Ok... so I decided to be stupid and take a 150 mile drive to a friends house in South Jersey even though the car was acting strange. About 3/4 of the way there I'm driving on the NJ Turnpike and I hit the breaks ever so slightly... Suddenly my dash lights start blinking (INFL REST, SECURITY, ETC) lights on and off and I see my needles on all the gauges drop to 0 like the car shut off. I'm like oh ****... i let go of the break and hit the gas and everything goes back to normal. So I touch the break again and the same **** happens only this time I realized everything shut off, including the engine... I kept hitting the gas and the car came back to life... only to shut off again when I hit the break again. By this time of course I was in the far right lane and when it finally died completely I pulled over to the side. So I get out and take a look at the battery that I just hooked up... and I couldn't see any problems... I had a spare battery in my car so I'm sitting there connecting that now when a nice guy in a Nissan pulls over and tries to help me jump start the car. Well.. that didn't work. After connecting the spare battery I get into the car and try to start it... nothing. I wait a few minutes and try again... it starts. I'm like ****... thank you ***.. i was about to call AAA to tow my *** to my friends house. So i hop back on the turnpike driving in the right lane (trying to avoid hitting the break for fear that the car might shut off again) for about 30 more miles. I get to my friends house and hes just laughing and telling me my car is a POS. After I kicked his ***.... I made sure the connections to the battery were good... and left the car alone for 2 days. So now its time to drive back home... and him and his girlfriend are following me back to my house (they had to go to North Jersey to see relatives). Anyway... as soon as I pulled out of his driveway I could tell again.. when I hit the break the car was stalling but when I hit the gas it was fine. I did managed to make it all the way home but by the time I made it to the local streets by my house if I didn't put the car in neutral when I stopped at a red light... it was almost completely stall on me. The only thing I can think of is... could the alternator be going? Its only a year and a half old... but I did buy the cheapie one from Strauss Auto. Any ideas appreciated. Oh... I had the alternator tested before I drove to his house... a guy from autozone put a meter thing on the battery and was like... its charging the battery just fine. Is that how you test the alternator?? maybe it just happens to be running fine when they test it and then at other times its not functioning properly?

Could be a bad wire(s) What ever it is your gonna be chasin wires and thats no fun.

Just take it off, Real simple(couple of bolts and connectors) and take it in to an auto parts to test.

i dont think 3rd gens used BCM's, but if they do, check that

(Body Control Module)

1. with car running, foot OFF break pedal, turn headlghts on. This will let u know if charging system is dead.

2. Faulty, chaffing wiring w/the break pedal switch. Use multimeter to test.

3. I hate the Jersey turnpike, & the GW Bridge too. Costs too much going from So. MD to Rhode Island , and the tolls are more going north than coming back south

I used to have that problem...the car would always want to stall out when I applied the brake...I screwed around with my TPS and the problem went away because when you put a load on the engine...the TPS and other components are sposed to tell the computer to compensate...at least I think thats the way it works...and to 85 2.8 bird...i myself own that car and I live in Rhode Island...what are you doing up this end of the country...


Joe P

well, I printed out the howto for getting error codes to display with a pin... so when I get home i'm going to see if I can find out wtf is going on. If I don't have any luck there I'll remove the alternator and take it to the store to have it tested. JP.. screwing around with the TPS involves what exactly? I don't know much about my car

umm... well... i did the paper clip thing. No codes to show for it. I guess i'll take the alternator to autozone tomorrow.

Ah, Rhode Island Grandparents used to live up there in Middletown. Aquidneck Island, I think that's the proper spelling. Rocky Brook Farm off of Wapping Rd. The place was auctioned off after they died , and I haven't been up there since 92, before I went in the service. Used to cruise Newport, all the mansions, 1st, 2nd, 3rd beaches, the Navy yards. The red, white, & blue center lines in Bristol, West Warwick (West Wah-wik by the natives ), Rocky Point. Catch the Amtrack in Kingston. Ineed to take the family there. And the lovely slate rock fences everywhere .

edit: becarefull messing with the TPS, you can really muck things up if you over adjust the sensor

Who played with your steering column last?
What have you done, inside the car, electrical lately?
IF your wiring to alternator is weird, you have discovered problem.
Wiring is the key to your problem, I think.

a bad alt will not make a car stall when you hit the breaks.
The car will simply run off the battery, untill IT goes dead.

A bad wire in the Brake light circuit COULD(by creating a "spark" where there should not be(electrical drain), a bad Brake booster(massive unrecoverable loss of vacuum) COULD. A malfunctioning TPS COULD, a Malfunctioning IAC COULD. A Malfunctioning EGR even COULD.

I would get a vacuum check first. I will bet thats what it is cause it only happens when you hit the BRAKES. To verify its not the Brake light wiring, have someone stand behind the car when you hit the brake pedal, if the lights light, the circuits fine. If something is wrong, a fuse SHOULD pop with elec troubles.

Sorry it was 3 AM when I wrote the last reply and this did not even come into mind...

(yawn)

A bad alternator could certainly cause your car to stall & act up when you hit the brakes. If your battery isn't charging, and you're limping around on 10 or 11 volts, lighting up the rear lights could cause your car to act up- especially if you slow down. A normal alternator can charge no matter what RPM you've got the motor at. With a dying alternator, your best bet might be to keep the RPM's up to keep the alternator spinning faster, and maybe squeeze some extra charge out of the unit.

Before you do any checks, take a voltmeter. This takes 1 minute. Check battery voltage with the car off, should be 12 volts. (If not, disconnect the battery from the car, charge the battery, and hook it back up, and check the voltage again.) Start the car. Check the voltage at the batter;y terminals again- you should have around 13.8-14 volts. If not, if you're still around 12 volts, guess what, your alternator isn't charging the battery. Get a new one quick. I hope you bought the lifetime warranty one from Strauss! (Free alternator)

A bad chassis ground can also cause stalling when brakes are pressed. Our family Buick did that for awhile until we cleaned up a ground strap near the battery. These connections can corrode over time and really mess things up.

Just an idea

Dale

Welp, I drove the car to strauss today and it was still acting like it was gonna stall at some of the red lights i stopped at... not as much as the other day though. Anyway I asked them to test the alternator (yes i bought the one with lifetime warranty)... the guy walked over to the car... turned on my headlights... and said... your alternator is fine. Then he proceded to tell me i need a tune up is probably the problem and to change my air, fuel, oil filters. I"m like hmm... i don't really buy that... so he removed one of my spark plugs... and it looked pretty decent. So then he was like ... this spark plug isn't too bad... but i still think your car just needs a tune up. I got a print out of what it could cost and it comes to $400! for the tuneup. He also suggested putting some injector cleaner in there. I think i'll try this before doing any tune up. Tom, when I got home I had my friend test the volts and they were all correct (alternator is charging the battery.) I'll check out the break light but I don't think thats the problem. Possible electrical causes for this could be.. i reconnected my car alarm, installed a pos radio, and thats it. However, I did try driving around with the alarm disconnected and radio disconnected and still had that hesitation/stalling. SHRUG

so they didn't test the alt? what jackholes
volts can fine, but how many amps is the alt pushing out?

did you get a vacuum checker? 20 bucks?...

Vacuum
Spend the little effort for the better performance.
FI set ups need PERFECT LEAKFREE VACUUM HOSES

There's nothing like turning on the headlights to check an alternator. I would've told him to get the fck away from my car, and I want to talk to a manager NOW. If someone doesn't know anything about my car, they don't come near it. You guys are too trusting :sillylol:

Hey, Wait, didn't I tell you how to test the alternator??? I did, in my first message. Guess you don't trust me either!

Tom
The guy was 100% correct in his quick test.
Other quick tests,
Take screwdriver, put it to back of alternator, while engine running.
IF SCREWDRIVER PULLED TOWARD ALT, it's working (proper operation causes a magnetic field).
Yes, turning on headlights, with a an alternator that is bad, you can easily see the results, quickly.
Apparently the headlights looked bright white, which shows correct charging operation.
To double check that, add a load, like turn on AC with headlights.
ANYONE HAVING AN OLD CAR, knows what happens, while their old car is idling.
Those headights dim like a good eclipse!
After I changed my bad 85 Firebird alternator, my headlights returned to a very solid bright white.

NOW, if the customer doubted that quick test, of course ask for that test meter they SHOULD have behind the counter. And sales person should kindly agree.

My 85 Firebird headlights flickered, at idle, with the bad alternator. After alt. replacement, problem gone. I diagnoised, myself, tho.
Just a solid guess and my call was correct. I didn't use any meters or anything else to confirm my suspiscion. Was pissed I couldn't replace just a part, but...... lifetime warranty from Autolite is fine by me (FORD REBUILDERS!).

Yeah, but my version of bright is different than another person's. A voltmeter shows you what's really going on. I've done the headlight test too when people get stranded on the side of the road, but that's just to get a basic idea of things.

I have a friend, '92 Cavalier, that got a battery light on her dash. She paid $150 at a dealer to have them check the alternator, replace the battery, and change the serpentine belt. They said the alternator was fine, it was the battery. She came over a few hours later, cursing, because she spent that much money, the light was coming on again, and she has to go back. I tested the alternator right there in my girl's driveway, and told her "they're wrong, the alternator's shot." The alternator was $80. Guess she should've come to me first, eh?

if you have a bad alt and your running off the battery... the driver should know it imediately, the car just does not run the same. it acts up. But given that he already said his lights were fine, one could surmise that the alt was fine. MAYBE a bad batt, but as long as the alt is charging no worries. The alt will supply the necc voltage to the ECM. And I have also found that the Alt light/guage on the GM's is more realiable then one might think.

Now a vacuum leak will do all kinds of funky things. Make a car run rich/lean make the spark table go wiggiddy wack, really mess with the brakes, and if bad enough make the car stall.

So knowing this we can assume the Alts fine, and start looking at the #2 cause, vacuum. (but heres another clue) It only happens when the brakes are applied. Brakes use an enourmous amount of vacuum. Huston I think we found our problem.

Again
Vacuum problems.
Tom we're both right, tho.
Honest mechaincs...
a dying breed.
And many times, it's the system that makes them so.
Tough.....

your not going to believe this but... i drove around yesterday and the problem fixed itself I'll never understand cars. I drove it all yesterday and today and no stalling/hesitation at all. I put in a thing of Gunk Fuel Injection Cleaner just to be safe. Oh well.... I don't have a ****ing clue anymore. LOL bow down to the firebird gods i guess. :hail:

p.s. Tom I trusted you.. you seem to give very good detailed advice every time I see one of your replies.. i just didn't have the tool to test it until my friend came over. Thanks again.

That's rediculous. 99% of the time, a battery light is a bad alternator.(makes alot of sense, huh?)

You can get a $15 meter at Radio Shack, or buy an $80 meter for $15 through http://www.sunpro.com 's garage sale link.

And yeah, Dan, get this: On my '86, the alternator light is weird. You know how when you turn the key from off to on (before cranking), the dash lights come on? Well, if I somehow manage to "notice" that my battery light is missing, that means my alternator is fried.

WTF? Who the hell looks for a missing warning light?? I'd say we're all used to warning lights that come ON when there's a problem, not ones that stay off! Way to go GM!

Tom, i would say that GM engineers are laughing their asses off for some of the crap they did to our cars. I would never know to look for a light that did not come on. But hey, you have to love our cars anyways.

Although GM played some funny tricks on us with their 2.8's...the whole missing warning light that points to a problem also exists on Fords...my mothers Escort book says that if the engine light doesn't come on before you start the car...then there is a problem and you should check the computer...so as you can see Ford does it too...at least GM engine lights will come on and off during engine operation to tell you that there is a problem with one of the components...just figured I throw that out so we can bash Fords a little...

Joe P