Wiring Nightmare

[Sdavne]

I have a 90 n/a and i had a bad ground the main negative terminal to the car, it was hanging off, i replaced it and it was working fine and now all the sudden little by little it is getting worse again, sometimes it will not start and if it is idling for a while it will die and when it does die it will not start i have to pop start it. i checked the starting system and everything is fine, i also saw that the wired around the terminal is cracked and i am going to replace it maybe it does not have as good of a connection but i know there is something else wrong with it. i know this sounds all confusing and hopefully someone out there knows what i am talking about but it is hard to explain, all i know for sure is it will die sometimes at idle sometimes it will not start unless i pop start it, and an ongoing misfire (not sure if that has to do with the problem or not but it could be) also when it does die all the lights dim and the headlights will not turn on, thats why i think it might have something to do with a ground or wire. any help or ideas to check would be greatly appreciated. thank you

[Ace2cool]

Do you have a CEL or any other gauge cluster lights on? Honestly sounds like a bad battery to me. I'd check voltages across the battery terminals at rest, at idle, and while trying to start.

[robomatic12]

Sounds like either battery, alternator or a bad connection somewhere. Check the battery terminals for corrosion, clean them and tighten back up.

You can take the battery/alternator into a local auto parts store and they should be able to test for you.

[Sdavne]

Update below

[Sdavne]

Update, still need help, this past weekend i changed the alternator because the battery when the car was running would drop down to 9 volts at idle and would not recharge untill the car was off than slowly it would go up to 12 volts. i am still having a problem. The car is turning off at idle. It will run around 400-500 rpms and slowly lower and than die, when it does die the amps on the battery will be low again around 9 volts and i can not restart the car unless i pop start it, i have a red top optimum battery so i was thinking that maybe it was bad and the only reason it was recharging was because it was a deep cycle battery, but it does not make sense because the alternator should keep the car running. Before i keep buying other parts i wanted to know if anyone has any advise on this. I found that the started was bad, the problem of sometimes having no power to crank but power in the car, I Taped the started with a hammer and it will start so i am replacing that this weekend, A little more about my car. I have HIDs, the electric fan conversion and a sound system but they are all grounded right, and run directly to the positive terminal, and only turn on if the car is on ACC. and i also have a under drive pulley, but have had all these parts on for over 4 years and have not had any problem... i am at a stand still now and not sure what to do now please help.

[Sdavne]

Also before returning i checked the alternator and it passed with a strong 14 volts, and the battery passed as well and when i fix the starter this weekend i will do a start system check.