Auto Parts: 93 Intrepid BIG Problem, altenator, electrical issues

Question
I have a 93 intrepid.  A couple days ago the battery light came on and don't know why.  The next day I went to leave and it has a shifting problem...usually when it gets shut off and restarted it will work fine..only it didn't start up.  When I push the brakes, the dome lights come on, i turned the hazard lights on and eventually they wouldn't work and the dome lights came on.  We turned the headlights on and the whole car died.  We tried to pull fuses for the dome lights but after they were
pulled the car just shut off and wouldn't start again.  It will start after the battery is charged and stay running forever but as soon as you get in and the dome lights don't shut off the car just starts dying. We did test the altenator and it was bad but it doesn't explain why my lights are bad.  The drive door never worked...the lights would never come on and it has a light around the ignition which never worked either...well like less than 2 weeks ago it started working all the sudden and now we have all these problems..do you think maybe the switch in the door needs removed or are we missing something major????? Can you please help me.  Thank You!

Answer
Hi Jamie,

Do I need to tell you that electrical ghosts are great reasons to shop for another car?

You really should have your vehicle looked at by an actual person. Electrical issues could be caused from almost anything.

First, fix the obvious problems, like the alternator. You need to rule out EVERYTHING. Once the battery is charged, turn everything on, or at least the items that are experiencing problems, and start pulling fuses one-by-one. Put the fuse back in immediately if it is not the circuit you are looking for. As soon as you find the circuit that is troublesome, follow the wires and components. With any good luck, you'll know what you're looking at once you find the problem. It sounds like an obvious ground issue. Something is not grounded properly and it is seeking ground through other, adjacent circuits causing both circuits to experience issues.

Thanks for the question, I hope this information was helpful to you.
Fred
www.knucklebusters.us
570-453-0910
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