I have a 88 firebird with the 2.8 in it. I was driving yesterday going down the highway at about 55. Here is what happened the seat belt light flashed for a second and then everything went dead, car died. The dome light works, headlights turn on but don't flip up, clock for the radio works, and the horn works.Everything else is dead. The battery is good. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks.

 

I tell you what happened to me. Driving down the road all of a sudden the car dies, without warning. Luckily I was about 200 ft from Auto Zone. At first I thought was the alternator that quited on me and was not charging the system. I was wrong, the alternator was good but the battery was dead. It would not hold the charge and therefore the engine quit. Many of your systems run on battery power and when it dies, well it just dies.
By the looks of it, it's the things that draw more power that don't work. Be sure the battery is good. Take it in and get it checked out, it's the only way to find out.
This is all I can help you with. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the help, I had the battery checked and it was good. After checking everything I could find I broke down and took it to the shop. So far all they found was a short in the system, but the car still hasn't ran yet

 

dear ***, it's a 1988 Firebird Conspiracy..

The other day i went to the auto parts store and came back outside to get in my car, wouldn't turn on, nothing works except dome light, hatch, and horn. - brand new battery, bought it right after stuff wouldn't work, thougth the old one had gone dead..

 

i just had the same problem with my 84 camaro. the headlights horn and all the stuff that dont require a key worked fine. but anything else (e.g. starter, turn signals, radio, windows, etc...) was dead. i had to replace a fusible link down at the starter. follow the positive side wires up from the solenoid a little bit and you may have a metal tube, up there on one of those wires is a fusible link. cut it out and replace it. if you have two, dont take a chance, replace both. hope this works for you.

 

how in the holy **** do you get to the friggin' starter man?
i tried all day yesturday and had a hard time even seeing it,
let alone being able to get to any of them wires..

 

i had to take my starter off, and unhook the wires from it. then i pulled the wires up from the top of the car (surprise surprise, theyre stuffed behind the block on mine real pain in the a$$ to get to) then you should see the two fusible links and cut them out and replace them. By the way, have you tried changing the ignition switch on the column? If not, dont do it until you check those fusible links. Good luck, and dont forget to unhook the battery b4 you try messin' with those wires. Hate to see ya smoke your wires like i did mine!

 

And the scary thing is im an aircraft electrician for the army!

 

The easiest way to get the starter out is to take it apart in two pieces starter and solenoid. It is not fun or easy but it will not clear in one piece and dropping the Y-pipe is not an option for me. I did this the other day it takes a lot of time and patience to do for me because I can barely fit my hands in there.
JMFNX@AOL.COM
1989GTA