Weird Cutlass Electrical Problem Solved

[tech1906]

My 94 Cutlass suddenly went completely dead. I checked the battery and it showed fully charged. The battery contacts appeared to be in good condition. I traced the cause of the problem to the three electrical grounding lugs located just in front of the battery.

They were installed poorly at the factory (without removal of the paint from the frame), and in addition, were badly oxidized by this time. They were so badly oxidized and coated with crud, that they had become electrically open. This apparently disabled almost the entire electrical system.

I took the lugs apart and cleaned them up good with a wire brush. I removed paint from the contact area also, so that clean metal to metal contact was restored. Once re-installed, the dead electrical system problem was no more. The car has worked perfectly since then.

I have a feeling that these bad grounds could also potentially cause many different and strange problems related to other electrical circuits, ignition system, computer, etc. If you are having some strange problems with your car, take a few moments and try cleaning these and see if it may clear it up. Hope this helps.

tech1906