Cougar

You should be able to check things out yourself but you should have a voltmeter to check the voltages getting to the dash and the ground connections. From your original post it seems there is a either a bad power connection or ground in the dash area. If the alternator is at fault, it is not too difficult to replace yourself. Be sure to check the connections on the alternator to see if any are loose. Be aware that the main output lead on the alternator is always hot to the battery. Don't ground it. If you need to disconnect the output lead, remove the negative battery post lead at least.

I would check the continuity of the wire from the ECU to the CTS sensor. It sounds like the wire is either broken or not going to the correct pin on the ECU. Be sure disconnect the connector from the ECU, with the engine off, before taking the measurement. The fuel problem may also be due to a leaky injector.

If the car loses drive motion while this is going on, then I would guess there is a problem with that gear in the transmission.

Try looking to see if you can find any arcing going on at night when it is dark out.

It may be a problem with the motor. I would look for voltage getting too the motor from the switch while the problem is happening. The problem may be caused by the switch also. If you aren't getting any voltage to the motor then I would look at the switch next.

I don't know how you could have damaged that resistor while checking the resistance of the MAF sensor unless you had power connected to the ECU somehow. I assume you know that power must be removed to the circuit when you are trying to measure the resistance of it. Removing the negative battery connection is a good procedure to do when doing something like this. You should also isolate the component you are trying measure from the circuit to avoid measuring errors. If you were trying to measure the MAF sensor resistance the MAF should be disconnected at the connector to it before measuring it, with the power off before disconnecting it. When other things are tied to the area of concern you can get false resistance measurments due to the other paths the circuit or component is tied to. Unfortunately, there may be more damaged components in the circuit besides the resistor depending how the circuit is designed and the excessive current traveled through it.

To 4X4moose: It sounds like you need a new alternator. If all the connections are ok and the problem still persists then try changing it out.

The reason the brake and battery light came on is because they are in the field circuit of the alternator. If you disconnected the battery while you did the alternator service the idle problem may be due to the ECU lost the data it stores about the engine. There is a proceedure about letting the ECU reprogram itself. It should be in the owners manual I think. I don't know why the AC compressor would be coming on if it is turned off. The alternator would not cause this to happen though.

Glad you got it fixed Midwst. Thanks for the feedback.

I'm not surprised about the meter error and that is why I mentioned it in my earlier post. You may be able to make your probes work ok by just using some alcohol to clean the connections. Use a swab to clean the meter connections. If the plug is loose in the meter you may be able expand the plug contacts, if they are the split type, to make a better connection. Whenever you are checking for low resistances it is good practice to short the probes together and see what the meter reading shows. Hopefully it will be a stable number under 1 ohm. The reading will be part meter error and the probe wire resistance. You just remember the error and subract that from your measurment. You have a good meter there and it should work fine for anything you need to measure on the car.

You do have the classic symtoms of head gasket failure unfortunately. Have a block check done to verify it. It is a cheap test to do.

Not only is it right it is "The Law", Ohms's Law that is.

I don't see how bypassing the power to the compressor eliminates the switch as a possible problem, all you did was tie power to the compressor and it worked so you know that the compressor works at least. I would check the relay and fuse on the right strut tower to see if there is voltage getting to the relay from the switch.

Your welcome for the help Jerry. Hope it isn't too hard to track down.

Yes, a normal cable will have some resistance but I doubt you have a meter with enough resolution to measure it. The main ground cable should have a resistance of about 0.001 ohms or less. Using Ohms Law E=IxR the resistance of even 1 ohm would mean there is a 1 volt drop for each amp of current. With 3 ohms and just 1 amp it would be 3 volts of drop. You can imagine trying to run a starter motor with this is not going to work well.

You can't replace the fuse with the light and run the devices also. You need to put the light in the circuit and then look for the problem. It would be good if the short stayed active so that way you have time to find it. Tapping on things with a screwdriver handle may help you locate the problem area. I would get a wiring diagram so you can isolate areas that are suspected problems easily. When the light turns bright then that means the short is active.

The reading of 3 ohms on the ground cable is not good, especially if you are talking about the main cable. This may be your real problem. Try cleaning all the connection points and see if that corrects things. You should have zero ohms of resistance. Check the calibration of your meter by shorting the probes together just in case there is a metering error. There may be a problem with the fusible link connections also that could cause a voltage drop so check that also.

Your probably refering to the optional 'operator' for it. This can be a real problem.

You could try replacing the fuse with a brake light or head light in series with the fuse holder connections. This will limit the current through the circuit when the short happens to a safe level until you can locate the short. According to my '88 manual the fuse for these items is #10 and should be a 15 amp fuse. The problem may be in the turn signal switch area.

I don't think it is a hard job but you may need a press to install the bearings if you do this yourself. A shop could do that for you.

I did some looking in my manual and I noticed that the driver's window motor is set up a little different than the rest of the window circuits. I assume this is because it has the automatic roll down feature. The power to the driver's side window motor comes directly from a control box while the rest of the window motors are provided power through their local switches.

Good job. Now, to get that pesky lawnmower going.

Power windows can be a problem but I have never had a window problem with any of the 4 Soobs I have owned.

If all your switches are stuck then I would try getting a replacement switch panel. You may be able to get one from someone here in the Marketplace forum or at a salvage yard near you. You are going to have to bypass the switch at the back of the switch since it ties to other things besides the compressor circuit. Just running power to the compressor clutch is not going to make it work correctly. I would first verify that the switch is really bad using a ohmmeter.

Your statement about the window rolling up slowly makes me think that there may be a problem with the window regulator. The switch energizes a relay to turn on the motor so when the window doesn't move at all then that may be due to a dirty switch. There may be two problems to deal with here. You should be able to figure out how to bypass the switch to see if that is the problem. Sometimes the wires get damaged in the harness from the door movement so be aware of that also.