# 86 Z problem



## scarecrow_55 (Oct 20, 2003)

all of a sudden i'm having some kind of electrical problem, any clues? the battery was completly dead so i jumped it and then the car died in the middle of the highway, but the way it died was the rpm's were going crazy, like the car was turning off then on agian and off and on and then it died and i couldn't get it cranked agian or pop the clutch, and then when i got another jump it kept dying the same way but this time like 30 seconds after the jump. finally i managed to coast it off the highway and park it by a store. and then at the parking lot i jumped it agian and held it at idle to see if maybe the turbo went out and was killing the airflow but when i held it at idle the way it died was the rpm's slowly died away. does it sound like a wiring, battery, or alternator problem? thanks


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## scubaz31 (Nov 25, 2003)

What are the idiot/dummy lights doing? Did they flicker or come on when any of this happened?
I'd say alternator problem since it keeps draining your battery. Or might be a bad ground to the battery draining it.


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## scarecrow_55 (Oct 20, 2003)

how do i know if a bad ground is draining it? i'm thinking its the alt too, but i just wanted a second opinion before i waste 3-4 hours putting the alt on and off. i heard there's a way to check if the alt is bad without disconnecting it do you know how to do that?


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## scubaz31 (Nov 25, 2003)

Well in my case, I had a bad ground when I hooked up a sub in my old car and it killed the battery. 
I think what you mean by testing the alt. without taking it off is have the car running and disconnect the battery cable. If it dies, the alt needs to be replaced.
Best website for the z31 is www.z31.com , you should go there and read and search the message board if you haven't already. Or ask your question there if you want more opinions since this board isn't a leader in z31 information.


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## 87_300zxT (Nov 18, 2003)

my car is doing about the same thing, except it is taking longer to kill the battery


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