'84 Carrera - Elect. Failure, car towed come.

[Arne2]

Not the greatest start. I've owned the car all of 10 days now, had to have it towed home tonight.

1984 Carrera Coupe. Started and ran fine leaving work, got half way home, car started to buck and sputter, and after another 1/4 mile, died. Coasted to the shoulder, tried to restart, but no crank.

Definitely seems to be an electrical failure - relay or fuse?

Plenty of battery, but I did note that when I turn the ignition on, the alternator warning light does NOT light up. Other warning lights seem to work normally. Still no crank now that it is in the garage.

Any suggestions?

[Scott R]

Is it possible that you just have a lose battery cable? Or a bad connection at the main on the starter?

[Flat6pac]

The yellow wire to the starter is the ignition that runs the starter selenoid. You need to check if there is power when you turn the key to start through that wire. Put a light to ground from the yellow and have someone turn the key to crank.
Bruce

[Arne2]

Starter wiring doesn't explain the car dying while driving at 60 MPH on the freeway, but I will check.

I probably need to make it clear - when it died, it felt like lack of fuel. Perhaps ignition, but I don't think so. Is there any particular circuit that the starter solenoid and the fuel pump share?

[mholbrook38]

Check fuel pump relay, computer relay. Spark and fuel.

[plumb4u2]

DME relay under driver seat?

if you dont have a spare buy one and throw it in glove box, this is a common failure on our cars

[Arne2]

Would a failed DME relay prevent the starter from engaging?

[Arne2]

Update - the battery was down to only 8.7 V. I had no warning light, in fact still no light even now. I suppose the indicator bulb may be bad, but I thought it was working properly over the weekend.

Battery is an Odyssey 925 in a Rennline mount with shut-off. Got it on a tickle charger now.

[Arne2]

Another update - after charging the battery some (up to 11.7 V so far), car started right up. No charge going to the battery, though, so the alternator will have to come out. Still not certain why I get no warning light, the bulb checks out good.

[timmy2]

Check all your fuses, then start checking wiring connections. Download the wiring diagrams for your car from the site here. You can check your alternator output at a terminal connection to see if it's working without pulling it.

[Tippy]

If the alternator is kaput, I'd try a rebuilder before spending big money on a new or rebuilt.

[divehire]

i have had a number of DME relays die.
but if the car is running at the time (my own has continued to run) until switched off then of course it will not start.
but cranking no problem there.

[ivangene]

really sorry about the problems - sounds like you are on the right track to a fix....

the trouble with an old car is sometimes things fail...seems like you had a few in a row but I hope she gives you some lovin' soon....

[kodioneill]

Alternator failure possible regulator. I would have it rebuilt. Your battery may be shot. It may be smart to replace it also.

[Arne2]

The car came with a Bentley, so I have all the diagrams. Battery is fairly fresh, and seemed quite fine until the charging system failed. I left it on the charger all night, it is fully charged (12.7 V) this morning.

I am certain that all was well last week. I know that I have seen the charge warning light operate normally (on with ignition, off after the engine starts) at some point during my brief ownership.

As I indicated, after I got it started in the garage last night, the DVM showed no charge at all. The warning light does not come on with the key now, either. I tested the bulb, it is good. According to Bentley, this indicates one of two things - either the circuit from the warning light to the alternator (blue wire) is bad/disconnected, or the alternator has failed.

I do have a local rebuilder handy. I agree, in the past that has always been a better deal than the production rebuilt exchange units.

Will start work on this after I get home from work tonight. I plan to check the blue wire at the alternator first, as if that wire is not making connection, my understanding is that the alternator won't be "triggered" and start charging, which would fit my symptoms. But I suspect that's a long shot, and that the alternator itself is probably bad.

[Arne2]

Pulled the alternator tonight. Not sure if it has been rebuilt before, it is a Rhone, not Bosch. Tested the warning light circuit (blue wire) as suggested in the Bentley, light works as it should. (I wish my high beam indicator was half that bright, but that's another topic.)

Will drag it down to the local alternator rebuilder tomorrow morning.

[Arne2]

Epilog - back on the road.

Dropped the alternator off at the local rebuilder on Wednesday morning. After testing, they confirmed that the VR was bad for sure, but initial tests showed the alternator itself to be fine. Said they'd need to replace the VR to be 100% certain. After the new VR arrived, they confirmed that the alternator was good, and ready to go. Total cost - $67.50.

Started putting it all back together after dinner last night, finished this morning. The warning light once again works as it should, and the system is charging normally again (per DVM).

Thanks to all for the support on this.

[Flat Six]

Originally Posted by Arne2

Epilog - back on the road.

Dropped the alternator off at the local rebuilder on Wednesday morning. After testing, they confirmed that the VR was bad for sure, but initial tests showed the alternator itself to be fine. Said they'd need to replace the VR to be 100% certain. After the new VR arrived, they confirmed that the alternator was good, and ready to go. Total cost - $67.50.

Started putting it all back together after dinner last night, finished this morning. The warning light once again works as it should, and I'm the system is charging normally again (per DVM).

Thanks to all for the support on this.

Got it fixed and got away relatively cheap -- excellent! It pays to do thorough and systematic troubleshooting . . .

[kidrock]

that's awesome news!!! I guess not everything costs $300 to repair these cars.

[Jesse16]

Had similar issue on my car 2 years ago, but it went the other way and over charged the battery and boiled it ! Sulfuric acid fumes coming in while driving is a new experience, believe me.
I think a spare VR on the shelf is a reasonable part to own along with a DME. I actually had one and did the replacement in a hotel parking lot. (after a drive home in a rental car to get the part and tools.) Not so bad when the weather is nice.