So, my 88 DL left me stranded for the first time the other day.  I drove it to a friend's house to pick up some stuff on the way to work, shut it off for five minutes, and when I came back out, she was dead.  No electrical anything going on.  No key dinger, no dash lights, etc.  We pushed the old girl out of the driveway and my friend gave me a ride to work.  A couple of days later, I went to try to move it and it started right up, stalled, and then was dead again.  Since then, there has occasionally been brief moments when there is dash lights and the key dinger, but frequently when there is anything electrical going on, there is an odd buzzing from under the steering column. 

 

Here's what I've tried and tested:

 

Ignition switch

Battery is A-okay

I just got that brown ignition relay from the junk yard

My roommate tested the battery cables

 

Where should I go next?

Lets back up, how did you test things.

 

I don't remember if this has the parking light switch or not. Next time it happens check to see if there is any power at all.

 

You can have a bad ground cable. Use a jumper cable and go from the neg of the battery to an engine ground and see what happens.

 

Check for rotted fuseable links.

A common place to have this kind of trouble is at the fusible links. They can make a loose connection and cause intermittent trouble. They are located in the small plastic box mounted on the coolant reservoir. Open the top of the box and check for a loose connection on one of the links. The black link has the highest current draw. If they seem ok then check to voltage getting to them and make sure they are close to the battery voltage. Another problem to look for is the wire connections out of the box. Sometimes they can be faulty. If thoses things are ok then check the voltage on the fuses in the dash with the ignition switch turned on.

Greetings there! I have an '89 GL that was behaving very similar. Alive one minute then would quit at random times. And a power issue. It ended up being the plug / connection from the ignition switch to the wire harness. It's under the steering column with a bunch of other wires. Sorry I don't remember how many prongs it has or the wire colors. I do remember removing the plastic covers under the column / knee area to find it. Mine was very obvious it was the culprit after close inspection. Some of the plastic in the connector was melted and dis formed. I also recall other threads mentioning this connection getting hot. I just scraped / cleaned it the best I could and added some dielectric grease and have't had any more issues (knock on wood).  If you haven't looked at this yet might be what you are experiencing? Hey good luck!

Kerandt is correct. Along with the fusible links, the connector to the ignition switch are the two top suspects for this kind of trouble.

Thanks for the help, guys!  I'll check and double check those things first today.  I have a week to get this car running... wish me luck! 

I've learned so much on this project that I'm a bit embarrassed to say what was actually the problem... It was a crappy connection on the positive battery terminal that I finally noticed when I was checking the voltage on the fusible links.  Ha!  Before this project, I didn't even know that relays existed!  Or how to use a multimeter!  And I always had wondered how to start a car with a screwdriver.  I really appreciate the suggestions, thanks a ton!  Now, on to the valve cover gaskets.

Well good deal and learning these things is worth the effort.

Rule #1 of troubleshooting ANYTHING:

 

Always check for power first.  Trace the power all the way from the source to the end.

 

90% of all problems can be found this way.

 

80% of the problems will be found very close to the source.

 

This what I have learned after 35+ years of keeping old cars running and working as an instrument engineer in heavy industry. 

 

Rule #1 of troubleshooting ANYTHING:

 

Always check for power first.  Trace the power all the way from the source to the end.

 

90% of all problems can be found this way.

 

80% of the problems will be found very close to the source.

 

This what I have learned after 35+ years of keeping old cars running and working as an instrument engineer in heavy industry. 

 

I couldn't have said it better myself Robm. That and faulty ground connections are big trouble makers.

Power = Ground, really.  2 sides of the same thing. If it goes out, it has to come back again.

 

The nice thing about 3 phase power and single phase or DC control wiring is there and back are in the same cable. 

k.i.s.s. principle