open car door - engine shuts off?

[plymouthy]

Strange but true, is this an anti-theft device? I couldn't believe it until it happened to me. I thought that my kids were making it up until I tried to start it. I found a loose wire from the battery to the starter relay, I installed a new wire - soldered connections, correct gauge... and replaced the corroded relay, the car ran fine for several days, then it happened again. While the car was running, if you opened the door it would kill the entire electrical system ARGH! Letting it sit would sometimes allow it to restart. I shook the wiring harnesses (with the radio on so I could hear when the connection was made) and occasionally the stereo would play, this allowed me to narrow it down to the under dash connections. I had already cleaned the bulkhead connections, now it was down to dash wiring.
After reading several postings on this great site I decided to go for the jugular and attack the infamous amp meter. Wiggling the wires on the amp meter isolated the problem YEAH, (thanks forabodiesonly.com). So to get the car out of the store parking lot before it got towed I removed the wires, bolted them together and drove it home, soon as the rain stops here in N CA I am going to do the preferred re-wire (if my stepsons bustang was out of the garage I could finish it tonight, but thats another story - I told him he shouldn't have gone to the "dark side".
Thanks again for the great site, it has saved me hours of troubleshooting. Next project is a father-daughter 360 engine build with overdrive AT, I may be asking for advise (on the engine, not raising my daughter - how many dads wait for the day that their little girl asks to help work on the car!)
Keep up the great work guys -and girls

plymouthy
73 Plymouth Duster
71 Dodge Charger SE
65 Plymouth Sport Fury Convert Indy Pace Car
71 Dodge Super Bee Body For Sale - located in WA state

 

[HemiPar]

As far as little girl.. I was in the garage a few weeks ago sanding on my Swinger. My 13 year old daughter comes in and ask "what can I help you with dad?" So after I wiped the tears from my eyes, I handed her the da sander and put her to work on the rear area of the car. It was a great feeling to have her come and wanna help. But now she is wanting to get the Power Wagon in the garage next summer so SHE can fix it and drive it for HER first vehicle. Either way its cool when our girls wanna help and get into the Mopar ways

 

[RedFish]

YUp ! I'll bet my quarter there IS an aftermarket bogger alarm under the dash somewhere.
A story toooo long to write here but in a nut shell... neighbors lil truck, cycle the switch in starting once and if it didn't start, no second chance until she would get back out, rock the body on the wheels and back in to try starting again. This was common practice for over 2 years. All she really needed to do was open and close the door. We still laugh about it.