Its an '83 GS, pretty much stock. It drove fine the other night but when I tried to start it this afternoon, I found out all my electrical stuff died out on me. No starter, no interior lights, no fuel pump coming on, headlights don't work, nothing!!

I checked the fusebox under the dash and all the fuses look fine. I cleaned out the battery terminals and still nothing. I ran a search and was directed to check the fuseable links. How can you tell if they're in bad shape? And will one off a '79 work in case I need to swap it?

Lastly, what else can cause my whole electrical system to die? I need to get this car back on the road ASAP!!

 

Oh, thought I should mention that we tried jumpstarting it and switching batteries but still nothing...

 

Check the (Ground wires/cables From the battery to the chassis/Engine)

 

Thanks, I will check that too.

Anything else I should check? I have a free day tomorrow and want to try everything possible to get it running by the end of the day.

 

the middle fusable link on your driverside fender wall.

 

lemme know if u get it runnin if not I'm local and i'm an electrician .I can help u out on sundays

 

Thanks a bunch for the offer! Unfortunately, the car is with me in San Jose (I drive back to SF on the weekends.)

Just wanted to make sure the '79 fusible links are the same as the '83's. Going to swap them out tomorrow off my parts car.

 

No problem!

 

Ok, I know its been a month but I replaced it with another battery shortly after I posted this thread and it ran great for a month after around ~500 miles...

I went to go start the car today and it happened AGAIN!! No electrical stuff was working. I am very sure its not the fusible links, or my grounds. Like last time, I'm sure if I replace the battery, it will probably start up fine again.....but I really can't afford to spend $50-60 everytime this happens. So I'm wondering what can cause the battery to short out like that. What should I check out for?

This car is frustrating me...

 

Maybe you have a short in the alternator. Also, what is the condition of the wire that goes from the battery + to the fusible links? Do the headlights/retractors work? They are on different fusible links, so if it was a bad link, they would still work. Try to test the voltage at the battery if you have a meter. What happens a lot of the times is if you have an bad alt (short), it will cause the battery to become completely (for the most part) depleted. If the charge is not restored to the battery in time, an oxide layer can form on the plates, ruining the battery.

 

1) The wire from the battery to the fusibile links box seems a little old but looks ok...
2) Headlight don't work at all, nothing electrical works.
3) I'll try to get the battery tested pretty soon and will keep you updated.

But if I have a bad alternator, shouldn't it short out the battery almost nearly right away? Because I logged in ~500 miles within the month and it was running great until today. Also, the alternator was replaced only a few years ago with a reman.

Thanks.

 

I could be an intermittent short I suppose. It must not be the fusible links because the headlights/retractors aren't working. It would have to a really bad ground or + connection (completely not making contact) if not even the clock/interior lights are working. Or something causing a large draw when the car is off. When was the last time you drove it? Did it discharge overnight? I would have both the alt and the battery tested (free at AutoZone, NAPA, etc.). Just because it was replaced doesn't mean that it can't be bad.

 

When you try to jumpstart it you still have absolutely no electrical? If the battery is just "dead" then you should still be able to run the starter.

If you have nothing when jumpstarting, I would look for bad wiring or poor electrical connections. Its entirely possible that when you put the new battery in the cables got moved around to the right spot for everything to work.

Remove the alternator and take it to an autoparts store for testing, if you have a short they should be able to detect it. When you have the battery out and if you have a multimeter, you should check for continuity between the negative wire and a good chassis ground, then do the same for the positive cable. At the same time check voltage on the battery.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to replace your battery cables while your at it, get some wire for an arc welder's ground connection (available at any welding shop) it is a very pliable multistrand wire.

 

Absolutely... I've seen Reman alternators go out in a week, a few years isn't out of line for a autozone/kragen reman.

 

I drove a lot yesterday. Pretty sure it didn't discharge since I regularly drive it almost every day. I'll bring in the battery to get it tested this weekend. Then I got to drive back to where my FB is since I got to pick up tools at my house to remove the alternator. Then I'll get the alternator tested too.

jrs10, I'll try jumpstarting it tomorrow and see if that works. Some new grounds sound like a good idea just in case.

Thanks again for the help guys, this forum rocks.

 

Sounds like an alternator problem. Maybe it's not supplying enough amps to run the ign and it's draining your battery slowly.

 

If you are unsure of the condition of your fusible links, you can try what I did. Pick up an inline fuse holder, put a couple of ends on it and a 30 amp fuse and use that to replace the fusible link. Very easy to tell if it goes bad then, just look at the fuse.

Also, when my main fusible went bad a few days ago, I did not have headlights or anything. The fusible link still appeared to be good, but was apparently burnt out internally. Replacing it with the inline fuse fixed all issues (and jumpstarting did not work either). Hope this helps...

 

That sounds like a good idea but for the time being, I'm going to order a few more fusible links from Mazdatrix just in case.

Update: I didn't get a chance to get the battery and alternator tested because I have a busy weekend. BUT, I went and tried to start the car up this morning and surprisingly, some electric stuff worked again. The starter wouldn't engage but the dummy lights came on and I was able to get the headlights up and down, although they moved very slowly. I unhooked the battery terminals until I have time to work on it next week.

 

Hmm, now its starting to sound like a grounding issue more than anything else...

 

83s have fusebox problems: I've been struggling with mine for 22 years. It's too hard to replace the fusebox entirely, but if you loosen it from the metalwork you can see that fusholder prongs can be replaced in small groups. I went to the JY and cannibalized a few for spares. I think the plating is poor because sometimes I pull out a blade fuse and it has green corrosion on the fuse and I think it must have come from the prongs. I've tried cleaning the fuses but it's easier just to put in a new one from Kragens.

But fuse problems are usually confined to some subset (I just solved the problem of all the instruments being out). So maybe that's not your problem.

I've also had fusible links blowout on the 83, and I got a length of fuse material from Kragens, off the rack in a bubble pack. Works fine. Easier than inserting a new fuse block.

Your problem actually sounds like a bad battery cable or ground connection, which I have not had with any of my 7s, but I did have a lot of those problems with old Fiats and Alfas and the way I solved it was to use an old D'arsonval 15 voltmeter (I like it better than modern digital meters because I think it's more accurate if you draw a little current from the system) that I could read as low as 1/2 volt, and then I'd clip that onto various interesting battery/cable pairs and check while cranking the engine. A small drop like 1 volt can kill things. Sometimes it just requires cleaning the battery posts, sometimes tighten a ground cable connection, rarely it requires a new cable.

The 7s have aluminum battery cables, which can go bad, so I keep a good set of off-the-shelf (Kragens) copper cables ready to put in, but haven't needed them yet. Incidentally, the best battery cables are made from welding cable with marine battery post connectors: I used to start my minnesota ice fishing cars in 30 below weather with those babes and astound my friends!

B

 

Wow, thanks for the informative post. I'm driving back to my FB tomorrow and going to get a bunch of wires and add more grounds. Hopefully, it should be fine.