Car wants to die.

[SHOtime3]

I had to replace my battery terminals a few days ago (negative wouldn't tighten up anymore) and at first I thought I needed to reset my idle. I tried that and the car still wants to die, but only when I'm coming to a stop. If I down shift and put the car in first right before I stop it will normally go to idle. If the car does die it will start back up with no problem. On intial start up it's usually ok on occasion it will dip low and correct itself within 2 seconds. I checked my battery and I think it's low (it also seems like my dash lights dimmed a lilttle while rolling down my window) I'm going to "get in the zone" when I get off of work in about 15 mins. Could a low battery cause the car to die like this?

BTW my CE light hasn't come on and I checked codes and didn't get any and within 15-20,000 mi I've changed
plugs
plug wires
both cam & crankshaft position sensors
coil pack
fuel pump
not yet time for an oil change
o-rings
valve cover gaskets
and more...

Thanks in advance

 

[ultimatesho]

id say check ur alternator.........mine did the same thing for like a week before it finally went out on me (of course on my way to the drag strip, so i didnt get to run that nite)

 

[SHOtime3]

I'll check the alt. is it possible the IAC is gunked up but I'm not getting a code for it. If so can it be removed without taking off the intake manifold?

 

[SHOtime3]

Well alt was bad and it killed the battery. So my SHO got a couple of early christmas gifts which leaves me with another question. I've changed my belts and CPS myself and didn't have a problem with squealing belts before. So of course my belts are squealing this time (I just didn't fill like fooling with it this time) and the one of the guys says it has self tightening spring and there is nothing they can do Is this true? Like I said I've never had a problem with this when I do it myself. I was also thinking he was giving me the run around since they took all day to change the altenator and it was time for them to close. So am I right in assuming I need to take it back to them and tell them to fix my D*** belts.

BTW another thing that seemed kinda odd to me is they do that type of job and didn't have any belt dressing/lubricant.

 

[ultimatesho]

i dont think our cars have self tensioners .......could b wrong tho......

when mine went out i left it sittin in advance's parkin lot then ran down there the next morning when the new one came in pulled the old one and put the new one in and tensioned it by hand till it felt about rite (pushing down on the belt).......never had a squeal since..........could of just gotten really lucky, or they may have self tensioners........

 

[whiteman_01]

Well, im not sure if your car is an atx or mtx. So.. for an atx, yes it does have an auto tensioner.
For the mtx it is a manual tensioner. There is one for the front belt and one for the rear belt. You have to loosen the bolt that goes through the pulley, then adjust the tension with the allen head that is on the top of the tensioner bracket.

 

[hawkeye18]

If the connection was loose on the negative terminal, the intermittent connection most certainly could've killed the alternator.

Belt dressing is not a lubricant. It is the opposite. Do you have an ATX or an MTX? We need to know. ATXs have automatic tensioners; MTXs do not. Try twisting the belt; if it twists more than halfway, the belt is too loose.

 

[SHOtime3]

It's a mtx and I noticed that the two wires on the negative terminal are now connected is this a probolem?

 

[hawkeye18]

There should be two wires on the negative terminal. One goes to the ground on the engine block, and the other goes straight to the computer, through a body ground and a connector. If this wire isn't connected or has a bad connection, severe running issues will result, i.e. will stumble and want to die all the time.

 

[SHOtime3]

Both are hooked up it's just that they've been spliced. So my negative ternminal is like this =O---==== instead of this =O====. Is that a problem?

 

[ultimatesho]

if u mean it goes from a smaller gauge wire to the stock gauge, yes it could be the problem....could mean your not gettin a good enough ground

if thats what you mean id defiantly c if the stock wire would reach the terminal, if not theres 3 options i c

double or triple up a smaller gauge to get it near the stock gauge, get a heavier gauge and replace the smaller gauge out, or just run to advance or autozone and buy some battery cable and replace it all..........

id probably do the last if i had the s[pare cash on me at the time.........after this many years the stock wires are probably pretty gunked up and worn

 

[SHOtime3]

The wires are the same they cut the factory terminal off and replaced with a newer one (#3) but the wires (#s 1 & 2) that were seperate now connect at the terminal (#3). Here's a very bad camera phone pic

 

[ultimatesho]

i c what u mean now...........i ran mine the same way when i changed out connectors (original was badly corroded and cracked)

so this "SHOULDNT" cause any problems........i havnt had any because of it yet.......

 

[hawkeye18]

SHOtime3, your setup is fine. The wire goes straight to the terminal, as it should.

Now, having said that, your battery cables (both of them) are anywhere from 13-18 years old (old enough to smoke!), and this means there is a lot more resistance in them than there should be. The cables are easy to replace (once you get the wire-wrap out of the way) and will give you a great power boost if yours were as bad as most are.

 

[Kens1992mtxSHO]

I recently replaced both of my battery cables. It wasn't a difficult job by any means and my SHO runs so much better. FWIW I sliced my cables after the replacement and they were both way corroded. It was no wonder she wouldn't start.

 

[jesshasasho]

I also just had the exact same problems you are having. My negative cable was so badly corroded that it killed the Alt. and also the starter cable, so I replaced all 3 and the alt. and I haven't had a problem since. I just wanted to comment here to let you know to check the starter cable (orange and black one that runs from alt to starter) if you are going to be replacing the other two because it is really easy and cheap to replace while you are under there replacing the others and it caused me a week of **** trying to figure out why my car still wouldn't run even after I replaced everything else. I had to go back in a week later and replace the starter cable, but it's been fine since.

 

[CPUNeck]

If I were you, I'd grease that connection good. I know it isn't attractive, but for corrosion to take place moisture must be present, if grease is covering everything, no moisture can be there. Whala... no corrosion. This will also prevent corrosion creep (corroding up the cable beyond where you can see)

Use grease with a high drop point (the pastier the better), I use syn brake grease. JMHO