Pos or Neg Computer power wire ...was: Re: [Shotimes] Need help from the gurus again

[George Fourchy]

On Tue, 19 Nov 2002 11:18:06 -0600, Kevin & Cheryl Airth wrote:

>I think you mean negative terminal? This is the ground wire for the PCM.
>That's why you had full power everywhere else.

No, the problem was definitely on the positive side.  That connection from the cable
to the battery terminal end was way more loose than the negative side.  There are
two barrel (my term) connectors for the PCM power wires, one on the positive battery
cable and one on or near the negative one.  When we accidently disconnected the
positive connector on the black car the morning after we finished the engine
install, the non starting symptoms were the same as when the Plus quit along the
side of the road several times.  

And, to clarify, the computer does not run off the main positive cable to the
solenoid (and rest of the car)....it has its own separate wire from the positive
cable terminal, which was loose and corroded, which is why the Plus kept dying.  If
this wire is not hot, the computer will not operate, and the engine will not run,
but all accessories will work....very confusing if one doesn't know the positive DC
power path.

I never tried disconnecting the ground for the computer....that would definitely be
something to do, as well, to observe symptoms, although the computer might be at
least partially grounded somewhere else within its massive amounts of wiring.

I had full power everywhere else while the computer power was off because the main
battery positive cable was still connected to the solenoid on the other fender, from
where the fuse box gets its power, and all the fusable links also fan out from.

George