black79

Okay, when i bought my 80SA the original owner had already taken out the engine as well as some of the emmissions equipment, as well as the battery. What I want to know is can i run jumper cables from another car to my 7 and turn the key on to check and see what works and what dosen't work. The car hasen't been on the road scince 1990 so I'm sure alot of things aren't working. If this will work how do I connect them? Can I just clip the jumpers onto the original battery cables or do I need to do something else?

newtuner

IMO do exactly what you said. either just toss a battery into it or use jumper cables to the old battery terminals. if anything should go wrong either a fuse will blow or the ground will take most of the current. but you will know if something is wrong if you hook up the battery and get nothing turning on

black79

^^^^

djessence

???

Yes you can jump your car without starting to see if stuff works if thats what you were wondering

EDIT: Positive to Positive, negative to negative. Or some people say you should never put directly on the battery of the good car and should just ground the negative side but ive never had a problem. And yes just hook up to the battery terminal cables tihngy's if you dont have a crap battery in there.

Also make sure the car you are boosting from is running or you may end up just draining its battery and then being SOL

black79

thanks, I tried to hook up the cables but nothing worked at all. Is it that something that was already taken out of the car would have been a ground for the electrical system? Im assuming that one of the cables would have been connected to the starter or alternator? If so what can I do to fround out the cables?

djessence

Hmm, i can take a look at my car tomorrow if no one has input (at parents farm). When i did it everything had worked just my battery was kaput and so i took it out.

For fun did you check the fuses like mainy engine fuse or stuff like that (electric isnt overly my strongpoint)

newtuner

you would have to put the - side on to the body. anywhere on the body. as long as its getting good contact with the metal

djessence

^ Shouldnt the negative battery terminal be grounded, thus being able to attach directly to that?

black79

So even though there is currently no engine or anything like that in the car, would the original cables still be hooked up to the proper things to make this work?

bliffle

You can use boosters to try the car. Car batteries emit hydrogen gas, which is volatile, flammable and explosive. So smart guys try to not create a spark in the vicinity of the battery. In your case, since there's no battery in the car you just make sure to complete the connection at the blue car, away from the battery, so if there's a spark it's a long way from the battery.

But if you're jumping a car with a 'dead' battery you want to connect positive to positive and then connect the final negative away from the battery, maybe a bumper or some other remote point, so any spark doesn't ignite battery hydrogen.

A friend of mine made he mistake of connecting battery to battery and the spark at the final connection blew the top off the battery! Fortunately, he wasn't leaning over the battery at the time or his head would have been blown off.

That's the only case I know personally of where the battery exploded.

I connect positive to positive then duck down by the fender and reach over with the last negative clamp for the point I've chosen for the final connection, which might be the top of the shock tower.

1983GSP

never boost a car with the boosting car running. the sudden drain on the alternator may or may not kill the regulator/rectifier. may cost you an alternator.


the proper way is to have both vehicles off, connect the cables, start the good vehicle and let the dead battery charge for a min, then shut the good veh down and start the dead veh.

djessence

Im sorry, i disagree completely. The good vehicle has to be running. Alot of times you even have to rev up the good car to get enough current flowing into the bad battery to get enough oomph to start.

I have NEVER heard of anyone doing that. Or anyone having any problems with alternators or the like. Ive boosted alot of cars myself and never had anything happen to my or anyone elses alternator. Mechanics boost with cars running, as do the people who do the roadside assistance thing.

With your method i just see someone having 2 dead cars. Obviously IMO and IMOE.

7aull

iTrader: (2)

I'm thinking that with no alternator, plus the ignition harness and distrib, etc disconnected there maybe no way the power gets from the cables to the wire harness??
I mean, it looks like there is NO engine harness at all in there-
You may need to get power more directly to the Main Fuse Box on the drivers strut tower (behind the Ignitor Box on the front of the strut tower)...?? Or at least make sure there is a lead off the POSITIVE connector (at the battery) to the Main Fuse?
Guessing here, sorry.... having a wiring diagram would be smart!!
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

newtuner

from the last picture all i could make out was the ground cable.

black79

sorry I know the pics aren't the best. They were old pics that I had from before, not trying to show what I am asking now. If I took more pictures would that be helpful at all? If so what would you like me to take picturs of? And I know people are trying to help, but just to clarify, I'm not asking how to boost a car, I know how to do that, I am asking how to get power to the car to see what electrical components are working. Im nit trying to sound snotty, just wanted to clarify my question.

newtuner

from what i see on the electrical diagrams im looking at this is what all your power should be coming from.
or maybe im mistaken and its only power for headlights? either way the red/white wire is your main source of power. or at least going to where it should end up. I'm in the process of tearing out the ex/interior lights ignition and some misc switches. if you need a diagram PM me your email ill hook you up

1983GSP

Step 1:
Park a car close enough to yours so that the jumper cables will comfortably reach both car batteries. Open the hoods on both cars and secure them with prop rods. The car that is providing the jump should be shut off, not running.

Step 2:
Clamp one end of the jumper cables onto the car battery of the car providing the jump. Connect the positive (or red) clamp to the positive(or red) battery post first. Make sure the other ends of the cables are not touching each other. Connect the negative (or black) clamp to the negative (or black) post of the battery.

Step 3:
Connect the other end of the cables to your car's battery by installing the positive clamp onto the positive post of the dead battery. Again, make sure the clamps do not touch each other. Connect the negative clamp to a clean ground on the engine of the dead car or directly onto the negative battery post. Connecting the black clamp onto the engine will reduce the possibility of a spark around the dead battery.

Step 4:
Start the car that is doing the jumping and let it charge your dead battery for 5 to 10 minutes. Then shut off its engine.

Step 5:
Turn your key in the ignition to make sure you can start your car.

Step 6:
Remove the negative clamp from the car providing the jump. Do not allow the clamps to touch. Remove the positive clamp from the same car.

Step 7:
Take the cables off of the car receiving the jump in the same order, negative followed by positive.

Step 8:
Release the prop rod and close the hoods of both cars securely.

1983GSP

Tips & Warnings
Corrosion on the battery terminals can cause your car's battery to appear dead. Clean corrosion from the terminals and keep the terminal clamps tight on the battery posts.
Never restart a dead engine while the jumper's engine is running. Electrical damage to the car providing the jump could occur.
To avoid sparks around the battery of the car receiving the jump, the negative cable should be clamped onto the engine away from the battery. The metal surfaces on engines are negative in most cars.
Do not allow battery cable clamps to touch each other while they are hooked to a battery

1983GSP

those two posts were copied and pasted from ehow.com. you work at an auto electrical shop repairing and replacing alts and starters for 3 years, you kinda learn a few things along the way.

it takes 250 to 700 amps of current to start some vehicles. your typical alternator puts out about 90-120 amps. you do the math. im not trying to start a pissing contest djessence, but you may never have an alternator go out on you. but personally,in my 15 years of exp. i have.

newtuner

I'm curious on how it would kill the alt? wouldn't most of the power be drawn from the battery? Even if it did draw the power from the alternator would it actually make it go bad? What part of the alternator would go bad?

1983GSP

the sudden drop in voltage causes the regulator/rectifier to increase output to keep up with demand. the battery is just a storage device. after you start your car, everything is run off of the alternator.
the alternator likes to keep voltage between 13.5 and 14.6 volts. when you jump another car off with the engine running, your alternator is trying to keep your cars voltage up while also trying to charge the other vehicles battery at the same time.
trying to start the dead vehicle puts another 200-700 amps of drain on the system.
most alternators have 3 diodes. look it up on how it works. it really doesnt take a lot to pop one. then no more charging.

black79

okay for some reason this is still ending up being a thread on how to boost a car. My car has no battery or engine in it. What I am looking for is how I can check to see if my electronics are working by hooking booster cables from another vehicle to my rx.

Sgt.Stinkfist

iTrader: (6)

just hook up "+" to "+" and "-" to "-" plain and simple, but first...

1- make sure that, if the starter is missing, that the main power wire going to the starter is not grounding out on the chassis or trans
2- make sure that the power distribution block (pictured in the post by "newtuner") is still there and has the wires and fuseable links attached
*edit*---> also make sure the alternator wire (sitting on your strut tower in the pic) isnt grounding out either

if the starter wire is grounding out or if the power block is missing or not hooked up, you will not get and power inside the vehicle, other than that, you should be able to turn your key to acc. mode and proceed to check your electronics

black79

thank you thats what I was looking for.

black79

okay I took some new pics to see if they will help you guys tell me whats wrong. Does everything here look right to you? Is anything mising?
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ctrical007.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ctrical006.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ctrical005.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ctrical004.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ctrical002.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ctrical003.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ctrical001.jpg