I have an 88 turbo. Today was driving out of the parking lot from work and the whole car just completely dies. No clock, no radio, no dash activity at all. Car will not even attempt to turn over almost like the battery is dead. BUT, the battery is fine...the alarm system works, the inside lights, tailights and head lights all work fine. The battery and the connectors are all new as they were replaced the last time this happend. The last time it happend it sat for a few weeks then out of nowhere it just started working again and I've been driving it for a while since. Any ideas out there? I've gone thru the starter wiring and just about every other electrical diagram on the car and I can't find a problem. I'm wondering if the factory alarm system has malfunctioned and caused this. Thanks in advance!

David

 

factory alarm only will kill the starter. It will not affect the ignition or gauges, or interior lights, etc.

You probably have a loose main fuse, or possibly a main relay (but you should get idiot lights on if it is the main relay).

 

check your battery terminals, then check the connections to the wiring between you headlights in front of the oil cooler it came loose on my car and i had the same thing happened.

 

ya, check the the main fuse. It's the center fuse under the hood (80A). It must be unbolted, unlike the other fuses which just pull out.

 

well it turns out it's in some wiring behind where you push down the clutch inside the car....i pushed the clutch in hard...kinda slapping it down with my foot and all my dummy lights, clock, radio came on....I hit the clutch again hard and all those things went off....hit it once more and they came on and I started her up with no problem....so I have to figure out what is up under there that is causing this...any suggestions? Thanks for all the input and help

 

Your ignition switch harness has three/four plugs on it.

The ignition switch is fed by a single black wire from the 80amp fuse in the engine bay.

Find your ignition switch plugs. They're about a foot below the switch itself. Look for a single black wire connecting to them. Make sure it's on.

That single black wire has one other connection b/t the ignition sw and the eighty amp fuse. That single connector is about six to nine inches below the engine fuse box. It's probably not that on since you slammed your foot in the cabin.

 

New development in this saga....Everything has been running fine the last couple of days...today pulled into a parking spot, went into neutral and engaged the parking brake...sat there for a min. then turned off the radio...as soon as I pushed the radio power button the whole car goes dead and I'm back to where I started...no dummy lights, no start, but all interior and exterior lights work fine, alarm works fine....I moved all the cables away from the cluth this weekend so I wouldn't hit them so now if I bang on the clutch area I don't fix the problem....I've wiggled wires but can't get it to come back on yet.....crazy stuff

 

Find the connectors for the ignition key. Find the BLACK wire. Put a meter on that wire. If there is 12v then you have an ignition sw problem. If not, then the single black wire that feeds the ignition is disconnected b/t the eighty amp fuse and the ignition side of that black wire.

Whien this single black wire is disconnected, a car will have your cars symptoms. Headlights but no start....no idiot lights....etc.

there is a free fsm online for free with wiring diagrams.