My buddy just bought an 86 xt turbo. The owner said it needed a new alternator. We hooked the car up to my battery w/ jumper cables and it fired up to see if it ran well, it started first try, but as soon as we unhooked the car from my battery it sputtered out and died. We tried giving it some gas to see if we could keep it running w/out jumpers. This caused a power surge that seemed to turn on all of the electrical components, e.g. wipers, head lights, dash brightened, it was crazy.

Anyways he put a new alternator in it and it won't start now. A fuse labeled engine control, or something like that, burns out every time the key is turned into the "on" position. Car is getting spark. Any ideas? thanks

OK im going to guess you have a very very angry battery cable going to the starter. or the starter has a dead short in it.

Inspect all battery cables

Check the starter wiith an ohm meter to see if there is a dead short. Check the battery for a dead short. Inspect ALL wiring under the hood for any abrasions.

Check the fusable links

Check all the fuses

Make sure the fuel pump is running.

 

It sounds like either you accidently shorted somethig out with the jumper cables or a big current item freid whae you did it. If the battery is good, dissconnect the alt and start the car, it should start. There arent too many places on the car that would make that big fuse blow.

 

nipper

all my training is tellin me that there is a short somewhere in the starting circuit, caused by a jump in power, or the jumper cables not bein placed right, when jumping a car it is best to put the neg cable of the calbes on the engine block to prevent a short, or surge, trace all the wires to the starter and teh coil to be sure, and then check the fuse block.

 

hope that helps

 

mike