One other thing to make sure of is that the positive cable is "biting" really good into the terminal on the battery. If the battery plate is chewed out or the "teeth" in the cable are worn/missing and the cable wiggles or spins on the battery post, it can cause starting and running issues.

Thanks Echo, I did make sure of that, it is clean and tight. The negative was badly corroded but only at the battery. I opened it up after I got it out and it was bright copper all the way down. Since I had it out I went ahead and replaced it.

Good, we can, then, eliminate that from the likely possibilities. I knew you had new cables, and thought that if the post itself was making bad contact or the surface was chewed out , or the bolt had come loose/backed out after you had changed the positive, that it would accout for the reoccurance and be an easy fix. It was a shot in the dark, but it was worth asking, just in case.

So, as Bill recommended above, it is probably time to have the alternator and battery tested .

Also, you asked earlier in the post about scanning for an issue without a check engine light. I believe there are codes that may show-up without illuminating the check engine light, but I don't think that they are electrical related and I wouldn't expect a "code" scan would provide anything to pinpoint the issue. So unless your bored or want to go have it scanned for codes just in case (free code scan at your local Autozone), I wouldn't bother. Instead, most dealerships or repair places would probably have an advanced scanner hooked up where they can command some things to happen and read some "live" data while trying to duplicate the problem. But his could be quite costly at $65-$85 per hour. Hopefuly, this can get nailed down for you, here at BC, before moving on to such measures.

Battery and Alternator checked out ok. I am wondering if the shorting/melting of the positive cable from battery to the starter has anything to do with this? It is still hard to start, it will die on me occasionally when I stop if it is cold. Also, if I stop about one mile from a cold start, sometimes RPM will drop then jump up to 2000 and the car will jump ahead if I don't have a firm foot on the brake.

One other symptiom, when I start it, the volts go to 8 then slowly climb to 14. The lights and blower motor respond accordingly (dim to bright and slow to full speed). Any help?
Oh, also, I decided to replace the belt while I was at the parts store getting my alt checked. I got a new razorback, and an E10 socket (had to buy a whole set), and I put the socket on the lower bolt to take the sleeve out and the bolt (entire star end) sheared off! Any Ideas? Thanks

Hmmm.....sounds like something is drawing lots of amps or pulling volts on start-up and occasionally while driving :? Even though you had repalced the cable maybe something was damaged during the meltdown you mentioned. Sorry to ask this again, but did you end up replaceing BOTH poistive cables or just the melted one?

Also, Ben (big_news_1) had an experience with his alternator last year that caused a "no start" issue. The part with the threaded shaft were the cable from the battery mounts to the back of the alternator was not solidly seated into the alternator housing. It wiggled (rotated) back and forth and was not solidly "locked" into place and needed to be "re-seated" into the alternator. I suspect that would have been discovered while you tested the alternator, but thought I would mention it (do not grab this part while runnig or you may get a little jolt )

On your E10 stud, did you remove the outer nut? If not, then turning the nut may back out the stud and nut together, but spray some penetrating lubricant (PB Blaster or similar) on the back side of the spacer and hopefully it will work itself into the threads of the block and stud allowing easier removal) If you did remove the nut, is there anything left of the stud to grab? Again, a penetrating lubricant hopefully would help free up the stud threads. If there is not enough of the stud left to grab (even if there is, is seems like that stud is pretty tight and may not turn easily anyways if the reverse torx end broke off), you may need to remove the entire Torque Axis Mount bracket to get it out, unless someone here has a trick up their sleeve. :?

the symptoms seem to be getting worse. I do have a question on the positive cable that goes to the firewall from the battery. It has a spade end, which I cleaned, but do you have to get this cable from the dealer?
I am going to try to get the stud out on Saturday, thought I would try vice grips if it doesn't come out with the nut.
Where are all of the grounding points that I should check besides the obvious ones? I am not getting any problems with the instruments or seats/windows ect so I don't think it is the buss under the drivers door. The negative cable to the block is clean as is the one to the fender. Niether looked corroded at all.

Also, can anyone look at their voltage meter after starting to see if it jumps to 8 volts and creeps up to 14, or does it go immediately to the 14 area?
Thanks

Get the battery load tested on a manual AVR tester where you load the battery yourself. Most places these days use a machines where all the tech does is hook up the battery and press Go. Then the machine decides for you whether or not the battery is OK without giving you any numbers to interpret. These machines are very erronous and make the wrong call all the time. You're saying that your guage jumps to 8V after startup and then climbs to 14V. This sounds to me like a battery that is getting bad and has low load voltage. Load voltage shouldn't drop below 9.6V after a 15 second crank.

Without being there to test things, that'* all I can offer. I hope it (maybe) helps!

Based on what has been said here, and after having the battery tested, I swaped batteries from my 84 Olds, because it was changed six months ago and is working flawlessly in the Olds. I got the same results. One thing I have noticed, not that it means anything, but after changing the batteries, the first time startup was instant, just like it used to be. Then the subsequent starts were crank, pump, crank and catch. I noticed the same thing when I changed the battery cables. Started right up, then afterwards it didn't.