Ok Art, my apologies to the headlamps.

With all the commotion on the dash, I don't think I immediately connected activating the lights to the breakdown. It was only later in the evening when reflecting on the incident that I put those things together.

I think it likely that I did not turn the lights off when trying to restart the vehicle, and that it would have run if I'd done so. They were turned off when I returned in the morning but I would have done that instinctively.

There had been a sharp 90 degree bend in that ground cable where it joined it's terminal which may have had something to do with the failure. The cable is not long enough to avoid that bend. There was no sign of corrosion. I noticed on my 91 that the terminal was repositioned kinklessly to the inner fender. It may have been off for quite a while. The blower hasn't been on since April, and the lights not since May when my daughter was visiting and gallivanting around after dark.

I still wonder why the fault wouldn't show up in the mornings. Would a 50 degree rise in temperature change the resistivity of the alternate ground enough to put it over the top ? This car has a braided ground strap from the wiper motor to the strut tower. Is that an add on by a PO ? I don't see it on either my 90 or 91 wagons.

Thanks for the explanation. I feel better for it.
Peter