77 Nova Electrical Issues

[trout112]

Anyone ever had the problem of starting the car, it running fine, shifting into gear and losing amps and the car dying? I start my nova and the meter flucuates all over the place, it changes when I turn the lights on and other electrical things. I have hooked it up to a meter and sometimes it reads fine other times not. I have replaced the battery and the alternator still no fix. The problem really happens when it is is shifted from P or N into a drive gear. Any ideas would be much appreciated!

[jonpad01]

ill bet you a million bucks you dont have a ground wire from your motor to your body. ill try to explain it as best i can.

your battery has a posotive lead that goes to the starter, the ground is provided by the ground wire usualy bolting onto the exhuast manifold on the block. this does not mean the rest of the car is grounded! think about it, the motor is on rubber mounts. so that means the only way for the motor to ground to the body is through the transmission, down the driveshaft, and through the axel or brake cables. which would explain a lot seeming as you are losing power especially when you put it in gear.

try connecting a ground wire from the block to the body somewhere, preferably at least 10 gauge.

[trout112]

Would that also explain why the battery loses charge and runs dead quickly after sitting for a day or so? I never thought of checking for the ground from the motor. I am very new to restoring and working on cars, thanks for the input.

[jonpad01]

its probably not the ground wire issue. heres a quote i found from another site:

"9 times out of 10 it is the alternator.

When a truck gets as old as ours are - people have "jury-rigged" wiring over the years.

A common thing to do is to wire up the alternator so it is always hot - which will drain the battery over a period of time (usually overnight - but since you have a new deep cell optima, it takes a week). An alternator should only be on when the key is on.

You don't need to take the main terminal off the alternator - just unplug the field wires. These are the ones going into the back of the aternator (for the brushes). The brown wire is usually the one you need to disconnect (if the brown wire is still there). "

http://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/pr...hp?tid/162688/

try disconnecting the battery and see if it dies, if it doesnt then try disconecting the wires that snap onto the side of the alternator. you could also test the voltage on the wires when the key is off, if you get voltage try to find out where that wire is going and wire it to the accsesory power. make sure its fused, im not sure what amps the fuse should be.

if you have any other questions post em I like to troubleshoot its my favorite thing to do, good luck!

[trout112]

Thanks for the info. I am going to double check both. The ground wire issue would make sense for me losing power when I shift into drive. I have also heard that if you add more transmission fluid that would stop it from stalling or dying when it is shifted into gear. The alternator would also explain why the battery is getting drained. I have never seen anything like this, haha maybe I should just redue the whole wiring!

[randy78]

is the idle speed dropping too low when you put it into gear ?

it needs to idle around 550 or 600 to keep it going without stumbling dying and the alternator is putting out next to nothing at such a low engine rpm

if its dying when you put it into gear evne though it is idling normal speed before that then you may have a vacuum leak or improper ignition timing to look into

also make sure when its running that the center shaft of the alternator is magnetic and will grab onto a scredriver or wrench or something else ferrous

if not then its not putting any charge out


and that can be due to internal alt problem or wiring
make sure the two larger wires on the alt are hot all the time, and that the small wire is not conected to anything except the indicator/amp or volt guage wire to the dash, almsot alway rown colored

if one or both bigger wires are not hot al the time then loop the bigger spade connector wire down to the large stud wire on the back of the alt, cut the spade wire off,dont need the part of it that goes nto the engine harness anymore because all it does is tie into the same battery wire at a different location in the engine harness




where is this 77 nova at and could it be for sale in a couple months or so ?

i had one and miss it and want to find another

i have a car trailer


thanks

[Dennis321]

Bad ground? Motor to Chasis. Start with that. Good luck