QuestionQUESTION: i have a 1974 oldsmobile omega v8 when i turn the key the car does nothing and i can see my volt guage going down back to zero the starter is good i had it tested and if i jump the starter the car runs fine what would be first steps to checking the starting problem..this is what ive done so far i put a test light to the starter power supply it lite up bright then i tested one of the points it lite dim i tested the other one it didnt light at all then i had someone crank the car and it lite up bright so i wonder could that dim side be my problem and where does the two wires go? also the wires were really close to the exhaust and have been for about 3months
ANSWER: If the voltage gage drops to zero when you try to start the engine it sounds like a defective battery or a bad cable, either ground or positive. Remember that the starter take a lot of power to operate while the test light takes very little. I would have the battery load tested and then check each connection on both the positive and negative side, cleaning all the connection as I went along. To test these connections electrically you will need a voltmeter not a test light. The test light only tells you that there is voltage present but not how much. The voltmeter doing a voltage drop test along the lines will find the bad connection. The other way is to turn the key to try to start the engine. Hold it a second or two. Then get out and feel the battery connections. The bad connection will be warm to the touch. Good luck.
Brad
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QUESTION: i rubbed all connection with sand paper to get a good connection battery terminal and starter and coil, i then got a voltmeter and tested the load at the pos side of the coil it was 6 volts even the wire at the starter that i believe is connect to the postive side of coil also i took off the neg side and it read 12volts again i put the negative side on again and it read 6volts could the coil be bad
ANSWER: The ignition coil circuit on any 12 volt car with ignition points and some of the early electronic units has a resistor in the circuit that drops coil voltage to about 6 volts. So a reading at the coil of 6 volts is normal except when the ignition key is turned to the start position. Then battery voltage is sent to the coil to aid starting. Is the car running yet?
Brad
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QUESTION: Brad yes the car is running I don't know if it was from me rubbing the connection or moving the wires around, but I believe without the help from u and a few others I probably would have been out of pocket another few hundred dollars and honestly I believe the mechanic who swapped my engine should have told me the wires were brittle the wires might need replacing anything especially after 2300..So now I need to find some kind of wire shield so I can rewrap the wires that are close to the exhaust
AnswerWhen this car was new there was a metal heat shield around the wires. If there is a bone yard around with old stuff in it you might find the origonal shield. A friend of mine who restores old car electricials BX and some times resorts to small diameter flexible exhaust pipe.
Brad
