dkas Posted April 1, 2012 Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 Car - 1994 Cutlass Convertible with 3.4 DOHC Problem - No power to the car, no lights on when you open the door, no dash lights, no noise when you turn the key. Completely dead. Thought it was the batttery, so I replaced it. It worked for a day and now it will not start unless you have 2 people. One in the car to turn the key and one under the hood to wiggle the positive post by the fuse box. By wiggling the positive post the battery sparks and then the car regains power. Once started you have no idea how long it will run. It eventually loses all power and quits...even it you are driving it. Here is what I have tried to fix it- New Battery I have cleaned the positive post - now even harder to start (starter new clicks twice before it starts) Tried the other key hoping it was the chip on the key. (no difference) I am hoping someone on this form has had a similar problem and can help me pin point it. I cannot afford to spend a ton of money on this as I have lost my job and electricial issues are usually expensive and time consuming to fix. This will have to go to a garage because I cannot do this type of work, so if I can tell them to replace xyz than hopefully I can say the time of diagnosing it and thus save some money. Appreciate the help folks Donna K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted April 1, 2012 Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 By wiggling the positive post the battery sparks and then the car regains power. Clearly a connection problem. You claimed to have cleaned the post. Did you clean the cable end? They often corrode inside the "sealed terminal". Is it tight--there should be no "wiggle" to the cable on the battery post. Come to think of it, how are you accessing the positive post on the battery? Isn't it covered by the windshield washer tank? Tracing the electrical power with a voltmeter to determine where the power loss is would be one of my first steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkas Posted April 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2012 Sorry I guess I have not explained things very well. It is not the actual battery cable I wiggle. It is the post by the fuse box. There is a wire that goes from the positive terminal on the battery to a metal post near the fuse box. If I wiggle this the post the battey terminal on the battery will spark and then I can have someone turn over the car and it will start. The car will not start without this process. In addition the car will just quit so you cannot drive it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich_e777 Posted April 2, 2012 Report Share Posted April 2, 2012 connection problem 2nd, is the post tight or loose? also at the end of the cable is there alot of corrosion where the wires meet the clamp? and is the thead in your battery stripped? I had a battery with the positive cables` bolt being stripped out of its thread and it didnt make a very good connection. What about a ground wire coming of that same connection? Ive got a 3100 in mine of the same year and on that same box you are refering to there is a small ground wire under that post, i`d clean that up good to. Get new battery cable bolts, its usually a universal size for GM vehicles and its not much at an autozone or pepboys. Just push the olds out and the new ones pop right in and a pair of vice grips will probably help out alot with that. I had what sounds like your problem a few years back and someone had over tightened my battery cables and stripped both of them and after i made him buy me a new battery i figured out the cable bolts/posts/stud etc were stripped, changed them out in a grand total of 30 secs a piece and havent had an issue since. Dont take it to a garage you`ll end up paying alot more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkas Posted April 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2012 Anyone see a problem here? I removed the red cap and looky, looky, I have a wire with electricial tape around it and it appears to have burn marks on it. Do you think this might be my problem? I think this wire needs to be replaced. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penglii Posted April 2, 2012 Report Share Posted April 2, 2012 The pic is kindof blurry, but electrical tape + burn marks is always a good clue. It cannot hurt to replace that wire and see if it helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich_e777 Posted April 2, 2012 Report Share Posted April 2, 2012 You need a new wire unless you want to fix it yourself, if that you`ll need to cut the wire and redo the connection which is probably going to be a nice litte challenge. I`d just get a new one at a parts store, shouldnt be alot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Also make sure that nut is tight on there... They are known for coming loose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkas Posted April 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Fixed. In addition to the bolts being a problem, there was a bit of extra rubber on the cables that may have been not allowing things to connect properly. The car starts again and stays running. Now just have to replace the wire with the burn on it. Where does the wire at the bottom of the post go to? This the the wire at the bottom of the positive post by the fuse box. Thanks Donna K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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