First off, I'd like to thank everyone here, you guys were essential in helping me put the engine in my car over the summer, I don't know what I'd have done without the experts at thirdgen. My car has been running great since I put the engine in this summer.

I have an '88 camaro, with a 305 fuel injected engine.

Recently, its been acting up. A few weeks ago my car started to have electrical problems. It started with a radio that would skip at the first sign of turbulence, then I began to notice the gauges bouncing around a lot, and now the headlights/tail-lights are flickering, and it is beginning to feel like the engine is losing some power (though not drastically). This makes me think its a short or badly connected ground, so I've done everything I can think of to eliminate any shorts. I rewired the radio, which wasn't wired well in the first place. I also checked the ground from the battery to the block, and everything seems to be in order.

The wierd part, and the part I am hoping someone here can explain, involves my lights. I've found that when I turn on my lights the radio instantly turns off. I brought out my multimeter and confirmed that when I turn on the lights of my car both the +12v lines from the battery to the radio instantly drop down to 0 volts. This obviously isn't normal, does anyone know what it indicates and what I can do to fix it?

While my car is still drivable, its pretty bad to have lights that flicker to the point of almost going out completely, and having four gauges that are pointless because they bounce from the min to the max. I miss listening to music, and at this rate I am worried about how much worse it is going to get if left unfixed.

Thanks for the help guys, you rock.

 

*bump*

Come on guys, I really need soe advice. What can I do to locate this problem?

 

PLEASSSE help, at least make a suggestion or something!!! I can't afford to take this to a mechanic, so even the slightest of a hint would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

if the car battery is not going dead then you must have a bad
ground bad ground will do crazy things.

start with the most simple thing check the battery ground

does it start ok?

 

Ravix,

This might be a long shot, but check the fuse marked "TAIL" in the fuse block. It is the one that controls the lights you mentioned. Also check all your external lights for shorts, broken filaments, or looseness.

 

You did remember to clean and tighten the ground strap (between the engine block/head and firewall) TIGHT, didn't you?