electrical problem?

[ripcord]

since i put the 88 lx back on the road as my daily commute i have noticed several electrical problems at least i think it may be electrical.
1) headlights would just cut off or dim really low and then cut off and
come back on. i can't say weather the engine died or not.
2) after starting the engine dies right away, the tach goes right to 0 probably before the engine stops turning. but i'm not sure of that.
3) i have started and driven off and within a block the engine has died
4) the starter has never failed to crank the engine.
5) engine takes a long time cranking before starting, like its waiting for gas
to get to the carb, when it starts it dies right away, but on retry it starts right up like it should.

i'm wondering if there is a relay or something that might be starting to flake out? anybody got any idears to look at before it dies for good ( if thats what in its future)

[Demon1024]

couple of those sound like the dizzy going to crap out man. starting thing might have something to do with timing (possible dizzy prob). Had the random dying thing happen on my carb'd one turned out to be my dizzy.
Check the coil first. Another very likely culprit

[TotaledTL]

Put it back on the road- had it been sitting long term? Why can't you tell if the engine died?-?? I don't get that part at all. Chked the battery & cable connections? A marginal one can cause issues. Have you run any fuel syst. cleaner throught it yet? What about the fuel filters?

[ripcord]

why can't i tell if the engine died: when the head lights dimmed /cut off- because it happened in the period of 2 sec. and then they just came back on. just last night after work at 1am here is another symptom (first time this happened)- driving home after about 4 min or about 2 miles everything seemed ok (engine sound too) i notice that the tach is at zero- i step on the gas, nothing- turn the key to start hear the starter grind (didn't engage the clutch) it fired right up. the lights stayed on everything seemed normal but the engine had just stopped- so i guess it must be something with the ignition circuit? checked out battery connections and everything electrical i could think of. but intermittent failures are very hard to find. the car had been sitting for up to 2 years, and i have been dickin around in the engine compartment fixin stuff like power steering hose and motor mounts. i have been on the road with this car for 6 months now and this is something that is just starting to rear its ugly head. note have had this car since new (was the wifes)

[TotaledTL]

No matter what the lights do, turn off, dim, whatever- if you look at the tach & it indicates zero then the eng. died (unless your tach is suspect). That's the part I don't understand.
You might try another coil- maybe it's crapping out.

[Dr_Snooz]

Could be the igniter if the tach is acting strange.

[ripcord]

No matter what the lights do, turn off, dim, whatever- if you look at the tach & it indicates zero then the eng. died (unless your tach is suspect). That's the part I don't understand.
You might try another coil- maybe it's crapping out.

the headlight thing hasn't happened in a some time, but when it did it was so fast that i'm looking at the headlight dimming then to out and i'm wandering wtf and have no time to check anything else out before they came back on. the only reason i mention it because it could have been a symptom of the problem. also maybe i forgot to mention that all these things i mention don't happen each and every time i start the car, only after its been sitting a while (maybe an hour or more?), and then not every time either. happens about 1 out of every 5 starts after its been sitting.

its just that after it dies it only takes the quickest of key turns to start right up, i mean the starter just barely engages and it will start right up. if it ever turns into a hard failure I'll be sure to let you all know. just hope it doesn't leave me stranded.