cut the wires and splice/solder them together, tape and put in covering...

I have never noticed a mesh ground on a vette, always that 6" battery cable with tabs on each end, under the engine mount on the pass side....

sorta strange, but the motor home has two of them, and a battery cable ground also, battery goes directly to bellhousing bolt....

:cool::stirpot:
 
The connector thru the firewall has been known to corrode too. That'll shut you down at random too.
 
TimAT said:
The connector thru the firewall has been known to corrode too. That'll shut you down at random too.
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Good thought I had one skunk me at the airport once, a jumper cable and a clip lead got us home....long funny story there....

:amazed:
 
Many years ago had a lady friend with a 63 chev.Thing would just shut down. We'd get out, open the hood, slam it, get in and drive away. Couldn't figure it out. Some time later talked to an old time mechanic, Knew right away. "Body plug" said he. [the main harness plug on the firewall between pass cabin and engine compartment] Checked it out and fixed her right up.
 
Those intermittent electrical problems can be a challenge. Chances of a corroded battery cable being the sole cause of the problem would be almost nil.
 
Bad cable
Bad battery
Bad fuse link
Bad connection

Pick one, and pursue it
 
IMO a bad battery wouldn't cause the engine to turn off and then come back instantly.

when a fusible link goes its done.

a cable causes charging and starting issues but not a cutoff of the ignition system,you can disconnect a battery cable and the alt will keep the engine running.

my vote would be to pursue the bad connection,pull apart the 4-6 wire connection coming up from the starter at the back of the pass head that TT spoke of.
the bulkhead connector is a sure possibility
connections at the ignition switch

question-when it shuts off is it only the engine or do you think its "all" power to the car ? if its only the engine then look for wires and conn related to only the ign wiring
if its all power then start your search at the pos term of the starter solenoid
 
DWncchs said:
IMO a bad battery wouldn't cause the engine to turn off and then come back instantly.Wrong

when a fusible link goes its done.Also wrong
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Sorry DW. I fusable link can partially blow making intermittent contact

A battery can be defective like any other electrical device.;)
 
big2bird said:
DWncchs said:
IMO a bad battery wouldn't cause the engine to turn off and then come back instantly.Wrong

when a fusible link goes its done.Also wrong
Click to expand...

Sorry DW. I fusable link can partially blow making intermittent contact

A battery can be defective like any other electrical device.;)
Click to expand...

Can we discuss this a little bit ? This seems to be a problem enki has had for awhile , I believe he thought it was caused by a single grounded out plug wire.

I have seen a fusible link partial blow if someone does an accidental short while working on the car but at that point the wire in the link is made smaller (less strands) and won't carry near the original load and then blows the next time a substantial load is applied.
Intermittent contact ? So your saying the wire in the link burns in 2 and then welds itself back together again ? I guess I could see this happening once but not over and over as in this case.

Bad battery. Would you mind describing "in this case" what would be happening to this battery where the engine would shut off and then turn back on ?
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the alternator take over as the power supplier once the engine starts ,we all know that the battery can be disconnected after the start and the engine will continue to run providing the alternator is good ?
I've seen battery's short and draw the system down but that is pretty rare and is usually rather evident.
It seems as if enki's car starts and runs and drives like normal on a regular basis except for the noted hiccup which he has brought up in other threads,I would have to guess a shorted battery wouldn't perform this well for this long of a time.
Looking forward to your response and "others responses" on this on going very elusive problem. :thumbs:
 
Enki has a harness problem, it's most likely a connector or maybe a broken wire problem, wires can temporarily 'heal/weld/mend/touch' inside the covering I vote for the bulkhead connector in this case, or the ignition switch....he is loosing 12 to the HEI, for whatever reason....

which is why I have totally rewired the last several cars including my '72 shark to have the wiring rerouted through the firewall as one piece and all un necessary connections eliminated, and the ones that are necessary are soldered, not crimped.....

it's sorta why I feel the 'time bomb' with the modern cars is going to be the wiring, as they age, the intermettants will become a nitemare, and as
Toyota is now finding out , over complex use of electronics can be a nitemare in a machine subject to weather/temp/vibrations/emi-rfi/etc it's a rough world these machines live in, and I suspect Enki's problems are simple wiring renewal.....

;) Tie in a 12 volt light to the dash, from the HEI wiring at the DIZZY itself, if that light goes out you know the dizzy died when the car did....

damn engine wil run forever with fuel and spark....Enki...do you have FI?? does your fuel pump have pressures when the engine dies?? if you have a electric pump, do the same thing there as to the dizzy....

I had a '78 Datsum 810 wagon I bought for less then book loan some years ago....2343cc inline 6 with injection....I knew it had to have a problem like that so packed my DVM with me, sure enough it died, and I traced it to the fuel pump wire up under the RRear wheel soldered the connection and it ran for another 4 years till I sold it after burning up the clutch....

:amazed:
 
Carb car.

Dw, you think this thing was really the cause of my prior problem? That would be a strange coincidence. A few months ago I couldn't drive 50 feet without the motor bucking, over and over again, I moved the wire off the header and then it was perfectly fine for months.

My alternator is on the pass side to make room. About a year ago I dropped a wrench between the intake manifold and the positive terminal on the alternator. Got red hot. Car was dead, not even the charger would help it turn over. But I charged up the battery overnight and all was good again.

I wonder if that caused a fusible link to almost pop, but not quite. I wish I could go and check this out but I'm away for finals. I won't get back home for a few weeks. Actually, I wish I was working so I could pay Bird to do it right. Haha.
 
enkeivette said:
Actually, I wish I was working so I could pay Bird to do it right. Haha.
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I agree if you could get it to Bird you could get a thorough checkover and get the problem fixed so it wouldn't come back and haunt you later or cause a fire and really screw up your day. You could have more than 1 problem,thats not all that uncommon on these cars.
Maybe Bird could put you on a payment plan or you could pay him with attorney hour vouchers that he could cash in in the future. ;)
 
YUP, your fuse link in there has been HIGHLY STRESSEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD, that wrench trick will messssss it up gooood.....

I have my alt on the driver's side, with C4 serp drive...I wear a Speidel twist of flex watch band for decades now, and so was going for #1 plug and of course the watch band hit the alt stud and frame, and got HOTTER"N HELL in about 5 nanoseconds, branding my wrist really good, then I couldn't get the damn thing OFF there, man I was PISSED.....

been a few years now, and it STILL look at that damn alt stud and remember really CLEAR.....:amazed::tomato::clobbered::banned:
 
Sounds like there are too many guys running around with the stud protector missing !
 
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