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Gremlins in my 85

4K views 24 replies 13 participants last post by  ccc 
#1 ·
Driving around today ( second day owning an elky) I noticed a few things and wonder if it might all be one thing. First the power windows are slow, so are the wipers. When the turn signals are on i can see the tachometer and volt meter twitch everytime they blink. If the headlights are on the blinkers blink super slow and the twitch is worse. Also the radio just stopped working at one point (no sound at all) right after i started the engine and came back at a stoplight ten minutes later. Any of this sound familiar to anyone? Any thoughts as to how much of this is connected to some other problem (and if so, what?).
 
#4 ·
Does it idle really slow in drive? maybe pick up the idle rpm a little. go with above advise.
 
#8 ·
thanks

Thanks guys. The wiring under the hood is mostly new(ish). With some funky old stuff mixed in, some of which isn't even connected. Feel like I should clean it all up and replace a lot of it while I'm checking and cleaning the grounds. Gonna pull the alternator and take it to be tested first and then deal with the wiring once I have more time (and want a headache).
 
#9 ·
If the alt is bad (and you have a volt meter indicator, rather than an idiot lite) then it will indicate it is not charging properly. The USUAL culprit is GROUNDING!!! Take your grounds loose, clean them, and TIGHTEN!! You need to make sure of dash/body/frame/battery, and the more the merrier!!!
 
#11 ·
Still working my way through the grounds. Did the battery and all of the visible ones under the hood. No change. What am I missing? I know there's one under the wiper motor but can't figure out how to get to it without removing that motor. The gauges on the right side act sticky and my speedo flutters occasionally. I figure an older car is entitled to a few quirks, but this feels a little unsafe as I don't know what might go out. The more I look at my wiring (and hoses) the more I want to replace it all, but I'm short on cash and skill (and know how, but that part gets better everyday thanks to you guys).:You_Rock:
 
#12 ·
if you can find no obvious signs for the gauge fluctuations pull the complete pod and clean all of its connections ,pull and clean and tighten the studs that hold the individual gauges into thier carrier,remove and clean the clips that connect the printed circuit to the pod,clean the circuit strips that the clips go to. i always solder the clips in once i clean them . disconnect the battery and clean the terminals on the dash to pod connecter plug. clean and tighten the dash ground above the parking brake,it holds the left bottom corner of the dash to the car.the ground for the wiper is a strap attached to one of the screws that secures the wiper motor to the body. you can remove the screw and retighten it and that usually will do unless it is really dirty/rusty.then you will need to remove it and clean it .the speedo is mechanical and driven by a cable if it jumps around it either needs the cable cleaned and lubed or replaced.look for 13.6 to 14.2 with it idleing with the lights and acesories all on.make sure that the alt is good and hot for the test,as the voltage will drop off quite a bit from cold to hot. now a bad battery will make an alt seem bad and vice versa ,so have the battery load tested.if its takeing too much from the alt to keep it charged it will lower the power available to run everything else.one more thing to check is the line from the alt to the batt. i have seen them burn up and lower the voltage so much everthing else wouldnt work properly. a simple back yard way to check this is with a set of jumper cables. hook your volt meter to the batt. and the jumper cables red to the alt output lead and the black to the alt frame and connect the pos to the battery and look for a big change and do the same for the neg end.if one or the other makes a big change.that is where you need to look.
 
#13 ·
ok. wipers now work in low and pulse. they do their part when I turn on the washer, but no squirts. never did find the strap but I found a loose screw on the cover and tightened the heck out of it. :smileyb:

idling with the lights on voltage is just under 13. didn't check in drive yet, this was in park. parked idle is around 14 in drive about ten.

thanks again for all the help. I love my elky but don't really feel I can be too proud of her until I've done the work myself. all you knowledgeable and friendly folks are getting me closer to that everyday.:beer:
 
#15 ·
I found a ground wire loose on the block next to the top radiator hose neck on the block. I would have never seen it but did when changing the thermostat. It's screwed to the top of the block by itself out of view.:dontknow:
 
#17 ·
my 86 came with a 105 amp cs alt on it and it idles at 14 volts with the lights and heater blowing.it makes little differance in or out of gear. if the voltage at the back of the alt is 10 then i would say its bad but if its 13/14 then you have a really bad wire or connection between the alt and battery
 
#18 ·
found and cleaned the dash ground. wipers went back to high only once I closed the hood. gonna work on it more tomorrow, start with the cable from alt to battery.

sorry for the confusion caused by last post, by ten and fourteen, I meant my rpms. 10000 and 14000.
 
#21 ·
Theres still a few around.

Quick little cars with the 304 in them. Still crudders but quick.

 
#24 ·
thank you!

:You_Rock: really appreciate the pic. Sadly, mine does not have that ground. Just a screw with washers on it. Should I add a ground? There's a spot nearby on the firewall where a ground wire was cut off (po left screw with a ring terminal under it there). My wiper motor has the harness clip on the right, and another with two wires on the bottom of the washer pump.

Tested the wire from batt to alt, no joy. Still havent found the problem and i've cleaned the primary grounds and all the others I can find. Think a larger alternator or batt would solve my problems? With the electric fuel pump (as soon as I get ramps or jack stands that's getting remounted with some rubber) and cassette deck I know its pulling more volts than intended.
 
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