97loudcut Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Okay I am not too worried about this because so far nothing major has happened. First of all, I cannot remeber if this has happened since my sound system was stolen. But.. Sometimes when I would go to start the car (1 out of 30 times) the car wouldnt start (no sounds no turing over just nothing). It would also reset my CD player back to it's factory setting and I would have to adjust everything again. Also when I do start my car it seems like the volts drop and then come back up really shorty. Or it feels like the car is going to shut off but then it regains its strength. Then whenever I am at stop lights my headlights flicker along with the lights behind my gauge cluster but then when I start going it is fine again. I tested my alternator at work along with my battery and they were both fine. Actually the alternator was overcharging the battery a little bit but still in the "okay" range on the voltage checking device. What the hell is going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97loudcut Posted October 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97loudcut Posted October 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 c'mon help me out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJansen658 Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Well that sounds like a bad alt. as far as the lights flickering, but the CD player resetting leads me to believe it is losing connection to power altogether. First thing I would check is the jumpstart terminal on the strut tower, make sure the nut is tight and the wires look ok, no corrosion. Then check positive battery terminal, connections at the alt. and the starter. Then do a "wiggle test" on all of the wiring above. Have someone sit in the car, running, with the lights on prefferably at night. Then you wiggle the wires as they watch the guage and the lights. When you tested the alt. output what was the voltage? 14.3 is ideal, any higher is not.... Many alts will only show 13.8, 13.9 and still be fine. Have you load tested the battery? And do you have a system running while driving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97loudcut Posted October 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 yes we load tested the battery...we tested everything at my work...everything seemed fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regal_GS_1989 Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Check all your connections from the battery. I would be willing to bet there is something loose or corroded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Cutlass Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Do a big 3 upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 loose remote positive terminal nut? loose steering column bolts where grounds attach at the base? total momentary dead power could be cased by a momentary short of the cables you may have added for the sound system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJansen658 Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Well that sounds like a bad alt. as far as the lights flickering, but the CD player resetting leads me to believe it is losing connection to power altogether. First thing I would check is the jumpstart terminal on the strut tower, make sure the nut is tight and the wires look ok, no corrosion. Then check positive battery terminal, connections at the alt. and the starter. Then do a "wiggle test" on all of the wiring above. Have someone sit in the car, running, with the lights on prefferably at night. Then you wiggle the wires as they watch the guage and the lights. When you tested the alt. output what was the voltage? 14.3 is ideal, any higher is not.... Many alts will only show 13.8, 13.9 and still be fine. Have you load tested the battery? And do you have a system running while driving? Check all your connections from the battery. I would be willing to bet there is something loose or corroded. loose remote positive terminal nut? loose steering column bolts where grounds attach at the base? total momentary dead power could be cased by a momentary short of the cables you may have added for the sound system. It is going to be one of these things.... I'm telling you... intelligent minds think alike... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Do you have a chip in your key? if so get another one made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psych0matt Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Do you have a chip in your key? if so get another one made. that wouldnt cause things to reset. no start, yes, but not resetting things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97loudcut Posted October 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Okay I went to leave today and car started up and I put it in reverse right away after it started (when it seems like the volts drop) AND IT DIED. I turned it over again and it started fine and I waited a couple seconds before I put it in gear and it was like nothing ever happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psych0matt Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 Okay I went to leave today and car started up and I put it in reverse right away after it started (when it seems like the volts drop) AND IT DIED. I turned it over again and it started fine and I waited a couple seconds before I put it in gear and it was like nothing ever happened. That's happened to me a few times. I think check all your cables and everything, make sure theyre all tight and clean. I need to do that too, as you well know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z34duck Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 I was having the same type of problems check all battery connections for corrision and tightness on both ends (down at the starter , neg where it bolts on the tranny) i cleaned and tightend all these up and have had no problems since Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SigEpCutlass Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Matt you should check all the grounds underneath your hood to make sure none of them are corroded and that they're tight. What is disturbing is that your lights are flickering. Normally, I would say that's a red flag for an alternator, as many people have had that happen (myself included) very soon before their alternator crapped the bed. When you had it tested, are you sure you put it back on correctly and all the connections were tight? Here's another thought to ponder. I have in the past had a problem where I thought my car died far away from my house when I was traveling back to school. I had a malfunction of the passlock system with the chip in my key. I had to wait like 5-10mins and then the car started right up like nothing had ever happened. I switched to my other ignition key 2 years ago, and I haven't had that problem since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDCX Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Check your negative (black) battery terminal, I guarentee you that's it's corroded. As they've said before, do a wiggle test to verify. The same thing happened to my 92' Regal, I took it off, cleaned the terminal and it never happened again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegasm Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Yeah, it sounds to me your terminals need a cleanin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runt Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 Clean / Check your terminals. Also, what condition is your battery in? I really didn't read anything else other than the first post simply b/c I'm lazy right now. I had a problem like this on my Cutty. Turned out even though the battery tested "ok" I ended up replacing it anyway and it never happened again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97loudcut Posted October 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 IT'S GETTING WORSE! I have an Optima Yellow Top BTW So I go to start my car and it starts and then it shuts off. I get it to start finally after it cranking for longer than usual and the lights are flickering like fucking crazy and it is barely staying on. Seems like the problems go away as soon as I get going though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 Did you check your damn terminals yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97loudcut Posted October 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 nope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 nope GOD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97loudcut Posted October 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 tomorow at work I will clean them wiener Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegasm Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 Yeah, it sounds to me your terminals need a cleanin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SigEpCutlass Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 it's not going to get any better if you don't do anything to fix it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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