Resolved 1985 3.8 tbi, Only starts with fluid then runs great

General karthief said:

You should document the trip here, some of us need a road trip

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I will, been in Az a few days, I didnt take pics, but will tell y'all about it.

Ok guys, I will go into the problem I had after getting to AZ. After this,, We thought the starting problem was solved. It was NOT AND GOT WAY WORSE.
Ok General karthief
I did not take pictures or document much except fuel milage, I had myself and about 800 lbs of tools and gear. Left From McCoy Texas (Pleasanton) topped off in elmandorf from there to Junction Tx, thru the hill country was my worst milage 132 miles with 2 gal remaining, best was from Fort Sumner NM to west side of as Albuquerque 175 mi 1.5 gal remaining . Stopped 6 times for gas
Total miles 968 left from Texas 11:15 am arrived AZ 1:00 am. 2 hr time change...Avg mph 70+ --. Never slowed on hills, no noticable oil usage. And no problems. Historically I get 200 mi to a tank .
108,873 miles when I left the Ranch in mcCoy TX. This car has made this trip to and from 7 times in 4 years. With no more than a flat.
NOW FOR WHAT HAPPENED TWO DAYS LATER, THIS GOES BACK TO THE ORIGINAL REASON FOR THIS THREAD. ONLY STARTS WITH FLUID. WHICH WE THOUGHT WAS SOLVED. IT WAS NOT...
I will see if I can jump back up to the resolved thread

Noobz347 said:

Well cool.... At least you cam back to tell the story.


I'll mark the thread as resolved and it should at least, help others to look over the things that you have done.

Now that you're here... You should start a [Progress Thread] for your car, complete with some good pics!

So, the next time you have an issue, you can come back to that thread and tell us about it.

Don't forget to list mods!

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Ok, So As I said trip was great, But. When I got in my ranch, I turned on the brights, alot of Mule deer and Elk, better to see them than not. 5 minutes later the headlights started flashing I had to drive with low beams.
The next day it started the not starting without a shot of fluid. I ran into town. 28 mi, Had to use fluid to start again even warmed up.
Once started ran great.
The next day I had to go to Gallup NM. 75 mi for groceries, I didnt want to unload the water tank from the truck. So drove the mustang, it ran great to gallup.
When I stopped, as I walked past the front end
I thought I smelled the battery off gassing, but didnt think much more about it, when I came out it started without starting fluid, and I got on the road back home. 12 miles from gallup I noticed the amp gauge was above normal . temp gauge was in normal but at 3/4 where it is usually right in the middle.
I pulled off, turned it off, open the hood, I smelled the battery again, coolant was good.
I had cleaned the terminals before the trip from Texas, BUT THE POSITIVE SIDE HAD CORROSION AGAIN
now thinking back, I Did Not List That In My Original Post. But the + was unusually corroded, but not effecting the cranking, at that time.
WHEN I WENT TO START IT, THE STARTER STUCK AND KEPT CRANKING EVEN WITH THE KEY OFF, with no wrench
All I could do was grab the NEG and start pulling back and forth till I ripped the wires loose from the brass cable end attached to the post.
By that time there was alot of smoke coming from starter cable, positive battery cable, and the right side fender around the solenoid, and voltage regulator. With pliers
I repaired the neg cable as best I could, touched the cable to the post, never saw that much sparks ever from a battery, the starter was still stuck,, I FIGURED STUCK SOLENOID from to much voltage
AND GAVE IT HIT WITH THE PLIERS AND TRIED THE CABLE AGAIN, STARTER STILL ON, HIT IT AGAIN REAL HARD SEVERAL TIMES,
That did the trick, starter was off, I let the electrical cool down about an hour
It would turn over, and try to start with fluid but no fuel at the schrader valve.
AAA 60 MILES
TRIED TO RUN CODES, NO CODES, NO CLICKING JUST three 000s nothing else
I replaced the voltage regulator, solenoid, battery cables
I checked EVERY fusible link, ALL GOOD.
I BELIEVE ITS TIME FOR A NEW ECM/ECU,
If it were good, I think it would give me some kind of code,
Am I wrong ?
Or Is there something Im missing ?

What I Have learned is, I believe that when a voltage regulator is going bad, it can put out enough voltage to crank the engine, but not enough to power other components at the same time as cranking,
I believe that is why the car would start on fluid.... once the cranking was done
The faulty voltage regulator was able to give the ECU power for fuel pump etc.
With the amount of voltage needed for the starter, a bad regulator cant give the ECU the amps to send power where needed , thats what I believe . I am no expert. I could be wrong but.
I think my whole problem, had to do with the volt reg, now it over amped and fried my ECU
Any thoughts from someone that understands auto electric would be helpful. SORRY about my long post
THANK YOU