nothingbutrotor

It only did this once, and that was on my way to my classes today. When I pulled it out of gear and put it into nuetral to coast the rest of the way to the stoplight and pushed the breaks, I noticed my Tach and Batter Guages both jump. I only expierienced it twice since I only had two stops between my house and the local community college. Once I go to the parking lot, I stoped the car and put the key on the"on" position and pushed on the brakes, when i let back off I heard a click somewhere, and everytime I did it I could hear a click, it almost sounded like a large spark, but I think it was just something clicking on and off.

Anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

I think I saw a thread about it not to long ago, but I could not find it again.

evil_motors

iTrader: (3)

battery cables... most likely your negative..

nothingbutrotor

Checked battery terminals, the negative was a little corroded (by a little, i mean a lot) but the cable is fine. I cleaned the corrosion off, and will know if that fixed it tommorow.

evil_motors

iTrader: (3)

yeah corrosion is a bitch... it causes more problems than people think

nothingbutrotor

Well hopefully that stopped it.
It seems like it only does weird **** after it rains.

nothingbutrotor

Well, i just got out of class for my break and when I went out to start it, she had no power at all. The clock was blank and when I turned the key over, I got nothing. A friend was nearby so I had him give me a jump, but it really did not want to start still. I checked the terminals, and my negative is corroded again, this time i happened practically over night.

Could that of been the source for not having any power?
Anyone know why the terminal could be corroding so fast?

MattG

iTrader: (2)

Yea. That happens to me all the time on my pinto. What did you use to clean off the corrosion?

There is this stuff you can buy that eat it away, its some type of chemical compound. Its yellow then when it hits the corrosion it turn pink.Works wonders!

Then What I would do is clean your terminals off really good and sand them down untill you get shiny metal.

Then they sell these lil pads that help fight corrosion those work good too.

nothingbutrotor

Yeah, last night I just kind of brushed it off. I have a terminal brush thing (its round and has a wire brush inside of it) and some terminal protectant spray. I will do the old trick and pick up a bottle of coke on my way home from class. It really just frustrated me more than anything. I know my battery had a bad connection, because it continued the Battery meter would drop everytime I hit the brakes or turned on the radio, it would bounce down. And my tach would bounce

MattG

iTrader: (2)

Nah I would go ahead and just get the spray. It lasts for ever and its some good shyt to have on hand! But you can do whatever

nothingbutrotor

Okay, do you know what the name of it is by any chance? I'm about to make a run to autozone to get windshield wipers anyway, I will pick some up while i'm there.

evil_motors

iTrader: (3)

um if it is corroding that fast you have a leaky battery.. you should replace that soon... and as for the cable.. i had to cut about an inch and a half off to get to clean metal..

nothingbutrotor

Yeah, I plan on picking up an Optima battery before too long anyway. But would there be anything else that could be causing this? Maybe a bad ground or something.

I can't even find the grounding spots on the car, anyone have pictures or a diagram of where they are?

Kentetsu

The grounding is accomplished through the negative battery cable where it connects first to the strut tower, then to the starter or motor (I forget which). Clean up those connections and that might fix the issue.

Phiber Optik

iTrader: (2)

the main battery gound is on the side of the driver shock tower almost in line with the lower front spark plug

ratboy

iTrader: (1)

Or you could replace all of your battery cables altogether. I saw that mentioned in the FAQ's and since they were corroded I replaced them all (even added a extra ground or 2 for the motor). It only cost me ~ 25$ for nice FAT cables and new terminals and once I started it back up I was amazed at how much smoother my car idled and ran. The stock cables are aluminum and mice were corroded all the way thru when I cut off the insulation.

for installation just follow the cables from the battery. IRC, the + goes from the battery to the coils and the starter and the - goes from teh battery to the engine and chassis. Maybe took me 2 hours?

nothingbutrotor

The corrosion was only on the connector to the battery, i've followed my cables all the way back and they were good (or appeared to be). I'm sure eventually I will replace them, but I don't have the time, nor the money (32 dollars in the bank ) to do it, I just need a temp. fix, and I think I have solved it.

But thanks for the tip, i'm sure it will be something I do in the near future.