March 22, 201115 yr Author On the offchance that anyone cares, it was the pickup coil. Just tested it with a multimeter, 680ohms from wire to wire and the yellow wire is grounded to the body. Weird that it would just suddenly fail like that though...
March 22, 201115 yr Jumpy tach usually is because the disty bushings are worn and the shaft is wobbling around.
March 23, 201115 yr Author Jumpy tach usually is because the disty bushings are worn and the shaft is wobbling around. How much can the shaft wobble around when the car isn't running?
March 23, 201115 yr Pull the cap off, and remove the rotor. Then grab the distributor shaft, and see if it has any side to side play. Any play more than VERY slight should warrant a dizzy replacement.
March 23, 201115 yr Author Guys, the car doesn't run. At all. The tach moves with the engine SHUT OFF. How can the shaft possibly be moving around causing the tach to bounce when the motor isn't turning?
March 23, 201115 yr Guys, the car doesn't run. At all. The tach moves with the engine SHUT OFF. How can the shaft possibly be moving around causing the tach to bounce when the motor isn't turning? someething with the alternator or charge system failed. I had a alternator voltage regulator go bad, and a turn of the key would send the tach needle to like 3000 room without even kicking the starter on. Wipers would move around, even though the switch for them was off.... Edited March 23, 201115 yr by bheinen74
March 23, 201115 yr Author someething with the alternator or charge system failed. I had a alternator voltage regulator go bad, and a turn of the key would send the tach needle to like 3000 room without even kicking the starter on. Wipers would move around, even though the switch for them was off.... It's a single wire alternator, reg doesn't even see the rest of the car. I tried unhooking it, didn't change anything. Unhooked the dizzy, no more tach bounching It failed an ohm test, it's grounded to the casing, I'm fairly confident it's the dizzy pickup coil at this point Edited March 23, 201115 yr by Splinter
March 28, 201115 yr Author New dizzy solved it! Whats more, it passed inspection! Wooooii I can drive it!
March 30, 201115 yr New dizzy solved it! Whats more, it passed inspection! Wooooii I can drive it! Congrats, long road to get there
July 14, 201114 yr Author Just picked up a free 87 EA81 3 door (back end totally rusted out, been sitting for 5 years, not savable) Time for a manual transmission swap, a new cowl and new front right fender! yay!
July 15, 201114 yr Ah... Right on the ocean and lots of rain. Poor Brat, never had a chance. ): Looks like it's coming along good though.
July 16, 201114 yr Author Yea, the only reason it survived at all was it was mostly garage kept. So I'm having some pretty weird electrical problems. The lowbeams on the car work normally, but when you put the high beams on each bulb only sees 6 volts instead of twelve so they're super dim (confirmed with a multimeter) Also, on the right side only, there's some significant problems with the tail lights. With the lights on and the indicator on, the indicator and brake light alternate flashing, same if you put the reverse lights on. With the other lights off, it just flashes very fast and dim. The only ground I could seem to find was in the bed just behind one of the access panels. I cleaned it up and it didn't seem to make a difference. I've been searching for an answer for a few days so far and been pouring over the wiring diagrams but so far nothing. Any ideas?
July 16, 201114 yr There is a wiring connector behind that rearmost panel, check to see if there is any corrosion there. It is the last connection before you get to where the wiring harness splits to go across the back of the BRAT to feed the Driver's side lights. Bad ground for the rear lighting can cause all sorts of wierd lighting issues. Yea, the only reason it survived at all was it was mostly garage kept. So I'm having some pretty weird electrical problems. The lowbeams on the car work normally, but when you put the high beams on each bulb only sees 6 volts instead of twelve so they're super dim (confirmed with a multimeter) Also, on the right side only, there's some significant problems with the tail lights. With the lights on and the indicator on, the indicator and brake light alternate flashing, same if you put the reverse lights on. With the other lights off, it just flashes very fast and dim. The only ground I could seem to find was in the bed just behind one of the access panels. I cleaned it up and it didn't seem to make a difference. I've been searching for an answer for a few days so far and been pouring over the wiring diagrams but so far nothing. Any ideas?
July 31, 201114 yr Author Cleaning that ground helped some, thanks. Still some weirdness with the flasher speed but at least people can see I'm indicating now thanks. On another front, here's the parts car I was given: 3 hours pass... Monday we pull it out of there to remove the powertrain. Unfortunately I didn't notice the damage on the passenger side fender before, which is the same fender that's damaged on my brat. Damn. Oh well, I still got lots of good parts like a non-rusty cowl, shiny wiper arms and a 4MT swap! The round headlight it only there because the front end was gone and the previous owner was using it as a bush vehicle and needed something for a headlight. The passenger side under the door almost collapsed when I sat on it due to rust. Yikes. This car was a gonner for sure.
August 3, 201114 yr Author Managed to get myself a brand new clutch cable, so as soon as I put new seals in the trans and I'd like to sort out a new shifter bushing, I'll be ready to do the swap! Stoked.
August 14, 201114 yr Author Monday I'll worry the fenders until I can turn the steering wheel in a full arc. The backs wheels SEEM fine, have to see how they respond to actually driving.
August 14, 201114 yr Those rears look really close.... like if you hit the brakes or took a jump and the rear suspension travelled down it could hit the front of the wheel well/fender.
August 14, 201114 yr Author Yea I think I'm going to put a little more juice into the torsion bar (It's still got lots left, and I have a spare if I break it) and give some abuse in a controlled environment to make sure it's all ok before I drive it on the street.
June 13, 201213 yr Author Been a little while since I posted anything about my brat here... Some big changes in the works.
June 14, 201213 yr 98 Chevy K1500 What? what are you doing with your front axles? This should be interesting.
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