JBoyle

Howdy!


Firstly, thanks for having me! This is my first post on the site but definitely not my first visit. You guys have been a great resource!


To the issue:


I have an '83 ZXT w/ 90k miles.


Background spanning ~6 mos. in chronological order - 1) car sat for roughly 1 month in the garage. Tried to start her but she was dead. Got the battery tested and it was dead. Bought new battery and installed. Everything seemed fine for the next month. 2) power seemed weak (dim peripherals, die after start after first engagement of gear) and tested battery again. Battery was weak and had it charged. 3) continued issues as #2 above. Car died completely mid driving. Got the alternator tested. Alternator tested bad. 4) installed new alternator (w/ internal regulator). Got tested and the regulator tested bad. 5) researched issues.


From what I have read, it appears I might have a bad wire(s) somewhere in between battery and alternator.


Questions - 1) I think I checked the fusible links (small black box located near the alternator) and the wires appeared normal. Is there another portion of the fusible link I need to check/test? 2) By visual inspection the battery terminals and cables appear normal. I have limited electrical experience but do own a multimeter... what is an efficient way to test the internal bits of the cables? 3) any other thoughts of what is causing the issues?




Thanks in advance for any help!

rogerz

Get your battery load tested. Be sure you have clean, tight corrosion free terminals on both ends of your battery cables. Be sure the ground (negative) cable goes to a bolt into the frame before going to the starter. grounding through the starter is not a reliable connection. Z's don't like low voltage. causes the electronics to act funny. it is possible to have enough amps to crank but not enough voltage to run the electronics. If you have one size fit all cheapo clamp on terminals they are a problem waiting to happen. Usually on a rainy night around Oh Dark Thirty.

look for corrosion on the terminal ends. clean your battery posts. wires tend to corrode down into the insulation when you use those clamp on types. I just took my cables to a battery shop and had them remade. cost less than twenty bucks. Grounding the cable to the body is critical. grounding through the bell housing is not reliable.

you can not check fusible links by sight only. use a multimeter.

to remove cables there is a rubber block held down by an M6 bolt which hold the cables. look straight down in front of the battery and you will see it. remove that and the cables come free.

JBoyle

Thanks for the insight.


When you say battery shop, are you referring to a place like NTB, SEARS, ect.?

rogerz

good god NO. Sears are min wage flunkies. Go to a place that sells batteries for a living. Interstate I believe are the best. just because you have a new battery does not mean it is good. I put a new one in my s130 all sorts of gremlins kept telling myself can't be the battery it is new. finally went back and had them test it. BAD gave me a new one under warranty all gremlins went back to their cave.

jeffp

I have the 83 turbo car, and what I found was that the wire connectors (white wire from alternator) were bad. I replaced them. So you have the big white wire from the alternator, that goes up to the fusible link box, the black link, then from there the black wire to the battery. Check all the links and connections.
What did it for my car was a high current stereo setup, even though I connected directly to the battery, the draw from the alternator current screwed up the connectors, and made the fusible link get hard, like it was almost melting. get the picture?
Just something to look at.