After a few ocassions of battery cables coming loose and car failing to start here and there, I took the plunge and bought a new battery and some new cables and got to work on ripping things apart.
The starter on this 1985 Cutlass had what could only be referred to as hack job wiring (I'll try to get a pic later). I pulled out this rotted, shredded mess of fusible links, what looked like burnt up speaker wire, and electrical tape. So needless to say, there was work to be done. I ran a new thicker gauge wire (the size escapes me at the moment) off the small terminal of the starter and up to the inside wheelwell, where I mounted an automatic resetting relay (I hate fusible links). I ran the two factory wires (that were previously connected to the melted fusible links) to the other side/connector of that. My pink/purple ignition wire is okay. My alternator wire to the battery is fine. I started everything up, runs good. I ran some Sea Foam through the carb (haha, white smoke is funny) and drove the crap out of it. I've been driving it off and on for a few days. Now comes the problem:
I pull into the Burger King drive-thru, early in the morning: it's dark out, my headlights are on, my heater is on full blast, my foot is on my brake. I pay for my coffee, get ready to pull up and the car shuts off. Everything. Turn off the key, wait a minute or two and start it back up again, and drive it home. So something cut out/overloaded the relay.
If you were me, where would you start looking first? I have one of those Craftsman Voltage testers (which I know how to check 12 volts with, but that's about it) so what should I be looking for? Volts on lines? Amps on lines? I'm no electrician, but I do know the basics of electricity and how to and not to electrocute myself. So what should I check first?
The starter on this 1985 Cutlass had what could only be referred to as hack job wiring (I'll try to get a pic later). I pulled out this rotted, shredded mess of fusible links, what looked like burnt up speaker wire, and electrical tape. So needless to say, there was work to be done. I ran a new thicker gauge wire (the size escapes me at the moment) off the small terminal of the starter and up to the inside wheelwell, where I mounted an automatic resetting relay (I hate fusible links). I ran the two factory wires (that were previously connected to the melted fusible links) to the other side/connector of that. My pink/purple ignition wire is okay. My alternator wire to the battery is fine. I started everything up, runs good. I ran some Sea Foam through the carb (haha, white smoke is funny) and drove the crap out of it. I've been driving it off and on for a few days. Now comes the problem:
I pull into the Burger King drive-thru, early in the morning: it's dark out, my headlights are on, my heater is on full blast, my foot is on my brake. I pay for my coffee, get ready to pull up and the car shuts off. Everything. Turn off the key, wait a minute or two and start it back up again, and drive it home. So something cut out/overloaded the relay.
If you were me, where would you start looking first? I have one of those Craftsman Voltage testers (which I know how to check 12 volts with, but that's about it) so what should I be looking for? Volts on lines? Amps on lines? I'm no electrician, but I do know the basics of electricity and how to and not to electrocute myself. So what should I check first?
