In my agitation this morning, I accidentially posted this to the moderated tech tips thread I was reading earlier. Forgive me for I know not what I do 
1989 Turbo, 7MGTE, no mods. California car, dry climate.
In the last couple of days, my car has been developing a problem that has been getting increasingly worse. It has a habit of not starting, and/or dying at random. When it's in one of it's snits, you'll get into the car, everything will be normal, stuff will beep, lights will come on, stereo will come on in Accessory or on, but when you turn the key to start, it just up and dies, no relays clicking, no anything, no lights, no power at all (not even hazards.) until you get out and wiggle the negative battery terminal, at which point the car will start, but not properly idle. It'll idle roughly at around 500RPM, then just get slower and slower until it stops (over a period of about three seconds.) As long as you prevent the engine from idling, it'd be fine. Last night, I replaced the battery's negative terminal, because my old one was corroded and nasty (standard crappy pressed metal negative terminal) crimping the two ground straps to it. Car started fine, idled normally, ran fine, until I got almost home, and it just died. No fuss, no muss, just dead. got out, jiggled the battery connector again, and was able to limp it home once more (would not idle, etc.) I attributed this to a crappy job done in the dark, with inferior tools, and a flashlight between the teeth. This morning, I went out loosened hte clamp, stripped my ground straps back a bit further and clamped them down much more securely. I'm fairly confident about my job there. Get in, start up, car starts, runs, idles normally. I get to a stoplight on my way to work, car dies in the same manner. Get out of the car in a panic cos I have no brakelights, hazards, or again, any power at all, and wiggle negative battery terminal again, hear "key in ignition" to confirm I have power again, car starts, but again, will not idle properly.
I have a feeling that my ground is still bad somehow, but what on earth would cause it to be this intermittent? I've hacked off the old battery connector, and put on a new one, but I still jiggle the wires leading to it to get power to work. Why on earth would all the power in my car die completely until I jiggle the cable? Has anyone seen anything like this before? Could this be indicitive of a bigger problem?
I'm going to replace my ground straps unless someone has a better idea. I'm no EE, but is it possible that with the high current loads on them, they could have rather high resistive properties by now?
Thanks for your help, this is a bit of a worrisome (and rather dangerous -- no power == no hazards when it fails, until I get out and massage the negative terminal just right.
Slightly offtopic: Anyone wanna buy an '89 turbo targa 5spd that won't pass smog? Take my dog, Please! *grins*
Cheers!
CCC
1989 Turbo, 7MGTE, no mods. California car, dry climate.
In the last couple of days, my car has been developing a problem that has been getting increasingly worse. It has a habit of not starting, and/or dying at random. When it's in one of it's snits, you'll get into the car, everything will be normal, stuff will beep, lights will come on, stereo will come on in Accessory or on, but when you turn the key to start, it just up and dies, no relays clicking, no anything, no lights, no power at all (not even hazards.) until you get out and wiggle the negative battery terminal, at which point the car will start, but not properly idle. It'll idle roughly at around 500RPM, then just get slower and slower until it stops (over a period of about three seconds.) As long as you prevent the engine from idling, it'd be fine. Last night, I replaced the battery's negative terminal, because my old one was corroded and nasty (standard crappy pressed metal negative terminal) crimping the two ground straps to it. Car started fine, idled normally, ran fine, until I got almost home, and it just died. No fuss, no muss, just dead. got out, jiggled the battery connector again, and was able to limp it home once more (would not idle, etc.) I attributed this to a crappy job done in the dark, with inferior tools, and a flashlight between the teeth. This morning, I went out loosened hte clamp, stripped my ground straps back a bit further and clamped them down much more securely. I'm fairly confident about my job there. Get in, start up, car starts, runs, idles normally. I get to a stoplight on my way to work, car dies in the same manner. Get out of the car in a panic cos I have no brakelights, hazards, or again, any power at all, and wiggle negative battery terminal again, hear "key in ignition" to confirm I have power again, car starts, but again, will not idle properly.
I have a feeling that my ground is still bad somehow, but what on earth would cause it to be this intermittent? I've hacked off the old battery connector, and put on a new one, but I still jiggle the wires leading to it to get power to work. Why on earth would all the power in my car die completely until I jiggle the cable? Has anyone seen anything like this before? Could this be indicitive of a bigger problem?
I'm going to replace my ground straps unless someone has a better idea. I'm no EE, but is it possible that with the high current loads on them, they could have rather high resistive properties by now?
Thanks for your help, this is a bit of a worrisome (and rather dangerous -- no power == no hazards when it fails, until I get out and massage the negative terminal just right.
Slightly offtopic: Anyone wanna buy an '89 turbo targa 5spd that won't pass smog? Take my dog, Please! *grins*
Cheers!
CCC
