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Hello Everyone,
Yesterday, I noticed that the warning lights along the bottom of my 740’s (1988 GLE wagon, without turbo) instrument panel would flicker for a few minutes, then flash brightly, and then stop flickering. After driving for about 15 miles in this condition, I pulled into a parking lot and pulled out the instrument panel, thinking that there was a loose wire somewhere in there. No wires seemed to be loose. I put the panel back into the dashboard housing, only to discover that none of the instruments worked—including the speedometer. The backlight for the instruments still works, but the instruments are dead. The only instrument that works is the clock. Curiously, the clock was the only instrument that didn’t work before this event took place.
I got back on the road, and after about 15 more miles the headlights started to get weak and the engine began to die. I pulled into a Wal-Mart, bought a new battery and was able to make it home.
I figured it was just a bad alternator, so I replaced that today. After the replacement, the battery was still not charging. I had the old alternator tested and it works just fine. Right now, the car is running on the juice from my new battery.
Clearly, there is a short somewhere in the system, and probably between the alternator and the battery.
Does anyone have any ideas about where the short might be or any tests I could conduct to find the short?
My Volvo mechanic has quoted me a price of $300 for a new wiring harness, 5 hours to put it in, which in total will come out at about $1000. Unfortunately, that’s out of the question on my budget.
Someone told me that it might be possible to run a heavy-duty wire from the back of the alternator directly to the positive pole of the battery, so that the battery will at least charge.
Can anyone tell me if this would work, or is it likely to cause some major problem?
I have to come up with a low cost battle plan right away. I would appreciate any advice you can provide.
Thanks.
Megan
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