Whats wrong with it now???

[turbotroy]

Hey All! I took my black 87 out for a ride around the block yesterday and stopped and talked with some neighbors. Car was running good and I put it in park while we were talking and all of a sudden the idle starts getting really erratic and the ses light is flashing, the gauges are flashing on and off.
I manage to get it home and can't roll up the drivers window, but the passengers side works fine. No code set on the scanmaster, and when I shut it off no restart either- no crank, no nothing. I'm kinda thinking ecm with all the weirdness going on, but thought I'd throw this out to the board and see what ya think! Thanks!

 

[turbo89]

Hey All! I took my black 87 out for a ride around the block yesterday and stopped and talked with some neighbors. Car was running good and I put it in park while we were talking and all of a sudden the idle starts getting really erratic and the ses light is flashing, the gauges are flashing on and off.
I manage to get it home and can't roll up the drivers window, but the passengers side works fine. No code set on the scanmaster, and when I shut it off no restart either- no crank, no nothing. I'm kinda thinking ecm with all the weirdness going on, but thought I'd throw this out to the board and see what ya think! Thanks!

Check your cables on the battery.. ground on the head below the turbo .. sounds like you have lost a good connection

 

[turbotroy]

Check your cables on the battery.. ground on the head below the turbo .. sounds like you have lost a good connection

Thanks, I'll check ALL the grounds while I'm at it.

 

[TurboTGuy]

If that isn't the issue and you still want to check the ECM, I have a known working one you can use to test. Just pay for the ride.

 

[mikestertwo]

when I shut it off no restart either- no crank, no nothing. I'm kinda thinking ecm with all the weirdness going on, but thought I'd throw this out to the board and see what ya think! Thanks!

If the engine won't crank I would suspect battery, battery cables, fuseable links.

 

[TOOMANYTOYS]

The factory routes the positive cable really close to the downpipe. Mine eventually burned through and blew all the fusible links. Had the same symptoms. Everything was flashing on and off. Use a positive cable from a v8 regal and you can route it safely away

 

[turbotroy]

Thanks for the replies guys! I'll check it out hopefully today and get back to ya. Thanks!

 

[haywire4130]

The above post mentions fusible links, theyre located just above the starter, power is fed to the car through them from the positive lug on the starter. I had one go bad and did exactly what you described, they get real crispy from the heat and oil seepage where they are located.

 

[roykfahey]

Thanks for sharing

 

[earlbrown]

Look at the fuseable links on the starter lug. Sounds like you lost a ring terminal.

They actually power the entire car, not just the ECM/engine. If your gauges and lights are fruiting out, it's not the engine grounds.


Years ago I had one break in a McDonalds drive thru. Basically the car just cut off and was dead as fried chicken. 10 minutes with a soldering iron and a new ring terminal fixed me right up.

 

[turbotroy]

Hey All, it's been awhile since playing with the car as I had hernia surgery and wasn't able to play, so wasn't able to get back to anyone about the fix.
It drives me a little crazy when someone posts on here with an issue to never be heard from again, especially if it's an issue that I may be having. I just love spending hours going through searches with no resolutions, so didn't want to be that guy.
I replaced the fusible links down at the starter to no avail. They didn't look bad, but were oily and 30 years old, so why not. It ended up being the fusible link coming right off the battery for the ecm. It looked good also, but playing with my meter and moving it around I found my problem. Cut out the bad one, soldered in a new one and good to go. Thanks for the replies and Cheers!

 

[earlbrown]

That orange ECM wire can't mess up your power windows. Hopefully that got fixed when you messed with the fuseable links at the starter.

 

[turbotroy]

That orange ECM wire can't mess up your power windows. Hopefully that got fixed when you messed with the fuseable links at the starter.

I wondered about that because it was just the drivers side that quit and passenger side was fine. Anyway, thanks for sending me in the right direction!

 

[earlbrown]

See, that still doesn't make sense. If you look at the wiring, it's the same power wire that runs both windows.

And that power wire isn't from the the orange ECM wire under the hood.

With any luck you slipped and fell into a solved problem.

 

[turbotroy]

See, that still doesn't make sense. With any luck you slipped and fell into a solved problem.

I know it doesn't make any sense, but I'll take it. I may have fell into a solved problem but it's at a cost. Now when I hit the brake lights that fuse pops. This thing DOES have gremlins. Ah well, off to the desert for a month and I'll come back and play with it then. Thanks!

 

[TurboTGuy]

I may have fell into a solved problem but it's at a cost. Now when I hit the brake lights that fuse pops. This thing DOES have gremlins.

Check the ground wire that attaches to the left wheel well in the trunk.

 

[GNRick]

I was once at a stop light in Detroit at 9pm. I was putting up the PS window and the car went totally dead. The solder joint holding the fusible links over heated. The links themselves were actually still good, just no longer connected to the starter. Made for a long evening.