Really bad electrical problem.

Not my car, but my brothers. I'm not sure if it's an 87 or 88, but it was built in Nov. or Dec. of 87--that makes it an 88, right? 5spd car with the autolight package. Here is what is going on...

He took a known good running engine out of his first tbird that his wife wrecked beyond repair and had it put into another turbo coupe body whose engine was shot. The guys that did the engine swap were idiots, and they screwed the vacuum line routing up pretty bad, but my brother and I fixed it by looking at my bird. We don't know everything they did to hook up the wiring harness, but something definitely isn't right. The car will fire right up easily and idle well. The TPS checks out and I set it to around .96V. If you turn the car off immediately after starting it, it shuts down and all is fine. If you let the car idle for a few minutes and warm up, when you turn the key to off, one of two things will happen...either the car will not shut off (yes, it just stays running) OR the car shuts off but the fuel pump and fans will cycle on and off every couple of seconds continuously. The pump and fans turn off and on by themselves and at the same time. I can feel the relay clicking off and on under the vacuum tree while this is happening, and the relays are new. The key is completely out of the car while this is happening. I understand that the IRCM controls functions of the fans and fuel pump, so should I start there? Is there a testing procedure for the IRCM or should we find another one and slap it on there? What in the world am I looking for here? Thanks for any help.

Kev

Check this http://www.turbotbird.com/techinfo/New_IRCM/IRCM.html

Thanks for the link Pete, but that tells me what I already know. The IRCM controls the operation of the fuel pump and fans after the key is in the "on" position. I guess I'll just look for another IRCM and stick it in there to see if that works.

SWAG, but I wonder if it's the ignition switch and related wiring and connector????????

Originally posted by Pete D:
SWAG, but I wonder if it's the ignition switch and related wiring and connector????????

That was my first thought also. Pull the electrical connector off the ig sw and see if the problem stops. If that isnt it, I suspect a bad ground somewhere causing current to feed back and cause your problems.

Originally posted by Jeff K:

Originally posted by Pete D:
[b] SWAG, but I wonder if it's the ignition switch and related wiring and connector????????

That was my first thought also. Pull the electrical connector off the ig sw and see if the problem stops. If that isnt it, I suspect a bad ground somewhere causing current to feed back and cause your problems. [/b]

Do you mean to pull the ig switch connector while the car is running to see if it will kill it? How could a bad ground cause current to feed back? Would I have to check all the grounds to the engine, and what would I be checking for? While we were rerouting the vacuum hoses, I noticed that the ground that normally goes to the bolt on the turbo was connected to the passenger side shock tower instead, so I switched it back where it was supposed to be. Thanks for the thoughts, but a little clarification would be great!

Kev

That sounds alot like what mine is doing. I know for a fact that in my case it is related to the ignition switch. I have yet to totaly elminate the problem. But that is where I would start looking.

I agree with blueoval,If it was me I would check the ignition switch.Don't just look at it, you need to pull the conector loose from the switch,then look at it for melted spots in the switch.The car will do some wird things with a melted switch...Good luck...