Hi everyone, I just bought my 95 SE off my neighbor dirt cheap, I keep telling myself I got a good deal but I cannot get the battery to hold a charge. Whats goin on is when I got the car, it ran for about 2 hrs, then the check gauges light came on. After about 20 min, I stopped the car and it died. I tried to start it and wouldnt crank. I have been searching for possible fixes here on the forum. I have replaced all the battery cables and connectors (Starter, Alternator, and Fuse cables), I have upgraded the battery to an Optima Red Top, took the old alternator to Advance Auto and it was only putting out 9 volts. Bought a new alternator and still nothing, since then I have been through 4 new ones. Based on what I am reading on the forums, the problem is related to the single wire coming out of the alternator to the ECM. I traced the wire and there are no issues with it. Ran a jumper wire to be sure, still nothing. Now comes the question of is it the ECM? The Check Engine light is on, but none of the auto part stores in the area have a code scanner that works with OBD 1.5. Should I replace the ECM or are there any other suggestions? Thanks in advance for the help.

Actually I can get the car to start, it just runs on battery power because the alternator is not charging it. Sorry I left out that detail above.

While it is probably unrelated, I would check the ground busses that are taped to the wire look by the driver and passenger front doors for corrosion. They are under the carpet along the door sill. Find the rectangle taped to the loom and that'* the buss.

After that I would try an ECU replacement. 94 and 95 are known years for high rate of failure.

FIXED!! I replaced the ECM and car works great, now on to replace the LIM gaskets and the UIM.

Congrats on getting another ECM. Good to see some people want to see these cars live. I had a buddy who just junked a 95, I about shot him when he told me.

Was rereading the thread thinking..it might be pcm.

Glad you got it fixed up.

Do you mind if I ask, how much was the new ECM? Did you get it from a dealer, junkyard, autozone?
My 98 is having the same problem. No output from known good alternator.
Do you know the pinout of the ECM?

The ECM cost me about $112 at Advance Auto. Yours being a 1998 should be around the same price, the only difference is that you may have to take both ECM'* to the dealer or local garage to get the new one flashed to work in your car. Unfortunately I do not know the pinout of the ECM. To locate the wire on the harness, I connected a tone generator to the wire that plugs into the alternator and traced it back to the ECM harness.