blink!182

So I had changed out my alternator a while back and have been through 3 autozone alternators which was my first mistake dealing with their garbage and have put a new 3 year warranty battery a couple of years ago. I was so confident I had another bad alternator that I took it off and was gonna get autozone to give my money back. It tested good twice there so I ran over to oreillys for an unbiast test just in case, tested good there as well. Battery tested good as well. I dont drive this car very much cause I get tired of jumping off everytime I want to drive it, plus I commute 60miles round trip to work so I have a gas saver during this gas price hike. I received a jump starter box for christmas so I've fooled with this car a little more here lately. If I jump the car off without the battery connected it will stay running but the odometer lights flicker constantly and simply applying brakes almost drains all the electrical juice. Turning headlamps on immidiatley kills power altogether. Alternator seems to put out enough power to be fine from 13.8-14.4. Any ideas? It's warming up and I'm dying to drive this thing confidently again. Thanks!

1998Slow 'Stang

The ground strap from the drivers side inner fender area to the motor mount is a great place to start looking.

I had a bad one that was falling apart when I swapped my motor and the car acted like it had a bad alternator and battery till I went to napa and bought a really heavy duty one for all of like $8.

So check that first, if you happen to be absolutely clueless about what I mean I'll snap a picture.

blink!182

Thanks for the feedback, It may be this weekend before I get to check this out but your comment is very much appreciated. I'll let you know what I found out when I look into this. That would be cool if thats all it was, I'll try almost anything at this point and that seems like a cheap fairly simple task. Thanks again!

1998Slow 'Stang

Start cheap and rule out the small stuff...always better than throwing alternators at it lol

speedkills

I agree. From my experience with electrical problems, I always check the ground first now.

JeremyB

If I remember right there is a ground strap on each side of the motor, connected to one of the motor mount bolts on each side, and then to the fender

Also check the connection to the fuse box, there is a piece on the side that slides up and reveals the connection, mine was loose and it would just randomly die and everything would flicker