76Stinger

Took my son fishing yesterday evening and on the way home, my car started cutting out. The lights would go out, the engine would "stop / skip" but only for a frac tion of a second. This went on for a minute or so and then stopped. Needless to say I was a nervous wreck the rest of the way home. No cell phone with me, out on a redneck country back road and not knowing if the car would go another mile, let alone the 20 or so home.

Any idea where to look? I thought fuel, but that wouldn't cause the lights to go out. Electrical - would that cause the engine to miss or stop running?

Point me oh Great Ones and I shall follow.

STW :seeya
Robert
76Stinger

ettev

Loose connection on the battery terminals, on the starter solenoid, or on the horn relay.

LAvetteman

Horn Relay???

I agree, check connections at battery, starter, and grounds to engine and frame.

76Stinger

Appreciate the replies but don't understand how one of these being loose could cause all electrical and engine to just quit suddenly.

BTW - it cleared up and hadn't had anymore problems until Saturday night. Again, out on the road, this time major highway, and poof - no engine or electrical. This time it was out and out for good. I managed to coast into a small strip mall along the road but almost got creamed several times as it was dark and I was without any lights. Tow truck driver could find nothing to help so I ended up having it trailered home once again.

It is now FOR SALE! I am sick and tired of this. Hopefully I can recover some of my investment. Just hope I can get it started before I sell it. Anyone in the Memphis area interested in swapping for a nice Harley? :(

STW
Robert
76Stinger

76Stinger

I did pull the battery and checked the ground underneath. All seemed tight with no corrosion. Checked as many connections as I could think of the next morning but it is deader than a door nail. Turn the key on and nothing - no interior lights when you open the door - zip point nada.

MasterDave

This is a COMMON problem on early vettes. It's the big red wire on the firewall connector that is your problem. The little blade connectors in there just do not cut it after a few years. You can do one of two things to cure it. Buy a new harness ($$) or do as I did with mine. Solder a 'jumper wire' to the engine side of the harness and stick it thru the firewall and solder it to the same wire on the dash side. No problems with mine for over 3 years now. :cheers:

TKE_IO440

MasterDave,
Could you give a little more details on this procedure, because I have been having a similar ongoing electrical problem and the fix you describe probably will solve the problem.
Thanks

ettev

The horn relay serves as the voltage distribution point to many of the cars electrical systems/accessories. It gets powered from the battery via 12 ga. wire coming off the starter solenoid. I'm thinking that the 12 ga. wire going to the firewall connector is fed from this horn relay. I believe it chokes down into a smaller 16 ga. wire (blue or black) at the horn relay (kind of a fusible link w/o the fuse).

MasterDave, I'd be interested in more details on your fix as well. My car has been doing the same thing, actually blowing the fusible link up near the horn relay. To perform your fix I'm assuming the fuse panel/holder inside the car needs to be removed, or are we talking about the red wire just in the 2-piece bulkhead connector?


[Modified by ettev, 12:46 PM 9/15/2003]

wombvette

The fix is very simple. If you will remove the bulkhead connector, you will see the melted terminal ( red wire). Just jumper that wire through the connector.