Look queue, people come on forums to get advice and they hope that the people who respond have the answer that they need to solve their problem. You are creating needless static and even making suggestions that will be a complete waste of their time. Aside from that you are damaging the credibility of the people who DO KNOW what the problem is because most people who come on here don't have any idea of the background, knowledge, experience, etc of the person giving the advice... You've made it clear that you know next to nothing about these vehicles so do us all a favor and stick to the reading part and stay away from the writing part, unless you're posting a question. I'm sure there's something that you know about, if you want to be helpful find that forum and help those people...

 

Hi Jeff,
Happy things are working well for your daughter. That small wire is part of the body ground and sounds like the load was back feeding. There are small ground wires on the valve covers that sometime loose their ground as well and you might want to check them too. Sometimes things are not as clean as they look. With winter around the corner I like you do not want her to get stuck. Luckly she has YOU in her corner. I am always impressed when family sticks together and we know sometimes family is not shall we say around the corner if you know what I mean. So if I were you I would clean all the ground wires, battery terminals etc. as this is something that happens over time and when you have a bunch of them not making good contact you end up with the problems you were/are having. Don't forget to look and clean all. For a couple of hours now can save a lot of heart ache and frustration later.

And I understand what QUEUE was getting at and understand the rule of back feed due to a bad or loss of ground. I have been in this field for a long time (amlost 46 years) and I still make mistakes. That is why I use my bald head for a LARGE eraser I remember when European vehicles came to these shores with their Positive ground systems. Many mechanics could not grasp that idea and burned up many radios, CB's etc. It would be nice if ALL vehicles used the same system and they are getting better and more complicated at the same time. What they really should do is make these designers and engineers have to work on them and then they might change things around. BUT, by the time they do that I will have called it a day and work on only OLD vehicles. Or just stop working them period except for my OLD girls. My oldest baby is a 1956 BMW motorcycle (600cc) that I got in boxes, bags and some items tied to the frame with twine and tape. Oh and NO service manual.

So I do not pick on people too often. Just when they bring up things that have NOTHING to do with the problem at hand.

Let me know if you need assistance in the future. OK??
Tell your daughter to stay cool and ALWAYS carry her cell phone so she can call home of necessary. Do not want her and the children to be stuck somewhere. And make sure you answer her call

 

Johnny5ive,
DAMN, you said what I was thinking but my wording would not have been so eloquent to say the least. Some of what he wrote was accurate but had NOTHING to do with the problem at hand or these vehicles. Much newer vehicles but not these.

So let me THANK YOU for your comment.

 

random, it's still ok, going strong. I guess I will check those if it occurs again. THANKS AGAIN, Y'ALL HAVE HELP TREMENDOUSLY.

 

HI Jeff,
Happy things are going well. But I just want to emphasize that if the little wire was the 'HOT' cable and I was not mistaken. Then the bad ground was at the large cable where it bolted to the engine. By removing and replacing the cable you ended up making a good ground for everything. But prior to that it also put one heck of a load on the smaller cables. The ones on the valve cover will take you 10 minutes to check. One end is a simple push on conector and the other end is a small bolt. This way you will have good engine to body grounds. This is why I said to check all grounds but PLEASE check these. Remember what looks good is not always good. And better to be safe then sorry. You daughter and grand kids are riding in it. OK??

Take care and if you need us we are a e-mail away.

 

Well it occurred again. I was out of town so I told the son in law to disconnect the battery and reconnect it. He did it and everything was ok again. I wish he would have only disconnected the negative but he did both. Well I guess the next time he will just try the negative cable.

 

Hey my daughter says that the car is still starting but now the blower won't blow, heat or AC.

 

Hi Jeff,
Check fuses for Heater (blower) and a/c as they should be clearly marked.
Check relays (same scenario as above). Should be uder hood or under dash.
I do not have a service manual for the 2000. If all are good it could be no current going to curcuit due to in line resistor. Can not remember if yours has that but that would at the wires coming off of the starter. THis is another reason why I told you to check ALL grounds before. NO I am not being nasty just trying to explain my reasoning.

Let me know if this helped. Thanks

 

Jeff,
Here is something else I was able to locate for you and it tells where the resistor is located.

There was a bulletin reguarding water contaminating the blower motor, which overheats the blower resistor and renders it inoperative. The fix was to replace the blower and the resistor and seal the culprit hood cowl screw at the base of the windshield, which is the second screw from the passenger side. They say water drips off of it down into the fresh air opening.
Here's what I'd do: Assuming your switch and blower motor is good, replace the blower resistor. Remove the blower motor and see if it spins without any excessive drag. If it's okay, reuse it. If it's dragging, it will overheat your new resistor in a short period of time and you'll be back at square one. The blower resistor is mounted to the front of the case with 2 screws to the left of the blower motor. Remove the glove box and you'll see it.
The Hood cowl screw is straight down into the cowl, the second one from the right side, about 10-12 inches from the right fender. Pull it out, put some sealer on it, and reinstall it.

I know you do not want to trust this to anyone but yourself so let me know what you find out and hope this is NOT where you have to go but at least you will have all the info.

Take care and say 'HI" to daughter. VERY happy that she has her other half with her. Does he have this type of knowledge to be able to work on it or will you be the one??

 

Changed the cables today, the bolt that goes to the engine WAS IN FACT CORRODED. CHANGED IT THE WIRE THAT GOES FROM BATTERY TO TRAY (body) and the wire that goes from the engine to the frame, and sprayed all the connections with the CRC battery terminal protectant.

As far as the blower. I unplugged it to check and see if the power was getting to it, it was, and when I plugged it back in the blower worked. Then my daughter came over and said the blower quit again