My car is running like a turd again. I replaced the battery last week and the car ran great all weekend, I let it sit until last night and now the battery gauge is low and when the car is under a load the battery gauge dips to nothing. The alternator was blistering hot. Can an alternator go bad just under a big load? Could this possibly be caused by a slipping serpentine belt? You can tell even at idle and lower loads that something still isn't right because the car runs like crap and I belive that is due to my MSD not getting the juice it wants. The car is an 88 formula. Any help is greatly appriciated

 

step one git yerself an inexpensive dvm-post when that task is complete-how the fu-k can you work elec.diagnosis w/o

 

Try bypassing the MSD temporarily so you can rule that out. That's another reason I got their wiring harness. I can go back to stock ignition in 30 seconds.

 

Thanks for nothing grumpygreaseape. I do have a digital VM. After I posted this I found that I had a small drain from the alternator, problem solved. I was looking for ideas. It's people like you why I rarely post on these boards

 

people like me-im posting cause i want to help you but its a difficult thing to do if a couple fine points on your end arent at least covered so as to nail the problem down in some timely fashion and if you did at least some checks-let us know. electrical is difficult enough at times when you are standing in front of the thing whats it like trying to solve in frnt of a keyboard. in my trade-i belong to an on line network of repair shop owners and repair techs who post head scratchers that they are having problems with so others who belong can provide the assist if someone has some insight to solve the problem-but if someone posts a query in the fashion you did they are warned once and ****canned on the second go around-you need to do the homework on your end, to expedite on our end. the way that its explained is this ,and see if it makes any sense to you-a single question sent and read to 38000 technicians at 15 seconds per read still represents a combined effort of over 159 hours of effort www.iatn.net check it out. and dont be such a crybaby

 

Hey I am having a similar problem with my 87 iroc , When i get up into the higher rpms the volts drop way down, already tried tightening the belt, and used some of that belt stuff, I was wondering if you could tell me what you found the problem to be and how you tested and fixed it. This is really driving me crazy and i would really appreciate the help. Thanks

 

hey grumpy, i used to be an ASE mechanic for ford (4 years, 2 for honda and owned chevy's forever), i'm in electronics now (metrology) but wouldnt mind checking out the network. could you forward me a few e-mails to get a feel of what it's like? am i still able to join? just curious, thanks

 

ttt