MONTE CARLO Intermittent electrical outage

[jcrane05]

Drove the car fine for months with no issues. Then the other day, poof! Engine wouldn’t start. Started with the basics, battery shows 100% power (new a couple months ago). Swapped in a new alternator, same issue. Checked all grounds and wiring, still nothing.

The weird part is if the car sits for 10+ minutes I can turn the key on and I have power. Red light on the dash, headlights work, etc. When I turn the key to start, the power goes out and doesn’t come back on for at least 10 min.

I think I’ve narrowed it down to either the starter, or the ignition switch. But it doesn’t make sense to me that if either of those were faulty why the power would be completely out for a limited amount of time, and then come back on. There’s a click sound that you would typically hear from a faulty starter, but that doesn’t explain losing all power. Any help? Or has anybody ran into this? Thanks

 

[ELCAM]

Just a wild A** guess, The starter solenoid is drawing too much current and someone has replaced the fuseable link(s) with circuit breaker(s). See if you can pin down the clicking noise.

Edited to add. Did it have an alarm system? Any interlocks? Might be an unhappy relay too.

 

[jcrane05]

Just a wild A** guess, The starter solenoid is drawing too much current and someone has replaced the fuseable link(s) with circuit breaker(s). See if you can pin down the clicking noise.

Edited to add. Did it have an alarm system? Any interlocks? Might be an unhappy relay too.

Haven’t seen anything for an alarm system, but when I dropped the steering column I did see a toggle switch that looks aftermarket. Mounted underneath the dash on the left side. Unreachable with the column in place so I didn’t think that was an issue. I’ll post a pic when I get home. If the solenoid is the issue that’s cutting the power, what would the reason be for the power coming back on by itself? The solenoid just resets itself?

 

[ELCAM]

Often alarm systems had an override switch in case you lost the remote. Being somewhere weird is on the installer probably trying to be clever,

The 10 minute delay sounds like a circuit breaker but not a normal automotive one, that's why I wonder if it has been modified.

Locate the source of the click it is likely a circuit breaker or a relay with a circuit breaker built in.

 

[303'505rollin]

My caprice was doing something like that a month ago completely turned off outta no where after some flickering and it left me on the side of the road. I did the check of every connection and nothing so I dug in a little more on the basics battery alternator starter, turns out the nut was coming loose on the power wire to the starter jigging loose on the dirt road to my place and I should have guessed something was up when the check engine light would barely flicker but never light when I drive back from work at night. Starter is what I'd check out

 

[airboatgreg]

If you have a side terminal battery disconnect the cables to see if they are corroded. Take a voltmeter, hook to battery terminals and have someone try to crank the car and see what happens to the voltage