JohnnyUMF

Hi there,

Just came upon this forum...wow, what a great amount of discussion and information.

I have done some searching and noted a fair amount of electrical issues discussed here and some good ideas but all for more recent E series.

Very recently, I have been experiencing some strange 'electrical' issues on my car.

- Driving and everything but the engine loses power.
- Driving and climate control loses power and all else, but then radio comes on.
- Wipers starting sporadically on there own.
- Radio speakers on the Becker operating one at a time, then a few minutes later all 4.
- Complete drain of the battery and no ability to turn car on without jumpstart.
- New battery not holding charge for more than a day.

Anyone else have anything similar or suggestions...some things like the radio issues and wiper just seem strange?

BMARTIN

Johnny,

I have an 84 300d that i had stored for 4 years..ended up with some wiring proplems due to rats.. I am a retired Broadcast Eng. with 40 years electronic and electrical experience. I bought a HAYNES 123 series repair manual which has complete wiring diagrams.. they seem to be very acurate..
Over the years I have found that most times when there are many strange and changing symptons with electrical equipment, including cars, the trouble is a missing or poor common ground.. Like from the engine to the chssis.

I have all my electrical problems corrected except .. no instrument lights..

bmartin

neanderthal

it doesnt sound like a single source for all your problems. id start with the OVP (if your car has one) which can cause myriad problems.
then, as suggested above, id look at all the grounds
the stereo my have its own individual problem. id check the wires near the fader.
theres an electrical drain somewhere. you need to go through the car thoroughly, making sure that all lights/ features turn off. you might need a dark garage to diagnose a light, but if its something else you have alot of hunting to do.

if youre any good with an electrical tester, you should do ok. otherwise, it might be prudent to dump the car and get something else. diagnosing random problems can get expensive in a hurry.
good luck.

ashman

has your alternator been tested?

JohnnyUMF

Thanks for the advice. I have a fellow checking out some grounds and alternator now. Ill post back because it is a strange set of things that happen electronically with this beast!