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1986 grand prix Newbie Mechanic

KingRich

New member
Hey guys i have done repairs to my 86 grand prix but seems like everything i do something else breaks. My new adventure is my car wont get any fire to anything! The battery is chargers and all wires are hooked up. I recently changed the alternator and starter on it and after that this is when the problems began! PleASE HELP! I am really trying not to take it back to the shop to get raped over something small.
 


theres a chance you put one of the small wires on the starter back on wrong. theres 2 small terminals on the starter, put the wrong one on the wrong terminal and the car has no power.

also check the that all the wires on the alternator are in place.
 
wow forreal i didnt think that the power went thru the starter like that? So you think i may need to swap the two smaller terminals and i should have power?
 
Also... what do suggest i do to my 86 gp it has been sitting up around about 9years and i want to get it back to ruinning well it only has 6000mi on it!?
 


this site is more geared towards the 97 and up grand prix's and w bodys.

your car is totally different platform.


on the up side thats low miles. dont know what engine you got, but if its a v6 you may want to drop a v8 in it. unless its a grand national of course, then you got yourself some thing to work with.

if it has not been ran in 9 years, you should pull the plugs drop some tranny fluid in the cylinders, then grab a breaker bar and socket to the harmonic balancer bolt, and turn the motor by hand a bunch of times, then use the starter to crank it some more, no longer then 15 to 20 seconds at a time, or the starter can burn up.

then pop some new plugs and wires on. check the air filter, change it if id needed. change the oil and filter.

if theres gas in the tank still, that needs to sucked out of the tank, the fuel filter changed, fresh gas added, then fire it up. let it idle for a while before revving it up or anything. the cranking of the engine should have primed the engine oil , aka got oil to the top of the motor, but being its sat for so long let it idle and oil its self up.

depending where this car has been sitting mice may have moved in and chewed wires, that may have something to do with your power issue. so look over as much wiring as you can under the hood and under the dash, if you see a lot of crap packed into a area you found a nest. and mice make the inside of the car smell like crap. you know is mice once you've smelled it before. its nasty.
 
what engine is in the car. should have a sticker on the rad support with some info about the engine on it.

why did i think grand national lol i got regal on the mind lol disregard that part.
 
its a 3.8L ... I have done all of this the car runs... I have driven it about 20 miles before the old starter went out ... my grandfather had a diffrent alternator on it. The car seem to get more power as i drive it aittle more. but here are some specs i got off the decal uder the hood off of the fan cover... G4g3.8v2n5x7 ....... 6b3-4a....... 25525370 .... egr/air/orc/oc
 
the 80's 3.8 is nothing great. if the bodys in good shape and you want it for fun, drop a 350 or a 400 cui engine in it and th350 or th400 trans, and have fun ripping up the back tires lol

if your just gonna drive it as is, theres not a whole lot to do to it. just keep up on its maintenance.
 


Make sure you take care of the back half of the frame and the body.

They're known for rotting. There are "repair kits" out there though.
 
yea i dealing with that i am going to fiberglass the back floor boards they have allready rusted out !!! and body needs just alittle bondo!!!
 


Your right it did predate those odometers but ive had this arguement before....this car was owned by my great grand mother.... Who bought the car about 7-8 years before she passed bought car brand new....and care made a few 1000 no trips but most sat due to my grandfather already owning cars....I can also remeber this car being on blocks in yard for years and my gdad would go crank once a week ... So this is my reasoning for low mileage!
 
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