99transamgirl

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys, I have a 84 T/A with 305 H.O. 700r4. It has no emissions hook up other than a cat on it, shorty headers, and is now a vacuum distributor instead of an electronic controlled one by the ecm. Just this summer, we had the car stall on us while driving. We have an all electronic dash installed. All the lights started to flicker and go crazy and then engine died. We lost all power. No flashers, no interior lights, no acc. power at all. No power to even try to restart the car. No clicking from the starter when you turned key. Just dead silence. We sat and after a while the power would start to return to everything and eventually back to the dash and ignition. Well, we put in a new ignition switch and ignition module and the problem seem to be fixed. Car has ran great for months now.
Well, on Thanksgiving we were returning home and I went to turn on the heat and the dash power flickered off and went crazy. And of course the engine then shut off while driving and we lost power. This time, we had interior lights, parking brake and headlights but the pop up motor wouldn't work to raise the lights. We had no dash power no radio no flashers and no power to the ignition to even try to crank the car. Dead silence. This time we waited for hours and no chance of starting. My husband found a part store open and we replaced the ignition module again. No luck. We had to get towed home.

When the car was being rolled off the bed, the dash lights began to flicker. Wh were pushing the car into the garage and as we rocked it back and forth the lights started to come on. I hopped in and as I put my foot on the brake it shut back off. No power. minute later power was back on. I hit the brake and still o.k. dash was lit up but when I went to turn the key it lost all power. Finally got power, waited, and car started right up. I haven't been able to get it to do what it did. Right now it won't die. I have checked all wires and connections I can find and seems to be no issues. Any clue what would cause this. I hate not knowing if it is safe to drive the car anywhere. Our car is black and very difficult to see at night if I get stuck on the side of the road. Thanks for any help.

lolvtec

you said you looked but sounds like a loose wire to me rocking it might reconect a loose connection this would be the first thing i looked at i had this issue when i did a motor swap it was a ground i didnt reconnect behind the motor but im assuming yours still has the stock motor

Ozz1967

iTrader: (4)

Check the main power on the starter. Could be heat soaked on the solonid causing issues or a loose wire down there. If the power doesn't get to the solonoid or through the solonoid, you'll lose all power to everything, dash, lights, no clicky on restart etc.

Start simple, make sure your battery terminal connections are tight and clean. Make sure the starter terminals are hooked up, clean and tight. Make sure the alternator connection is secure. Nothing in the dash itself would cause the entire car to crash that I know of, it's got to be the power coming in, so I think it's in the engine bay to be honest.

Could be the ground on the motor on the passenger side behind the head, goes from the firewall to the motor. If that's loose or not making a good connection it could cause all kinds of mayhem.

DukeofHurl

Might want to take a close look around the headers too, could have burned wires or be overheating the starter.

TreeFiddy

Agree with Ozz1967, sounds like an intermittent fault in one of the major power connections, either positive or ground. It's got to be battery/starter terminals/cabling/fusible links, to be knocking out everything at once. Something is dirty, loose or corroded.

lowridetractor

iTrader: (2)

sounds like a bad ground. i had a gmc that would just shut off while driving. i just wiggled one wire at a time, until it shut off. and replaced that wire. worked great ever since.

99transamgirl

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys. I turned the car on and rechecked every wire under the hood, ground wires, wires running to the starter, and every wire under the dash panel by the brakes. I yanked and wiggled but no luck getting the car to shut off or even loses power for a moment. All the ground wires and power wires are all clean and very tight. I had cleaned them last time the problem happened but rechecked them again. Very frustrating not being able to reproduce the issue. Is there a way to test the solenoid on the starter to tell if it is getting heat soaked? also, how can I test the fusible link?

TreeFiddy

You might need to wait until it faults out again, then try the wiggle checks once more - like you mentioned it came back to life while backing it off a tow truck. Just need to narrow it down.

I had a tricky no-start situation a while back - turned out to be the neg battery cable. Terminal and cable looked pristine, but it was rotten inside. Only found it because I was bypassing cables one by one in desperation.

99transamgirl

iTrader: (1)

Thank! I think that is what I will have to do.