Gremlins are messin with my electrical

[Taz202]

G'day
I left work the other day and noticed my car was slow turning over. The lights were also dim. Less than a minute later my radio cut out completely, my turn signals wouldn't flash, and my power windows would just barely go up. I made it most of the way home before my lights gave out than shortly after the engine quit. It seemed like the alternator to me. I took the alternator to a shop and had it tested. They said it was fine. So I tried a battery. With the old alternator on and new battery hooked up it started fine. I disconnected the battery and it was like I turned the key off. I went and got an alternator, put it on and everything worked great, even after pulling the cable off. I took the car out the next day and all was well. This morning I headed off to work and sure enough the radio started cutting out once in awhile. One of the warning lights also came on at one point. I'm not sure which one but it came on the other day too. I'm not sure but I don't think it was the light itself but just a result of the other problem. When I was driving home that morning the speedo was starting to go kinda whacky also. Any ideas as to what the problem might be. I'll say right up front I don't like electrical issues and am not at all good at troubleshooting them.

[richtazz]

First of all, NEVER disconnect the battery while the car is running on a computer controlled vehicle. You can damage extremely expensive components and cause all kinds of ghost codes to pop up. I would check all your underhood electrical connections for corrosion, dirt, grease etc... and try jiggling the ignition key and moving the tilt steering through it's rand of motion. If jiggling the key causes the gremlins to re-appear, you need an ignition cylinder and or ignition switch. If moving the tilt makes them re-appear, you may have a loose or bad wire in the column

[Schurkey]

What is the voltage at the battery when all of these problems happen?

What is the voltage drop between engine block and the negative post of the battery, and between body sheetmetal and negative post of the battery, both tests done while cranking the engine?

[Taz202]

Maybe I should have said what I'm driving, it's a 1990 Lumina if that makes any difference as far as the computer end of it goes. I'll check the ignition and steering column when I can. With regards to the second post do I just make contact between the two points take a reading then crank the engine and take another reading. As I said earlier I'm not to hot at troubleshooting electrical.

[Defective]

I know this is an old thread...but...

Have you checked your fuses? There's one that controls the alternator. If it wasn't the middle of the nite, I'd go out & verify which one, but I'm pretty sure it's labelled "ign". I blew that fuse in mine and experienced EXACTLY the same simptoms. It made me nuts trying to figure out why the battery wasn't charging. Felt like an idiot when my wife double checked the fuses & found that one dead. (3 days without my van...)

[99DenaliMan]

LMFAO, hope you let her wear the jeans for the next 2 months.

[Defective]

Originally Posted by 99DenaliMan

LMFAO, hope you let her wear the jeans for the next 2 months.

I wear the pants in the family...She said I could...

[99DenaliMan]

The ever so famous "man song". Love it.