1989 Buick Riviera

LARON

MEMBER
1989 BUICK RIVIERA
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
190,000 MILES

Iam buyin my dads car off him he says u need another car to help start it but he says the battery is brand new, the starter is good, but when u hunk the horn the radio and some of the lighs dim out and sometime the radio will go completely off. And I have another question in the car it has a touchscreen radio and heater. Iwanted to know if you can take that out and put in a manual radio and heater.

1 Reply

JDL

MECHANIC
16,098 POSTS

How long since a tune-up? Any applicable mil codes? Have the charging system checked.

Are you saying the starter motor won't crank without a jump? Or it cranks good but won't start? Key on or engine cranking, the system gets battery voltage. Engine running, the system gets alternator voltage, can be several volts difference. Maybe that is why the extra battery helps?

Use a digital multimeter across battery posts, have helper turn key to crank, how far does the voltage drop?