Yesterday I went for a drive about 30 miles from home and back. On the way back I reached down to turn on the AC and everything went off.
Stuck in the middle of the road with 3 cars in front of me at a traffic light and I lost all electrical power.
Here's where I got lucky. I popped the hood and reached into the wire on the back of the alternator and check to see if it was loose. then I did the same at the horn relay.
Turned the key and the power was back on. I drove home with AC off.
This morning I went out to the garage and started the investigation.
I found the wire that was attached to the alternator was corroded and broken.
This area of the wire was covered with heat-shrink from the factory so could not see it.
It was full of greenish corrosion. I cut the end off and the rest of the wire looks to be clean. I removed all the wires on the horn relay and cleaned the connectors and reattached them.
Now I have to check the fusible link at the starter, and I should be good.
Brian - NCM Lifetime Member
73 coupe L48, Flat-top pistons, Performer RPM Heads, Crane Cam and roller rockers, Holley 650 vac sec. Performer intake,
3.55 gear BTO 200-4R trans,
Leather seats, Seatbelt Plus 3point seatbelts, Pioneer CD player
Magnaflow Exhuast System
Thank you for sharing this. Glad it all worked out safely for you.
Hopefully your story will help others in the future.
-Adam Wartell
NCM Lifetime Member #1222
Founder: C3 Vette Registry
C4 Vette Registry, C6 Vette Registry
My first Vette, now owned by JB79:
Yes, Thanks!
You got me thinking about solutions to my problem; Intermittently non-op of the Starter. Turn key to START and hear only a slight click and no Starter Solenoid activation. Repeat 2, 3, maybe 4 times and then Starter comes alive and Engine runs. A full battery charge helps, and the battery's 7 months old. Gonna check the connections/wires you mentioned and see what I can find wrong.
Much appreciated.
Steve