Finally got another chance to get under the hood with a guy who knows these cars pretty well.

After about an hour of working on her, he was able to start her right up. He did alot of testing with his ampmeter, and found an injector that was having issues.

He laid a screwdriver across the injector ...

Maybe a starter motor going bad, high resistance internal to the starter motor? Check amp draw from + battery cable to starter motor with an inductive pickup tester when attempting to crank. Draw over 150 amps or so (a general rule, from my experience) indicates a bad starter motor.

Please ...

Well I tried to take a vid of it trying to start, but the *dang* thing started...

Your summary is correct. The starter seems to be attempting to turn the engine over, but it doesn't. The starter is definately not stuck, but I thought perhaps it could be "weak"....

So the cables could be corroded on the outside and perfectly find on the inside? I didn't realize that. I am ...

I have been having trouble with the Bonny for several weeks now. I will come out and try to start it and it will "Rrrrr rrrr rrrr rrrr" but not turn over. Usually after trying it 3 or 4 times it will finally fire up. Friday however, it left me stranded. I must have tried 50 times to get it to turn ...

It put my battery on the trickle charger and charged it up to 12.66. I went back out there this evening with my voltmeter, and tested it out.

With the car at idle and nothing running I got the following results.

Alt: 13.97
Bat: 13.91

Then I turned everything on (Headlights, A/C, Wipers, Dome ...

So bought a new 3-wire clip, wired it up, soldered it, and then closed it in shrink tubing. Now getting 13.6 volts. The first one looked a little wonky out of the package. I guess that was the problem. I think I am going to go ahead and replace the serpentine belt anyway. Thanks for all the help ...

Sweet thanks. I will pick up a Gatorback tomorrow...

I found these great instructions for the Series II engine. How different is it for my 1994 Series I Bonneville?

whats the condition of the belt?

The belt seems solid. No cracks or dry rot, and it doesn't appear to be slipping or moving. I guess it couldn't hurt to replace it however. I have had the car for 10 years and I don't believe it has been changed.

Seems a straight forward job. Seems like the only ...

Now, about your alternator. I'm well aware as I said before your car "stock" came with one wire, all of ours did. It's a universal pin setup for many GM's. The other wire you CAN hook into and use however, as I said before, is the external voltage sense.

Here's my pin configuration, you can see ...

Well I checked the hot lead from end to end. Looks fine.

I am really starting to think that perhaps that sensor clip I spliced on there is no good.

If that sensor connection is bad, will that keep the Alt. from charging?

If the terminal are free of corrosion and the alternater is chargin the battery. Check the positve cable going to the starter I've seen the cable hit the exhaust manifold and melt the wire casing cuasing it to arch against the manifold.

Interesting. I hadn't checked that. Will give her a look ...

The battery is probably a year old. Real good shape. No crust or anything. I have had the alternator and battery tested several times at competing auto parts stores. Each time they pass the battery and fail the alternator, however when I took the alternator off and had it bench tested, it passed.

Thanks for the pix. I took both ground wires off, cleaned them, and scrubbed them with wire brush before putting the back on nice and tight.

No go. Same low voltage problem.

I dug out my ampmeter and took some readings.

Battery (while off): 12.30
Battery (while on): 12.01
Alternator: 12.00

The ...

I took this picture of my alternator connection. The wire was worn out at the end where it split off from the tree, so that was where I clipped it off.

Only 1 wire. Small gauge red one.

http://i48.tinypic.com/552uyd.jpg

It's strange, because every replacement I find has 3 or 4 wires, such as ...

So I took it to an Autozone and a O'Riley. Both told me the alternator was bad. Low output.

So I went home and took it off, and took it to a different O'Riley and had them bench test it. It passed all three times they tested it.

So the alternator is 100%.

I told the guy at the store that the clip ...

Pix would be a huge help Michael.

I took it to Autozone, and they said it reads "Low Output" and are willing to give me another one, but I really don't think the problem is the alternator any more.

Also I found a replacement for that connector clip that goes on the backside of the alternator ...

Perfect. No corrosion what so ever.

In the past I have had "no start" issues with the car, however after tightening down the terminal screws, it will start right up. That was why I replaced the terminal screws. Still no go. Voltage gauge is right above the red area when idling.

I would think I got ...

The battery is clean as a whistle, but I replaced the terminal screws anyway because one was a bit stripped. Problem still exists. At idle, volts are at the top of the redline (11 or 12 volts?). I turned on the lights, ac, and wipers and sat and listened to the engine. There is a loud, repetitive ...