Engine dies out.

He says "no lights at all are blinking" -- I wonder if that includes his headlights? You might be spot on with thinking of the battery, if he's got a really cruddy connection someplace the starter will pull enough amps to arc across it and weld a tiny path while cranking. Engine vibration then shakes it loose and he loses everything electrical. I once had a Malibu that would occasionally have a complete electrical failure while driving (lots of fun in high-speed traffic), as soon as I hit a bump it would come right back. It turned out to be the battery cable connection at the starter was loose.

Geir should disassemble, clean and reassemble all the heavy cable connections and check the ground strap from the back of the engine to the firewall. It is an uninsulated flat braided wire strap about 1/4" wide.

Something like that happened to our 88.

It was a rotted mesh ground strap from the rear of the engine head to the firewall.

Mike

"Geir R.Petterss>

Just a shot in the dark, but try checking the grounding straps. I had a '77 F150 that did just about the same thing you're describing and I discovered a corroded one. When I replaced it, the trouble went away.

John

I had this happen in a '64 MGB I had about 35 years ago... It died (everything dead!) so I got out started checking stuff electrical. Eventually I got to the batteries -- there were two of 'em, each a 6-volt unit located under the floor behind the seats and wired in series. As it turned out, a post on one of them was broken off down inside the battery itself. As I tried to loosen the clamp the post turned, so I pulled on it and out it came! I shoved it back in as hard as I could push; the thing started, so I drove it straight to the import parts shop and bought new batteries.

You might check the connections at each end of the battery cables and make sure that they're clean and solid. I.e., battery-to-starter, battery-to-ground, battery-to-alternator, etc. And check the ground strap on the back of the block that Mike mentioned, too. And if a battery post itself is loose, it COULD be your problem.

Scotty '99 TJ Sahara 4.0L I-6 '99 XJ Sport 4.0L I-6 '03 BMW Z4

Mike Roma> Something like that happened to our 88.

My wife had a 97 Chrysler Sebring convertible that did this...a wire somewhere on the bottom (came off the coil pack, went under the block) had insulation rubbed off and shorted, shutting the whole thing off. Don't know what it was for, but we put dielectric grease and tape on it for awhile before we could pay someone to fix it. That car was pretty crummy electrically-did Chrysler use stuff like this on the Jeeps too?

Matt

As mike states: engine mesh ground strap ....... Or more rarely - a bad conection post on the battery - especially if you've ever used a HAMMER on it to make the connections tighter !!!!!!! If you use a hammer to make the connections 'tighter' you risk breaking the internal connection of the post --- with the result of NO connection or 'intermittant shorts'. ;-)

To the ones that have given me advice, thank you very much. I have no news so far, as I have not had the time to follow up any leads so far. As soon as I have the time to do something, I will post again and let you know the result. I wish you all a nice weekend.

Best Regards Geir R.Pettersson snipped-for-privacy@heating.no