chevy lumina apv electrical problems

[amoorejr35]

The other day I was driving my chevy lumina apv with anti-lock brakes and it just died on me. I was thinking it was an electrical problem so I changed the altenator , battery, and cables. I ran good for a day then the brake and anti-lock brake lights came on. The van the cut off and needed to be jump started to run again. It ran for about 2 minutes then did it again. It seems like its not completely draining the battery but the van needs a little help getting started. It will start then cut right off. The lights will go extremely dim. Can someone help me?

[luminator96]

I would make sure you have a solid ground for the battery and electrical equipment.

[tovyp]

I've had this same, or similar problem. It started when my Parking break light came on, because the wiring in the information cluster had developed a short. According to what I know, the steering column has a series of wires wrapped around them. Over time, the wire coverings fray and strip the wire, and what had happened to me is, one of those wires was touching ground, and draining my battery. In fact, the instrument cluster's fuse had blown, and every time I replaced it, it kept blowing - this indicated a short somewhere. I took it in, it ended up costing me $200 for the technicians to remove the dash and rewire the cluster.

The reason why it drains after two days is because when your engine is running, it isn't recharding your battery. My APV finally died in the middle of an intersection. The symptoms are, lights dimming, the radio cutting out, and finally, everything just shudders and stops. If your lights start to dim, and the radio starts to cut out, GET IT HOME, or GET IT TOWED. This means it has only a few minutes to go before the battery dies.

At any rate, bring it into the garage, this is a wiring issue that needs to be delicately rewired. It's a bummer, I know.
I hope this helps -

On a side note, my APV is acting up again, in the same way that is being described by other Lumina owners in reference to too much moisture in the air resulting in temporary loss of ignition. I'm also wondering if, when my battery died like that, if it's been low this whole time - if I've drained it beyond repair.