Running Horrible!

[TA^Guy]

Ok where do I start... I guess a history of the car will be good.
I bought a '84 GN with 57,000 miles on it 2 weeks ago. Mods are Coolant by-pass, ATR Pitbull exhaust, Test pipe, Walbro 307 and a hot wire setup. Ran great until last week when it would sputter under WOT every now and then. Last night it acted as if the aternator was going. Dim lights, flashers didn't flash, windows wouldn't roll up unless I had the headlights off and did one at a time. So today the parts store closed at Noon and had about 45minutes to remove mine and get to the store. In the rush I didn't test the alternator. I get home, installed the new one, jump the battery and let the car run. I took it for a quick ride and everything seemed fine but it did still start to sputter some more under WOT. I head out tonight and was about30 minutes from home and the SES light comes on. Soon after it sputter more with more throttle. Then I notice lights getting dim and she won't climb hills (have to idle up them). So I'm doing 30mph in a 55, it's as fast as she'll go (feather footing it). Then I shut down my head light just to my parking and I get a lot more power. Now doing 60mph and follow other cars down a darken back road all the way home, still sputtering and barely making it.
Now I'm new to TR's and I'm clueless to whats wrong with it.
If anyone can help, Please do.
Thank You.

 

[cool 84]

The car lives on voltage. Even as low as 12 volts will cause problems with misfiring and sputtering. Be careful driving it like you are because it will knock out a headgasket. I'm assuming the new alternator is good. Is the volts light coming on? If not, check the single small wire coming from the alternator that goes into the wiring harness. If it's grounding out or broken it won't charge. If the light is coming on, check battery connections and grounds.

 

[TA^Guy]

When it happened, I checked the output wire from the alt. and the battery terminals and cables. And all looked good. I'll double check the connection to the terminal and the harness and then check the connection on the starter, etc. Trust me, I didn't want to drive it but I would have been stuck out in the middle of no where (so far out my cell phone had no signal). When it did act up I backed right off, at times I idled up hill or what not, mostly idling the whole way home so I would do any more damage. I won't have time for a few days to work on it so she'll just sit until then.
Thanks for the reply!

 

[mark p. liner]

same thing my car did onetime, to fix it i went to a parts store and got a battery cable about 16 or so " long and replaced the wire that goes from the alt. to bat. then later i did it right and got new bat. cables from caspers. maby try the first and see how it works,dont spend money blind. you could even try a 10 guage wire.

 

[TurboBuickSix]

Mine was acting similar last year and it turned out to be the negative cable where it bolt to the block was loose.There are a buch of grounds that hook up there behind the ac comp.

 

[TA^Guy]

looks like it's fixed...

Well, today I had my new alternator checked and it checked out good.
Went home, installed a new battery and checked the starting/charging system. All checked out ok.
So I took it for a decent ride, all seems well.
Even took it out tonight for a hour drive, and no problems. So maybe it was just the battery. Could have had a bad connection, but I checked all of them the first time and they all looked good.
I hope it doesn't return, I've never had a battery cause a car to act that way.
I would just like to thank everyone who took the time to try and help me resolve this problem.