I'm Frustrated! (Electrical Problem)

After putting in a new transmission in my 5.0 and enduring five snowy months of non-Mustang weather in Ohio, I took it out for the first time on Friday only to get stranded the next day with a new problem. Here's what's happened. Before I ran it at all, I had to jump start it and then I drove it for a few minutes and it ran fine. I went to drive it again, but when I turned the key it just made a clicking sound. I put in another battery from a different car, it made the clicking sound one more time, and then it started right up. I drove it several different places and then on Saturday it quit at a stop light and hasn't started since. I am getting no elctrical power at all. The headlights don't even work. I tried jumping it again but that didn't help. I heard the clicking sound again after I jumped it and smoke was coming from my + batt. terminal. I checked my battery cables and they seem fine. I don't know what else to check. I put that battery back in my other car and it runs fine, so its not the battery. Please help! I'm so tired of driving my rusty '93 Cavalier beater car!

I'd check the main ground connection on the engine. Make sure the surface is clean of paint/dirt/grease. Had a similar problem. I laid in the snow changing the starter and later found the problem was a bad ground connection.

could be a bad starter too.

also, CABLES AREN'T GOOD just because they look good. test them for resistance. if it's too high (not too sure how high) then replace them. i'm sure somebody here can tell you about how many ohms you should ideally be looking at.

could be your alternator...not but a month ago i was having basically the same symptoms...i took it up to discount auto and they did the free bat. and alt. test and turned out the diodes in my alt. were bad. they are the little thingys that charge the battery while the car is running. Got a new alternator for $125. If i were you ide take it up to your local auto parts store (napa, auto zone,etc.) and get them to test your alt.
hope i could be of some help...

Take a look at the Starter Solenoid. The last time I had that same "clicking" problem the solenoid was bad. That would explain why it failed over time as opposed to failing all at once. The response recommending taking it to Napa or Discount is a good one. I took my car down there and they found a bad diode by hooking their computer up to it. Good Luck. Electrical Systems can be a pain in the arse!

Thanks everyone. I don't think its my starter relay or the alternator since my headlights won't even come on, and my ground connection seems fine. I got my pos. batt. cable checked and it's fine, although I didn't get the neg. one checked. I pressed my power lock button today and the lock went down real slow, as if it were trying to suck out every last bit of electrical juice. Now the lock won't even go back up. I've been told to change my fusible link but I can't find it, even after looking at the wiring diagrams in my manual. All I see is a mess of wires next to my battery, and I can't tell which one has the link in it.

Have you checked the voltage regulator? Here is a link that shows how to troubleshoot a charging system. It may help. http://www.balmar.net/PDF/Alternator-regulator%20troubleshooting.pdf

Good Luck!

Thanks for the link. Although I don't have a voltmeter (which I know would be a good investment anyway), so I decided to check the fusible links first, which after taking a closer look at the wires were very obvious of course. I changed the black & orange one which goes to the ignition switch, but no luck. Now I'm going to change the one on the starter relay wire, but I haven't found a 20 gauge wire link at any parts stores yet.

I can't find a 20 guage fusible link. Can I use a 16 or even a 14 instead since the wire is bigger? Does the fuse let the same amouont of amps through on each one even though the wire sizes are different?

Have you checked your neg cable that mounts to the chassis yet? I would think that is your problem.

I did check the ground connection at the chassis and it looks fine, but I suppose the ground wire could be bad maybe? There's also a ground to the engine block I think, but I haven't really looked at that one. The fusible links didn't fix it. I'm gonna try replacing the starter relay tomorrow since that's cheap and easy. This is a slow process for me because I've got a really busy schedule and I only get to work on it a little bit each day.

I did check the ground connection at the chassis and it looks fine, but I suppose the ground wire could be bad maybe? There's also a ground to the engine block I think, but I haven't really looked at that one. The fusible links didn't fix it. I'm gonna try replacing the starter relay tomorrow since that's cheap and easy. This is a slow process for me because I've got a really busy schedule and I only get to work on it a little bit each day.

I think my friend had a similar problem and it was his ignition relay in the steering colume.

I would take the chassis ground apart, and clean up the connection as well. There could be corrosion between the connection.

Hey Skyline, havent seen you in a while. Beegle I would say your problem is either altenator, solenoid, or connections. Thats just what it sounnds like to me. If you can get it to start then you can check the altenator yourself with a screw driver. On the back of your altenator you will see a silver circle. Touch the screw driver to it and see if it creates any magnitism. If so then your starter is fine. But you do have to start the car for this test. Otherwise I would say take the altenator off and take it down to a local parts store, they should be able to check it. Best of luck to ya.

Beegle
when you said you seen smoke from battary sound like corroded batt termenals they need to be clean
or shorted positive cable

I changed the starter relay and nothing changed, so I thought maybe my batt. got drained from trying to start it so much, so I put a charger on it. After a few min. my lights turned on, so I tried swapping batteries again to see if I had solved the problem, and it started right up. :grinno: Thinking I had fixed it, i put the original batt. back in and tried to jump it. But then when I went to start it again, I was back to having no power at all. :disappoin I know this sounds like a bad battery, but I had the same problem with a different battery that I am currently using in my other car. So I slapped the charger back on for several hours, and then it started again. So I'm still puzzled. I'm kind of afraid to drive it anywhere now. I think tomorrow I'll take it up to Autozone and have them check my batt., alternator, and voltage regulator. (if it'll start again)

I changed the starter relay and nothing changed, so I thought maybe my batt. got drained from trying to start it so much, so I put a charger on it. After a few min. my lights turned on, so I tried swapping batteries again to see if I had solved the problem, and it started right up. :grinno: Thinking I had fixed it, i put the original batt. back in and tried to jump it. But then when I went to start it again, I was back to having no power at all. :disappoin I know this sounds like a bad battery, but I had the same problem with a different battery that I am currently using in my other car. So I slapped the charger back on for several hours, and then it started again. So I'm still puzzled. I'm kind of afraid to drive it anywhere now. I think tomorrow I'll take it up to Autozone and have them check my batt., alternator, and voltage regulator. (if it'll start again)


I was under the impression that you already changed out with a good battery. I see a new battery in your future.

I feel the problem in battary termenals

Well, I was able to get it tested today and indeed my alternator is running weak. But shouldn't it have started when I tried to jump it? Oh well. Hopefully that's all it needs. Thanks for yur input everyone.

Yeah, Skyline, I'll probly get a new batt. too. Mine's under warranty but stupid me can't find the reciept.

My brother has a 88 mustang, that we can't fix, the problem started last week when it briefly flashed AMP on the dash while his daughter was driving it,then the next day would not start..we replaced the original alternator with a new one, the car started after jumping it, ran fine, amp gauge didn't show a charge, when we disconnect the jumpers the car died....put a new battery in it and drove it home approx 40 miles.

next day drove it to autozone had it tested, they said it was a bad alternator, so we replaced it, it still does not charge.

any ideas ? 3 alternator later, I can't believe that we could get that lucky to have 3 bad ones in a row

thanks Dale