Coyote Kid

I have a 93 3.0 auto with a lot of miles on it...no idea how many but maybe over 280K. I hit a tree last year that someone dropped across the forest road and I hit it going 30 mph; busted the 10 inch live tree in half but most of the impact was on the frame so it's still drivable. Since then in quick succession I replaced the alternator, starter, battery and main alt fuse. Now the thing is shutting down when an electrical load of any kind is applied...turn on a directional and it will momentarily shut off, then run again. It loses all power. No lights, nothing. Same with lights, brakes, etc.

So far it's been a nuisance but yesterday I passed a slow poke, signaled with the left, passed him and as I signaled with the right, total shutdown, and it did not come back on. I coasted to a driveway for about 5 or 6 seconds with no power and as I put on the brakes, everything came back on and running. I am stumped. I had taken it in a week ago and the mechanic hooked up an extra ground to the battery which seemed to work for a couple of days. Now the problem is back. Any ideas? It has to be something in the ignition system, yes?

scope103

Probably not the ignition system, as it takes out everything. There are no auto-reset circuit breakers, so I doubt you have a momentary overload "popping a breaker."

Which suggests you've got a loose connection somewhere, probably closer to the battery than farther. It may even be arcing; you put a little more load on and it breaks, but the vibration causes it to re-fuse together after a few seconds.

Put the lights on then carefully wiggle each wire from the battery through the fuse box. If you can get the lights to flicker, you're getting close.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

I take it you hit the tree on purpose !!

How does one not see a tree of that size.

Yes indeed I would look at your ground cables perhaps you have a cable that is broken under the insulation.

Also the condition of the wire coming off the B terminal of the alternator they get old and brittle if it has never been replaced.

What kind of condition is your battery in and the cables.

If the draw of turn signals is enough to kill the ignition things are FUBAR in a big way.

Have you put a voltmeter on the battery and watched what happens when a load is applied.

Since this is a automatic how does it restart without having to be cranked over again ??I am not a big auto person but I have never heard of one that can do this.

Either you miss stated this problem .

Could it be you have a failure of the dash gauges and maybe the transmission . I will admit I don`t know enough about the auto transmission to know if this is possible.

The gauges go dead and it loses speed because the transmission is disengaged.

waiting to hear more on this one!!!

vikkz

try the ground cable that goes from the negative battery to the fram usually a small cable, i hat this problem once when i got off work my truck was shutting down after i put my turn signal which was odd but started right up again. I pulled over and started looking around and to my surprise the wire that was connected to the negative battery cable was barely held on by 1 strand of copper. I had a spool of wire in my toolbox so i was able to fix it right there.

Sounds like you got the same problem its probably just a lose ground cable that is vibrating off and on.

Coyote Kid

I didn't hit the tree on purpose. I was driving too fast (about 40) on ice and snow forest road, trusting my Hakkapellitas to keep me gripping the road, and my headlight mountings had broken to the point that the headlights pointed mostly down, so when I came around a curve and down a small slope, then started up the other side of the slope, there was the ponderosa pine across the road, barely visible in the darkness. I slammed the brakes and screamed Oh, **ck! for the whole time I was sliding, probably about 100 feet. I'm assuming the electrical jolt when I hit did nothing to help with my current problems.

I'll be checking the ground next; the wires coming off the alternator were all redone, since the plug disintegrated when I tried to pull it off when swapping a new one in so I finally found a replacement and hardwired it in (soldered). I did have it hooked up wrong at first as a result of losing the plug-didn't notice the order of the wires-- it worked but became a magnet and really hot. Figured that out and it's been working with no problems for the last 9 months or so.
After the hit I had a door locking problem for months...I could scowl at the vehicle and the doors would lock by themselves. Finally took a chance and pulled the aftermarket alarm and that solved the problem. I will have to look to make sure there are no loose connections still there. It was wired by a 6 yr old, I swear.

"What kind of condition is your battery in and the cables"
Brand new battery and new cable ends. Not new cables though. I will have the mechanic check those. The starter just got replaced a few months ago. I did recently add a new radio, but soldered all leads to a new harness and used shrink tube and tape. I will check those wires as well.

Haven't put a voltmeter on the battery and watched what happens when a load is applied. I will try that this weekend when I have my wife's help.

"Since this is a automatic how does it restart without having to be cranked over again ??I am not a big auto person but I have never heard of one that can do this."

That is the most bizarre thing!!! Maybe the ignition circuit is not shut totally down. I hope it isn't a computer problem, cuz that would cost more than the truck is worth.



"Could it be you have a failure of the dash gauges and maybe the transmission . I will admit I don`t know enough about the auto transmission to know if this is possible."
The gauge lights all come on when it loses power, then off.

Tranny-wise, it's bogging a bit. I recently took a trip to Denver--about 1,000 miles--and the gas mileage dropped a few MPGs to 18- I had the pedal to the floor most of the time. (I can usually get up to 22MPG on a trip- pretty amazing for an old beater 3.0 auto, so I don't think the tranny is to blame).

Coyote Kid

Update on my electrical problem...I checked the additional short ground, cut it back on both ends, cleaned it up and remounted it but I don't think that was an issue...but then I checked the white lead that comes from the fuse box to the positive post- I unwrapped the black tape and found that there was a short, thin wire of less than 3 inches that was mounted to the battery post, attached to the thick white wire from the fuse block. The whole works was a mass of soft black goo, so since the white wire was long enough to reach the positive post without an extension, I cut off the short thin wire, doused the goo-filled white wire with gas to clean it and crimped the really thick wire as best I could to a round end, then mounted it to the positive post. Three days of driving and I have not had a single incidence of anything shutting down, so I think I have it solved. There must have been a lot of amps going through that wire to melt the black tape, and I can't imagine why someone would use a much smaller short wire....unless they had a different battery in there and the wire wouldn't reach. I bought a copper end and will solder the white wire into it to eliminate corrosion.
Thanks for all the suggestions, I really appreciate the support.

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

Not sure I'm picturing what you removed correctly.

If it was a small 3-4 inch piece of solid(not multi strand) wire with a fiberglass looking sheath, it was a fusible-link. You might want to source a new one and replace it they're kind of important for keeping your wiring from bursting into flames.

If the problem comes back, you might want to have the ECM replaced or looked over, they are not really built for high G impacts like you had. It's possible for the components, resistors and such, to pull the copper traces from the substrate.

Coyote Kid

I thought the same thing, that this might be a fusible link of sorts, but the wire was cheap, thin stranded wire. I have not had a single episode since fixing this, but will check to see if there is supposed to be a fusible link on this lead.

Coyote Kid

Good catch, CO...I checked and sure enough, the diagram shows a fusible link going to the fuses. I added one in and everything is still working fine.