Another Baffling Electrical Issue

[Mark E.]

Re: Another Baffling Electrical Issue

I don't have experience with parts store bench testing. I'm sure an expert will chime in.

A couple of thoughts though-

- Change one thing at a time while troubleshooting. I'd change the battery before the alternator and see what happens.

- If the problem persists with a new battery, consider a rebuilt alternator. A lifetime warranty Remy rebuild from RockAuto is about $60. Make sure an OEM case is used so it looks OE. This can be your "driver" alternator, while the high-$ original sits in a box waiting for the next show.

[Francis F.]

Re: Another Baffling Electrical Issue

Jack, I remember a few years ago a friend of mine had a Similar electrical problem,although his vette .was a year or two newer with the seat belt alarm accessory.He said as he was driving the buzzer of the seat belt alarm would begin to alarm...shortly after that warning the engine would shut down,and all elect would be inoperative.Coasting to a stop at the road side,and waiting a short time,he would be able to re start the engine ,and drive back home.This became a regular expirence,and he new when the buzzer sounded it was just a short time until engine shut down.the long and short of the story revealed an alum.battery cable on the negative side was found to be corroded internaly (not easily seen at first,corrosion was hidden under the cable insulation).I would start with a new cable or two.The corvette in question spent it's life in Buffalo N Y winters with high salt use during the winter seasons.
just M Y T $
Francis

[Jack O.]

Re: Another Baffling Electrical Issue

Hi everyone,

This happened again - luckily while the car was sitting in my garage. I was able to trace it to the bulkhead connector by turning on my headlights and wiggling the connector around and noting that my lights came on.

I first attempted to move the connector without loosening the bolt and there was virtually no play and I was not able to get a 'connection'. However once I loosened the bolt and could move the connector a bit it did 'connect'.

However I see no obvious issue visually - there is no visible corrosion, dirt, rust, etc. I only see some brown, grease like residue in a few spots which I assume was from some original application that has degraded over the many years. Since I had no power at all expect to the alternator and horn relay, I have to assume that the power coming into the driver side connector was not 'connecting' for whatever reason.

With all this said, anyone have recommendation in the best approach to fixing the issue? Should I just use some electrical cleaner and a toothbrush and give everything a good cleaning and then use dielectric grease and reconnect for example?

Thanks,

Jack

[Edward J.]

Re: Another Baffling Electrical Issue

Jack I think you are heading in the right direction, electronic cleaner and a tooth brush and dielectric grease, the brown goop may be inhibiting the connection.

[Jack O.]

Re: Another Baffling Electrical Issue

Thanks Edward. Just to clarify, there's very little brown goop and it's almost entirely around the edges of the male/female connectors as opposed to on the connectors themselves.

[Edward J.]

Re: Another Baffling Electrical Issue

Jack , I think that GM used that brown goop for protection from the elements. I would clean both ends of the firewall connectors and do a close inspection of the connectors sometimes the connectors with high loads will heat up and cause problems, generally its the bigger wires red, pink orange colored also check the plastic connector itself for signs of heat they can deform of even melt, so once everything is clean and if no problems use the dielectric grease.

[Mark E.]

Re: Another Baffling Electrical Issue

Jack,

Be sure to keep us posted with the rest of this story.

[Jack O.]

Re: Another Baffling Electrical Issue

Will do Mark.

I've had a better look at things and I do see a very faint white film/residue on the blade of the main power lead coming into the connector. My worry is that other than that I really don't see any 'smoking gun' and the connector was not loose. As I said, connectivity was not re-established until I loosened the connector bolt and could then get a bit of play to move the connector around.

--Jack

[Leif A.]

Re: Another Baffling Electrical Issue

Jack,
Corrosion can creep backwards (up) a wire from the end connector. All may look nice and clean at the connector but there may well be corrosion hiding under the insulation. Just a thought. If your harness is original to the car, this is very likely possibility.