Caprice won't start.

Went to move my wife's Caprice the other day and it started right up, but when I went to put it in gear it died. Not even the normal dashboard lights, that come on when you stall, were on. Checked to see if the battery cables slipped off the posts but they were still on. Car has plenty of juice and the alternator and battery check as good. Thought we had traced the problem down to a bad ignition switch, so we had that changed, and our mechanic was nice enough to tighten up the steering wheel. (it was a little loose which I hear is a common problem with older tilt wheels. The car ran great for about a week and then did the same thing to my wife while she was at a gas station. Took the car back to our mechanic, he checked it out and found nothing, but the car started up and we drove it home. Next day we go to move it and nothing, no dash lights. We believe it to be a short, in what looks like a ribbon cable, in the steering column. (mainly because if you touch the wires the lights come back on, just won't stay on and let us start it up) Is there a way around this, so we can at least temporarily start and move the car (I hate alt side parking) and does anyone know what this ribbon cable is called? We would like to order a replacement, if possible, if not we will probably just have to replace the whole column.

Welcome Aboard!

What year/engine are we discussing?

Hi and thanks. It's an '87 350 V8. It's been suggested that the wire is called the pig tail and that we would be better off changing the whole column. She sort of is for that as she doesn't want the tilt steering to loosen up again. Not sure which would be better to do.

It is good to have an inspect your car by an automotive expert in certain intervals. If you need to change the parts you need to go with the best one. You mentioned in your post about the important parts of your car. You can purchase all kinds of auto parts from http://www.buyautoparts.com/ like alternator, steering box etc., in affordable rate. They are offering discounts too. Ribbon cable is a cable which makes lot of connections without mess of wires. If you have problem with it, you better to replace it.

if its the wiring in the column....I would get one from junk yard and replace.make sure power issue and not ground issue with ground strap.

with the vehicle this age my guess is you have a bad fuseable link.

ignition on the vehicle is dead/ nothing. then after a while all is perfect.

the fuseable links need inspecting for corrosion. look for voltage drops. there are at the starter motor and usually on the top of the intake manifold under the plastic loom material of the wiring harness.