Ok I went to pull my drivers side valve cover off and POOF i touched it to the alternator ouitput cable...it sparked and smoked them my battery did it way worse...the car still starts and runs fine but i have VERY low volts. like 8. anyways oviously the problem is either the alt or the battery correct?

 

Fusable link

I did the EXACT same thing and fried a fusable link. Take a good look at them and see if they are still intact.

 

sounds like the alternator got (what they call spiked). The insides of the alternator got damaged from the short. You might have damaged the battery as well, you could take them both to a autoparts store and have it tested. You will definitly have to replace the alt.

 

i have a lifetime replacement on the alt so thats no big deal. mayt be a link but if a fuse was broken wouldnt it not work at all? Something definetly fried up by the battery...if the fusable link is fied were do i get a new one? the car cranks and runs fine right now i just didnt push it because i was running on 8 volts. Ill replace the alt tomorrow and swap in an extra battery i have and see what happens.

 

ok i tested the alt and it came out fine...stuck another battery in and it still runs. Now with my battery it says im running at about 10 volts...were are this fuses you speak of??

 

If i remember right i think the links are down on the starter motor where the positive battery hooks to the starter, some of them could be on the radiator support(there is a battery power terminal mounted there) and there could be one inline with the battery. Follow the cable from the alternator output cable and see where it ends up there has to be a links somewhere in there. You will have to replace the link any good parts store or dealership should have one. The way to test to see if theyre any good is to lightly tug on the wire that goes into the link if its fried it will pull right out.

 

there is a bunch of what appears to be links right near the battery. Im assuming ill have to do some splicing. I dont understand it tho because the car still runs fine. I havent driven it because im not exactly sure whats gonna happen but i let it idle for about an hour today and it runs fine and then starts right back up. In the morning ill start checking links and see whats up.

 

I had another thought.What if the gauge in the cluster got zapped in the process? Grab a voltmeter and see what the alternator is putting out and see what the battery has in it for a charge. Maybe the charging system is okay after all.

 

when i was installing the upper oil cooler line on my new radiator , I tapped the battery with a wrench by accident . It sparked and scared the $hit out of me !

 

found the problem it was in fact a fusable link. Burned right through it. I sliced in a new wire and now everythings fine. Used 12 gauge wire, a posi-loc and a new connector. Seems like maybe that link was going anyways because it seems to be running better and getting more volts. So far looks like the alt and battery are fine.

 

could this "fusable link" cause a car to suddenly not want to start (not even turn over) for like 10 minutes then suddenly start up like nothing happened? my car does this alot, only on long trips of 30 Miles or more. it wont DIE, but if i shut it off, then try to start it up again, it wont crank, wont do anything. everything else works fine, winders, radio, lights, and after 10~ minutes of waiting, it just starts right back up. Same thing happens if i put it into "accesory mode" (turn the key back) and play my sterio, if i play the sterio for more than a minute, the car wont crank. wait about 10~ minutes, walaa it works again. been doing it for 2 years, cant figure it out. replaced lots of stuff, finnaly just accepted it as part of the car. dont tell me go carb, im so tempted i dont even wana think about it. its definetelly computer / electronic related. yes the selenoid is ok, no its not getting heat soaked. If i run a wrench accross the thing it sparks and the starter will spin... so its NOT starter related! its somthing else...

 

Kingtalon got a few thought starters. Have you replace the ignition switch assembly that bolts on top of the column? Could be a problem source. The other one that comes to mind is that the purple wire that goes to the S terminal on the starter maybe bad somewhere. It sounds like it is definitely heat related. The heat could be building up resistance in the wire thats why it wont restart when its been run for a while.

 

I had a 91 firebird that I almost burned up due to (being careless) not disconnecting the wiring from the battery. I found the wires under the radiator were burned up. If you melt down your alternator to the battery then you will burn those wires. In other words: Look at all your wires for heat damage. You dont want to have an unexpected break down at the worst time.

 

Holy blast from the

 

AH AH AH AH, staying alive, staying alive.....

 

This is for Kingtalon, I do not know if you have any wires running into the battery terminals like if you have amps or something of that sort. When your car heats up to running temp and you turn it off that wire acts as a barrier, when turning your car back on its not a tight enough connection and is demanding more electricity to crank your engine over.