Ok guys, long story but here it goes. I was driving around one night in my 88 AE and my cd player and radar detector kept getting reset while I was driving. Then the lights started to go dim and wouldn't shut all the way. Also my idle kept getting shity and it was hard to get it to respond to the pedal. Anyways the next day I figured it might be the altenator so I ran to O'reilly's and picked up a new one. The installation was easy as ever got everything pluged in right, the belts were tight, it was ready to go. I fired it up and it ran perfect idling just fine, I let her warm up a while then I took it out for a test drive. I drove it a while and it ran perfectly, brought it home let it cool off for a while. Later that day I started her up and warmed it up left my house and just right down the street all the lights (brake, hatch, fuel, shift light etc) came on and idle was really poor and it wasn't responding to the gas pedal very well..I putted it home and took off the alt. and rechecked everything. It was all good.. Now I don't know what to do..Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.

 

Also with the lights going out..the power steering would also go out..

 

First disconnect the the positive (first) and the negative Pwer leads from the battery.

Start with the Grounds:
#1: on top of the tranny there is a black 14 GA. wire from the tranny to a brass spade lug just to the right of the windshield washer motor. Make sure it is clean/Shiney and connected.

#2: On the engine (Some refer to it as the power) harness. Check/clean the ground connection located just above the frame rail on the Drivers side Strut tower.

#3 Disconnect the B+ lead from the Alternator and measure its resistance to the + battery lead. I have found a number of these leads severely internally corroded.

#4 Disconnect and clean the Negative lead (-) from its main connection at the Starter.

 

Ground straps!
Ground wires!
Ground pins in connectors!

- I looked at the thread & Bonzai beat me - yea - like he said.

 

Sorry I'm kinda not mechanically inclined but the #2 ground connection you mentioned.. is it noticable from above the engine or do you need to get under it? Also the #1 tranny grounding i'm assuming i'll need to get under the car for this one and where is the windshield wiper motor located?? Thanks

 

any pictures would be nice

 

Richard check the belt to, it could be slipping.

 

I have another good story like that. I went out side when it is raining and tried to start my S4, n/a (like that matters) well it cranked over a few times, then it just stopped; nothing lit up, but a DIM brake light, I tried a few more times to see what the hell happend but all I could hear was the starter plunger kicking in. I hooked it up to a charger to see if it was the battery but it still had a full charge..... if it had a full charge yet wouldn't the starter still crank?.... when its hooked up to the charger I could get it to start but as soon as I shut it off and disconected the chager it would go back to the really dim brake light. I will test the alt. and check the grounds but could it be something more? these problems are the most anoying!!!

 

Clean your grounds really well and make sure they are on nice and snug. Adding new grounds wouldn't hurt either. Make sure you are getting correct amperage at the alt. while your car is running. Sometimes if your car has been sitting for a while it takes it a bit to get it to fire up(in my case i would need a charger to get her to go b/c my battery would not be able to put out enough power to crank it fast enough). I'd also check your connections at your starter and battery. I hope that helps.