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[Harry Face]

If it ain't problem enough I got to work on my car I have to blow the
whole day with mothers car now.

She was headed to the mall today, In the Left turn lane the car started
bucking & chugging, but she was able to make it into the parking lot.
After shutting the car off the car wouldn't restart.

Remanufactured Starter installed July 2004.

So she calls me up and I go there with the tools. I try starting it and
click click click click it goes. Give the starter a few taps with the
Pontiac Wrench ( ball pean ammerhay ). Hit the key, more clicks.

Put a small volt meter on the battery terminals it reads 10.9 volts. Not
really being up on volts I figure 10.9 should start a car but maybe not
at 28 degrees - even though its a 1000 amp 900CCA Die Hard.

The battery was installed in 2001 and has barely 6000 miles use on it.

Theres a Sears at the mall so i remove the Battery, drive it around to
Sears in my car. The little gurl behind the counter tests it & says its
bad, you need a new one.

Another machine is used, one that put a load on the battery. If its good
the machine will kick into a charge mode, but if its bad a red light
lights up. We got the Red Light.

So its prorated & a replacement battery of the same type is sold to us
for $33.00

Drive back to the Cadillac parked by Carson Piere Scott, Mother goes in
the mall to return something, while I drop the battery in.

Hook it up, sit down turn the key and the starter grinds, I back off on
the key, hit it a second time and it fires right up.

All sounds good, - HELLO ! There's the red " No Charge " light glowing
in the warning light panel.

Mother comes out of the mall. I tell her its running, but the Alternator
light is on. I ask was it on today? Yeah I think so. Was it on Monday?
Hmm maybe ?

I drove the car Sunday about 15 miles to get a ( real ) Christmas tree
and there was no light and no starting problems.

One problem is the warning lights are not in the gauge cluster. There
set in the top of the Instrument Panel cover and light up through a wood
grain panel, there quite hard to see if only dimly lit, but this one was
on full brightness.

So I tell her to drive it home ( about 4 miles ), I'll follow. We get
home okay. Start looking for the alternator receipt & discover its MIA (
missing in action ). I figure I put an alternator in in 1997 or 1998.

So 6-7 years old I'm guessing. Remove the ALT and I bring it to Autozone
to have them test it. They said its bad, but don't know what inside is
bad.

Last time I had one tested somewhere they told me what part inside
failed. I guess the new machine just tells you good or bad.

100 amp Alternator on order.

=========
Harryface
=========

1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE
3800 V6 ( C ), Black/Slate Grey
_~_~_~297,024 miles_~_~_

~_~_~_~_U.S.A._~_~_~_~_~_

~~~The Former Fleet ~~~
89 Cavalier Z 24 convertible
78 Holiday 88 coupe
68 LeSabre convertible
73 Impala sedan

[Paradox]

"Harry Face" <harryface@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:3215-41BF891E-152@storefull-3116.bay.webtv.net...

[JRL]

Harry, just read your post. Just a small suggestion, from experiance.
Make sure the battery is fully charged before you start the car with
the new alternator. Some alternators go bad real quick and no warantee
will cover it when used on a dead battery. Good luck

On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 18:45:18 -0600, harryface@webtv.net (Harry Face)
wrote:

[Harry Face]

When I picked up the Alternator today, my buddy in the parts dept said
to hook a test light up to the - cable & - battery terminal to see if
there is a current draw. Well the test light lit up. Just to understand
what I was doing was correct, I disconnected the - cable on my
Bonnevile and connected the test light in the same way and the test
light did not light.

When I removed fuse # 8 and 14 the test light nolonger lit. Installed
Fuse # 8 checked with the test light and the light was very bright.

Remove Fuse # 8 and installed # 14 and the test light had a very dim
glow.

So i'm assuming we have one or more problems on each of these circuits.

Fuse # 8 Body ( 20 Amp ) controls.

Illuminated Entry, Power Door Locks, Courtesy Lights, Gear Select Lever,
Rear Quarter Lights, Lighted Visor Vanity Mirrors, Power Mirrors, Rear
Compartment Light, Cigar Lighters - rear doors & RF passenger, Door
Latch Switches ( Passive Restraint ).

Fuse # 14 Lighter ( 20 Amp ) controls.

Front Cigar Lighter, Glove Box Light, Radio, Passive Restraint Belt
Module, Audio Alarm ( Chime ), Instrument Panel Cluster.

First of all, Regarding Fuse # 8, there are a few problems under that
circuit that might be cause for drawing current, but I'm not sure, so I
run it by yaul.

The Illuminated Entry System, thats when the interior lights light when
you press the exterior door handle button.

The handle on the RF Door has a Non - Illuminating door handle,It was
replaced due to door being smashed. As with old cars the Correct part is
No Longer Available. The RR Door might also have a Non - Illuminating
handle, I'm not sure as I didn't replace that one - Caddy body shop did.
I only replaced the RF handle after the button itself failed.

Would a disconnected wire harness inside the door cause a problem. I
know the RF door connector is tied up so its not contacting any metal.

Next, Courtesy Lights - The Overhead Lights near the mirror does not
light on the RH side when the doors are opened or if the button is
pressed on the over head light.

LH side sometimes lights when the doors are opened, sometimes it works
& it doesn't when using the button overhead.

Next, Lighted Visor Vanity Mirrors.
RH side works fine, LH side, the wire is broken off at the swivel point
on the visor. Not sure if bare wire is touching something above the
headliner or the metal part of the visor pivot point.

Also on Fuse 8 is the Rear Compartment Light, I assume thats the trunk
light? I pulled the bulb and put a test light into the socket, Test
Light lit up with the trunk lid wide open. I lowered the lid to 1 inch
above the striker and the test light still lit up. When the bulb was in
the socket it would go out when the lid was still a foot from closing.

Not sure if it is a mercury switch , its all plastic so it looks
electrical.

On Fuse # 14 the only know problem is with the Glove Box Light switch
not working, It self destructed earlier this year. I unplugged the wire
harness from the switch. I can't remember off hand if the GB Switch is
No Longer Available.

Its 28 degrees working with bare hands under a cramped dashboard.

After removing the lower dash trim I discovered the Alarm Installers
created a beautiful spaghetti pattern - mess of wires all over the
place that are taped & tied and theres 3 little black boxes hanging
down un-anchored to anything.


As of 3pm Fuse # 8 & 14 are removed, no current draw on the battery.
Mother can drive the car - but a few things won't work. Not sure if
running the car with the fuses in, how long it will take to discharge
the battery. As mentioned in my previous post I drove the car last
Sunday , it was fine. Monday Mother thinks the ALT light was on, Tuesday
the car was dead and needed a battery & alternator.

I may leave this one to the goodwrenches to figure out.

=========
Harryface
=========

1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE
3800 V6 ( C ), Black/Slate Grey
_~_~_~297,024 miles_~_~_

~_~_~_~_U.S.A._~_~_~_~_~_

~~~The Former Fleet ~~~
89 Cavalier Z 24 convertible
78 Holiday 88 coupe
68 LeSabre convertible
73 Impala sedan

[James C. Reeves]

Sounds like you need to find a heated garage somewhere, least your fingers
will fall off! :-(