hello, i know some of the common problems, my cars an 87 gxl by the way, but i dont know where to start looking.
My horn and passenger side window only work intermittently, i dont know if that is related but i thought id mention it......

recently my idiot cluster lit up, all of it and didnt turn off. Then one night (on the highway) my car started shuttering and the lights were dimming, and whenever the power surged my shift alarm went off along with all of my lights dimming. needless to say my car died. i needed a car asap so i replaced the battery about 4 days ago. just tonight the same thing happened and the car is dead. I am going to test the alternator tomorrow but if it isnt the alternator could nyone please suggest where to start looking?????
thanks

 

The idiot lights all lighting up, indicates your alternator has failed. By your description and wasting money with replacing the battery is also a clear indication of the alternators failure.

The horn is probably related to a CPU that needs re-soldering.

The passengers window is probably related to the drivers window switch, lock out switch... which the contacts are probably dirty.

 

well do they work at first then stop working or is it random? like the window will work perfect all day then the next it won't or will it start going down then slow then stop? if thats the case its high resistance somewhere in your circuit. and if the horn works then get quite and stops same thing. make sure your bat terminals arent' touching the hood of your car either. but its probably your alternator.

 

hey thanks for the info its all very helful. I havent checked the wires on the window or the contacts, but when it dies the first time nothing looked wrong under the hood, and i didnt have any equipment to test the alternator or anything so i bought the battery in order to get home, hoing it had just been drained slowly by an oen circuit or something. I didnt even check under the hood the second time, this time when i looked the belt had come off the alternator and shredded a little. im gonna check the other stuff later,
so anyways just wanted to say
THANKS!!!!

 

I had an ECU grounding problem which exhibited the exact same symptoms- it would often happen at night after an extended drive. I would suggest reading Aaron Cake's grounding write-up. Mine is now a daily driver after cleaning up the grounds. All of that info can be found through the link below.

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/ecu-grounding-question-wire-confusion-765943/

I'm not sure about the horn. And as far as the window goes - somebody recently posted a write-up on cleaning up the window switches. You may want to start there.......good luck and keep us posted on the progress.

 

dude, buy a voltmeter and check to see if your alternator is working. your car is running until there is nolonger ENOUGH voltage to run the engine. think about it the only thing you did to get the car to start and run was replace the battery. think about it, if nothing is charging the battery it will go dead.

 

or hell, even simpler. your car is non turbo so it has a voltage gauge, if that gauge (assuming it's somewhat accurate) isn't showing you close to 14 volts, your alternator is toast.

 

Hey there is an on-and-off 3800 hesitation wondering if that would be related to my other electrical problems? would that meen the problem is in my computer?

 

hesitation issues are almost always due to poor or degrading grounds, but if your electrical system is not strong enough to even support running the car, the grounds are pretty much a second tier issue and not the primary problem.

 

i fixed the alternator problem so now i was wonering if my other electrical roblems would be related to the oor grounding (hence the 3800) and where would i begin my search?