I have a 89 firebird and everytime i turn the lights on at night the car dies. And also i will drive it then shut it off and there is no power to start the car just the inside lights work dont know if it could be a wiring problem or something as simple as a battery because the battery gage is just a little above 8 amps so? all help is much appreciated.

 

Go have you battery tested. Sounds like a bad one.

 

Yeah battery is definatly going dead because when you turn the lights on it is taking all the juice therefor causing the engine to shut down in return. Take it into autozone they have free battery charging and it only takes an hour to charge it. Mine gets down low when I have the fan, lights,turnsignal and so on on so I might take mine in too.

 

yah i figured it was the battery because the guy i got it from bought the battery from a junk yard who knows how long it was there and then it has sat 4 months on top of that with out starting and i hooked it up on a battery charger and it said 8amps. and sometimes it'll decide to start and be ok and then there are other times it does nothing at all or just clicks which it is doing now. someone told me it was the alternator but i dont see how it could be well there is always that possibility but i dont believe its that.

 

It's not the alternator. That clicking sound is a surefire way to tell that it is the battery that is dead so get it charged at autozone.

 

BTW not to be a d***.... the gauge reads volts not amps. if the battery was only putting out 8 amps the car would not start at all.

 

my bad lol and i have another question what should be battery level be at if my alternator is working? and battery gauges goes down 2 notches when lights are turned on is this normal?

 

Battery should be 12-12.5 volts with engine off, 14 volts on the alt. with the engine running, and yes it's normal to drop "2 notches" when the lights are turned on. It's great working with kids and trying to decipher your lingual. (no disrespect intended, It really is fun)

 

before you go blowing money on a new battery, check the wires. Is there a nice coating of oxidation? If there is, replace the wires, or at least clean it off. Also check the grounds for the headlights, make sure they still have a nice CLEAN connection. Tho, if your battery is 5 or so years old, then it might be a good idea to replace it anyway.

 

Take the car by AZ, Advance or any of the others. They will test your battery AND alternator for free. While they test it they'll likely note any obvious loose connections for you, or you can check yourself.

Don't trust your dash guage. It's little indication of the true state of nature at the end of the sensor.

 

i already bought a new battery and i cleaned the ground coming from the battery and the head lights and i also noticed that number 11 fuse was not in dont no if that had anything to do with it but it charges up to 13 volts now but goes down when breaks and lights are applied