87oldscutlass

okay so i own a 87 cutlass supreme. i have been experienceing some major electrical issues over the past few weeks. mostly to do with my headlights but there are some other issues that i feel are tying into this as well.

all of this seemed to start on mothers day, it was raining. was driving normal. avoiding smashing into puddles but also not going too much out of my way to hit any. basically my headlights radio horn and dashboard lights all stopped working. i checked everything for power. none at the fuse box what so ever. i since have checked the wiring that goes from the exterior of the vehicle to into the vehicle complely tracing all wires looking for cracks or any corrosion, what i did run into was the wiring from the under hood around the washer tank is where this started. it has some wires spliced together and with duct tape.... took the tape of and fixed with proper electrical tape and got the rust/corrosion off of the connections ran along the whole wiring harness for the headlights to check for anything there and found several more spots where there were make shift repairs. i have been told that there is a orange illumination wire for my stock radio that could be the culprit. but wouldnt that cause the radio fuze to consistanly blow? only my headlight fuze is blowing consistanly ever since i have checked everything down. i also replaced my alternator because it crapped out on me voltage regulator passed but the charging part failed. the problem is still occuring. i do not have any parasitic draw or anything that i can trace down. or any shorts on the outside of the vehicle. i notice that sometimes when i hit a bump my radio will go out for a split second and then come back on. when this happens is when the fuze is blowing. im kind of narrowing it down that its not water entering the harness and causing the shortage. its got to be some where else. any help would be greatly appreciated and let me know if you need any more information about anything or pictures ill be glad to get some and post

87oldscutlass

anybody?? please?

CutlassDad

Grounds.
The electrical energy has to pass from the battery to the component.
The path back to the battery is no less important.
Look for rust at the screws or corrosion at the copper terminals.

rocketraider

You need a 1987 Oldsmobile Electrical Troubleshooting Manual. Electrics had gotten pretty complicated by then and you just about have to have a good wiring chart to trace down things like this.

I would also check the fusible links down at the starter. I've seen them corrode and break internally and wreak havoc with a car's electrical system.

87oldscutlass

the starter is new. and no corrosion that i can see at all. the problem persist with either the new or old starter. The problem to me seems that it could be a ground or bare wire bad because it does it when i hit a bump or something usually. When i try to replace the fuses it just blows them.. checked the whole headlight marker light and tail lights as well as reverse and plate lights. no problems in the wiring no cracks or anything. Unfortunately i thought i had the problem fixed and ended up smashin into a hill side last night. the lights worked untill then and i can not get them to come on what so ever unless i use a 0G jumper wire which is what i had to do to get home. im no electrician so what did i break by usisng the jumper wire to limp home. ive noticed that my radio is in a since hickuping every say minute or so and loosing power for a split second. the fuzes are all light fuses and chime fuses could i have a bad chime? it does nothing when i have the lights on regardless of key in or out on or off did this model year have a chime?