well, my battery is a-ok, but all of a sudden all the power goes out. no lights no stupid open door noise nothing. wats wrong with the electrical? i check the connections of the battery, but would it be a bad ground connection or something?

 

Check the connections on the battery, the chassis ground and the engine ground. When does it do this? Also check the fusible links, especially the main link.

 

Do the lights go off when you try to start the vehicle and are ok before that? rx7doctor

 

well..um it does it at both times. today i was coming off of the curb and it died right when my front stuck out. and sometimes it flickers all the dash lights and all the rpms jump. but the main point is, the car's electrical just dies. it just recently just started happening. its unpredictable. sometimes it would be fine before i start, then when the car tries to turn over, it died.

where are the fusible links and main link?

 

Does the ignition key seem like it is sticking? What i mean is when you go to turn the key to the on posistion but do not start do the warning lights come on, or do you have to wiggle the key alittle before they will come on? rx7doctor

 

Sounds like a short with everything flickering, or a loose ground

 

well, when i put the key on the on position, it turns on normally..sometimes, then when it tries to turn over, it dies. no electrical.

i tried everything, i tried kicking it, spitting on it, yelling at it. nothing will work! *simpson's hell's angels*

 

Ok i am trying to get a feel for what is going on, you have stated that sometimes
it turns on normally. Does this mean that you turn the key to the on posistion
and no lights come on the dash or that there is no click or anything happening? rx7doctor

 

when i try to crank it, all the power would goes off. the light would be normal right before the crank. then everything dies. i can't really check it either because the car is in the streets and i don't have my tools at my house yet... im thinking it would be a bad ground because all the lights seem to be ok when theres power. then when the power does shut off, the seatbelt light is on but really faded and so is the door sound. so there is some power there....i really hate electrical stuff...

 

Sounds like possibly that the battery is shot, hte lights take a small amount of amperage while the starter needs aprrox50-60amps to energize. Tou cannot jump start thru a completley dead or bad battery, you either need to take it out and try a known good battery or take it in to the local auto parts place and have it tested.
good luck, rx7doctor

 

I got my '82 GSL off the boat a month ago. Good to have another one! Someone had removed the passenger door panel and there was a "new in bag" factory switch for the power window in the storage bin. All this puzzled me. I changed the switch, reassembled everything and then it would stop working but only after I'd been driving a while. One night it stranded me. Black. No "stupid door noise" or anything. Jumpstarted it and the tach and idiot lights went crazy on the way home among other things. Solution? I replaced the battery and tightenend the alternator belt (which was as snug as an old *****). Now everything electrical works perfectly, including the passenger window. I knew as soon as everything went goofy what was wrong because I've been through this with my last two '82's.

New battery, check the alternator belt. That's where to start on a 1st gen before tearing into anything. Good luck.

 

don't forget to check where the wire goes into the terminal end ALOT of problems can be traced there. it gets corroded but seems to be ok just take it apart and clean it with some baking soda and water and a wire brush.

 

I'm with numan2-- check those terminals on the bettery first (scratch 'em up with some sandpaper or scotchbrite or something) and tighten them down good...
I don't suspect this is the alternator belt, but it can't hurt to check that either...

Then check the chassis ground.

If it's still happening after that then trace to the fusible links and such.

Also, what's your battery charge meter in the car showing?
Have you tried putting a voltmeter on the battery?

 

This same thing happened to me. It turned out to be my connections at the battery. Everything was tight, but the connection was bad. Took off terminals, cleaned them with #0000 steel wool and connected. No problems since.

 

i haven't had time to check my car for awhile cuz im moving. ive look into my engine bay and found that my oil cooler was leaking like no tomorrow. would this effect any issues im having with my electrical? i think its been leaking fr awhile and build up has gotten its way to a lot of wires.

should i clean off the wires? i think theres oil covering the starter motor too...

 

i just jump started my car today, it went on normally. then i tried to crank it over and it stopped. i just turned the car off and tried again, it all worked well...simple solution i suppose..but then when i was driving it around for a while, i was looking at my volt meter. it was a at a steady 14. then i tested the battery, how u might ask? i turned on all the lights, ac, radio. the meter went down to 12. i would think this is normal but then why is the battery volt meter reading a good battery but not work properly? when i turned on the hazards, the blinkers started going faster than usual. wouldn't that mean that the blinkers would be going out soon????? im seriously confused now.

 

I'm having the same problem (somewhat) right now. I thought maybe the battery just died somehow. I accidently tried to start it while it was in gear (doh! Dumbass on my part.), and after that, it had NO juice whatsoever. I finally pulled my Jeep up next to it and jump started it, and everything seems to be working fine. I start to drive off, get on the highway, drive maybe 1-2 miles, and I realize that it's reading 16v STEADY. It usually reads about 12-13v normally, and as soon as I call my dad to talk to him about the problem, the car starts dying. I'm guessing it got little to no spark whatsoever. After dropping it down into 4th to keep it from dying, it slowly kept dying, but then finally picked back up again, running normal as if nothing had ever happened.

I'm gonna try and check the battery terminals, because I've noticed that they were a little coroded when I first got the car. I would have changed the battery by now, but lo' and behold, my positive battery terminal is pretty much frozen to the battery cable end. I guess I'll have to figure out how to get it off somehow.

 

Yeah, check those cables....
I think the meter *should* typically read around 16 volts while the car is running....?? (edit: at least 14)
If you're still having problems after you check your batt. terminals you might want to get your alternator checked....

Bad grounds can cause a lot of crazy stuff to happen.

 

Yep, I cleaned my battery and cable's up, works like a charm now.

 

stupid as this may sound, go drive down a bump road.....were you blowing any fuses when this as happening? Like the 20 engine fuse?.....