I have a ' 92 Firebird and it has developed a crippling eletrical problem. The short of it is I bypassed the alt completely. Running on just battery power, I sit in the driver's seat - door open - and the dome light "strobes" (like it's not getting a constant feed of juice). I can use the power windows, locks, A/C, etc. I've pulled the stereo out completely so no drain there. Almost like clockwork though - I push the headlight rocker switch to turn the parking lights on and everything dies - instantly and completely (same with brakes - even removed the brake light switch). Sometimes I can stand on the bottom of the door sill and jump and it will come back like nothing happened (I'll hear relays click and stuff like as if you just plugged the battery in). Sometimes I can do it instantly, sometimes it takes a few minutes (depending on what I did to kill it). Battery is measuring a steady 12.5v for the last 24 hours. Connections are tight and all the grounds I know to look for are good. Fuses in the main block under the driver's side kick panel seem to be good. When I turn the ignition to 'Run', I get a SIR light, SES light, Security light and fasten seat belt light - the latter of the two go away, but the SIR light stays on. If you need any more information, let me know. Please help because this is really frustrating.

 

 

As an update, I grounded out the battery (hooked a (-) jumper cable from the (-) terminal and the other (-) cable to the block and got the lights to work for a little while but repeated on/off actions eventually killed everything again. As to your previous question - yes - I removed ALL wires from the alt. This happens with the engine off.

 

 

Okay. I'd like to start out by stating that I haven't so much as touched the car since my last post (no time) so it's been sitting in the garage. Tonight - it's getting cold (down to 40) so I was taking out the trash and got the itch to play w/it. I got the lights to turn on and off multiple times but managed to kill it. I did the usual, but what was weird is I could turn the lights on and off multiple times and I left them on for probably about 5 minutes - solid. So I thought I'd see if it would start. I turned it over and just got a 'click' from the starter (brand new) and the SIR light spazzed out but eventually went out. I repeated this about 4-5 times until I finally got a hard start. I let it run for a while (almost outta' gas) and I tested the battery (running) and it was measuring around 16.5 volts. I tried lights and everything and could not kill it. The dome light inside still flickers a little, but when I did turn it off I tried to kill it the old way and was still able to turn all the lights on and off. Now, I'm no mechanic or miracle worker, so I know this problem didn't just disappear. Can anyone explain why it worked so well tonight and does anyone have any further insight into the problem? I still plan on checking the (+) cable connections.