New Alternator is 2 months old - is OK - Battery is OK.....So, what is it?
 

Well.. I posted a while ago about my car trying to die on me again. It'll go to 12 volts die and I have to restart it. It isn't my alternator, it is fine, and it is not my battery. What else could this be?

I don't know what to look for if theose two are working properly.... Help?

Loose connections at the alt, or underhood fuse box.

Bad Grounds

Better grounds are the Shiznit!

OK .. im kind of stupid in that area - but I've never understood grounding. I do know that when you ground, you take one wire connect it from the ALT/batt or wherever you're having the problems... and ground it some place else - what does that do?

(I think I'm really stupid in this area)

Mark - I'll check the wires on the Atl today - but (don't laugh) .. the fuse box?

It helps the flow of electricity to your car parts.

For my car, which also read 12 volts while running, it now reads 14 or higher, made my idle solid, my air/fuel gauge works now, my interior light works now and my car either runs cooler or the gauge is more accurate.

I didn't think it would make that much of a difference, but I was wrong, and very pleased that I was wrong.

Didn't cost much, $15 at NAPA.

Where extactly would you ground the wiring then?

The basic grounds:
Battery to starter mount.
Battery to fender liner.
Bell housing to firewall.
Firewall to clutch slave mount (with a square capacitor on the end)
Exhaust system to body. (for the oxygen sensor)
ECU connector to floor plate.
Pressure sensor mount to engine.
Various eyelets coming out of the harnesses to connectors.

Start at the top of the list.
Each time you work on something, see that the grounds are bright & shinny.

I only did 3 and got enormous results.

Battery to strut mounts
Battery to alternator bracket
Strut mount to oil filler thingy

I used 4 gauge wire that I bought from the local auto parts store and a new, bigger battery terminal.

hey Christi,

The underhood fuse box is right next to the battery. There is a large 80 amp fuse in it that is bolted in. Sometimes the bolts come loose causing he problem you describe.

Update -

Hey thanks guys. I'll be sure to bookmark this thread to keep it of some good use when I NEED to ground.

I just wanted to let you guys know I went down to the local RX-7 lot here in Ft. Walton Bch, FL.. (guy is well known RX-7 guru) and they looked at my car. It's none of the above that you'll mention. All it needed was a new starter! Which is sitting in the back of my car now.

I'm so happy it's nothing serious. Anyway thanks for the information, as I'm keeping this thread bookmarked for further use.

where in Ft Walton is this guy at?

hmm that doesn't make sence to me...if it's already started how could the starter be a problem?

1SlowRX7 - Across from the Datsun Z cars....where are you?

Well, i dunno what Monroe was tripping on, but it IS NOT my starter, or anything of what I mentioned above. It is probably the plugs, which haven't been changed since I got the car (roughly march 2002, a year 1month ago) ... so, i'll be changing out the plugs soon, and see if that fixes it.

Question though,

Should I change both, Leading and Trail, or just leading? I've heard different sides of this, but I'd like to know if it's better to do both at once?

Change them all at once.

Jarrett