Electrical Problems

[Schister66]

Originally Posted by DrAE77

I have many Q's about the workings of electrical sytems in cars, in general... more specifially about my car though, (1988 olds regency brougham 98). Hopefully There will be many replys with the A's to them!

Thanks ahead of time for your replies.
~Dannielle

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Q's about ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS, BATTERY, ALTENATOR, STARTER, SHORT CIRCUITS, FUSES, IGNITION / IGNITION COIL, CABLES / CONNECTIONS, etc.:

1. Do some cars require you to have a side post battery rather than a top post one?
2. I have connections from the alt. and starter to the battery... Should I use a side post or top post battery - or does it matter?
3. What would cause a car to, periodically, not start with absolutely no power, yet jump start VERY easily?
4. Can the altenator be the cause of a car dying while pressing on the brakes?
5. What can cause car to drain battery after battery? Could it be any thing other than the altenator?

6. What could be the cause of all of the above problems combined in a 1988 Olds regency 98?

7. I read somewhere on this site about some or all of the above problems could be related to problems I am not familiar with.. Could someone enlighten me with thier knowledge about how my questions could be related to any of the following and how to check if it is the cause of my problem?

fuseable link, airpump, ELC Struts leaking, power antenna, CCM


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Now about my mom's car... Same type of engine as mine, same type of Q's as above, different problem though LOL

8. What would be the cause of a car that only starts when it wants to - without having any problems with the battery being drained?
9. What could cause a car to start EASILY when cold, and not start, when motor is hot (driven for more than 10-20 min)?... It has power to the battery and tries to turn over. Sound like a problem with the Ignition Coil, or starter perhaps?

~Obviously us ladies are having problems starting our engines... (in our cars! "OUR" engines work fine!)

Thanks Again,
~Dannielle

Here's what i came up w/ so far....

1. Top terminal or side terminal....doesn't matter, its only a space issue.
2. Doesn't matter....again they are the same kind of battery, but designed to fit in different spaces.
3. Corroded battery cables which wouldn't allow the current to flow from the battery to wherever it is needed.
4. I wouldn't think so, it could be something w/ vaccuum.
5. It could be a bad alternator, or it could be a parasitic load on the battery after the car is shut off....have some place test your charging system and also have a parasitic load test performed.
6. Not sure
7. Someone can help you, but not me....
8. There are lots of possibilities.....
9. The starter could be suffering heat soak....where the starter gets soooo hot that it won't start anymore.....my friend's 89 Iroc Camaro had the same problem

Hope this helps and i'm sure that more people will add to and correct this list!!