87 GL Starting/Running problems

[davepays]

Hi There!

I'm currently having a problem with my wife's 87 GL wagon. Basically the battery isn't getting charged, and since this car has an electronic fuel injection, after a jump start the car dies seconds/minutes after the cables are taken off. The altenator tests good as does the battery. Both are less then a year old. When the problem first happened last week (suddenly wouldn't start), I jumped it and drove it a few miles home. I checked it out and found a bunch of corrosion on the + battery terminal and wires. I cleaned it all up, charged up the battery, and reinstalled it. The car worked fine for a few hundred miles (about a week), then problem reoccurred. This time after the car was jumpstarted, it drove a few hundred feet and died (as if it wasn't getting fuel).

 

My assumption thus far is that it must be a cable or connection that has gone bad. What I can't figure out is exactly which connection that is as it does not appear that there is a direct connection between the alternator and the battery. I've seen conflicting info on this board as to whether the regulator is external or internal, although I'm inclined to believe that it is internal based on what I've read and seen.

 

I started to pull the whole wiring harness out of a GL in the pick n pull today and then decided to take just the battery-> starter solenoid wires and check it out before wasting too much time. I'm not to confident that this is the problem.

 

Any suggestions folks??

Thanks!

David

[Snowman]

(Your alternator has an internal regulator)

 

Do you have a digital Ohm-meter or know somebody that does? If so, start checking resistance in all the cables, wires, and connections that appear to relate to the battery and alternator. If you don't have a DVOM, check the physical appearance of them. It's quite likely that there is high resistance in one of the ground cables, or in the connection between the alternator and the battery. I worked on a Ford last summer that had a ground cable that looked okay but had THIRTY SEVEN Ohms of resistance. No wonder why nothing worked. Now, I can't picture in my head how the alternator is connected, but I'm pretty sure it goes through a fusible link before connecting to the battery or anywhere else. You might pull the cover off of the fusible link box and give each one a good tug to see if they're burned out. Like I said, I can't remember how all that goes together, but it's something to check.