cbogartjr

Hi, I drove my 67 442 last night and it ran fine. I stopped and shut the car off a few times and then restarted it. All went well. I drove in the dark, so I had my headlights on. All seemed ok. I pulled it in the garage and shut it off after I turned off the headlights. This morning I went to start the car and ...nothing. Thought I left the interior light on...nope. I then put the battery on my charger and it checked out ok. I also check the battery voltage with a volt/ohm meter and it checked out ok. I then checked the fusable link...the continuity was there through the link. I check the wires for burns or discoloration and couldn't find any. I checked all the fuses in the fuse box. They check out ok. I get power to the relay box on the drivers fender well. It seemed fine. I am not sure where to go from here. I have an extra voltage regulator I could replace the one in the car with that. Suggestions on my next step? Thanks for your help....

jeffreyalman

do you have lights, horn? tap the starter and tap the starter solenoid, try again. check both batt cables at both ends of each, should be one of the above.

svnt442

Do you get the idiot lights come on when you turn the key to the on position? If so it's leaning towards the neutral safety switch.

jeffreyalman

ah yes - and a test would be to hold the key in start position while slowly moving the gear shift and see if that wakes it up

Oldsguy

Check your ground cables and straps as well. A DC circuit needs a complete loop to operate.

Lady72nRob71

EVERYTHING is dead? If so, check the battery cables. They might look okay, but where the wire part meets the connector might have failed. My bike did that once...

cbogartjr

OK..did some more testing. Only the horn works, very strong!!...no interior lights, headlights, turn signals, nothing.. I did the test of putting the key in the start position and slowly running through the gears...nothing changed. I then took a very good set of jumper cables and 1) attached them to the neg side of the battery and grounded them to the frame...no change...2) I took the ground off and attached the jumper to the positive side of the battery and attached it to the terminal on the fender well (where the positive battery cable connects)...no change. I am stumped here...I will take a look at the cable that hooks to the firewall and make sure it is snapped in. Come to think of it, I had a problem there once before with the left turn signal. The plug wasn't all the way snapped in...Any other thoughts????? Thanks to all for your help...

jeffreyalman

if the horn works and nothing else then that means something - I forget what it means though, but someone will know shortly - all batt cables are good and tight both cables both ends? and ground straps as mentioned?

citcapp

Had a similar problem with my 57 a few weeks ago. I had in fact left the key in the ACC position and did not notice it (you can do that and take the key out with a 57) Tried to start a week later, nothing, horn worked headlight looked OK, Put a volt meter on the battery 12.5 volts. I was stumped at first then I jumped it with my wife's car and it started right up. I then put my battery on my battery tester and yes it showed 12.5 volts but not under load when I checked the battery again with the lights on it went to 9 volts, not enough to engage the starter. I let the battery charge at 15 amps for a couple of hours, car started right up and everything is fine. Moral of the story is the battery needs to be tested under load.

marinus_

I had a similar problem with my Starfire when I got it nothing worked. I found a problem with a circuit breaker located on the firewall. On my car the horn was connected directly to the battery through the relay located on the inner fender so it would work.

Just a thought.

Rene

cbogartjr

Hi, the voltage reading is 13.2 volts. Charger shows battery is fully charged. Tried a second charger and it also shows battery is fully charged. I did try jumping it from another car to no avail...nothing. I checked the plug going into the firewall and all seems fine and well connected. My battery cables are pretty new (about a year). Horn still works fine. I rechecked all grounds and they seem to be fine. I will keep on looking.

marinus_

Do you have a multimeter to check for power at the fusebox? If there is no power there, then there might be a fuseable link somewhere between the battery and the fuse box.

88 coupe

Loose and/or dirty bulkhead connectors. Easy to verify by tapping/jiggling them.

Common occurance in '64 A Bodies when they were new. Not common in '65. Unusual in '66 and newer.

Norm

cbogartjr

Thanks guys, I will check the fuse block. I did check the bulkhead/firewall connectors, as I had a problem with a turn signal and found a bad connection. I will check them again....I am trying to find the circuit breaker Marinus talked about. Where exactly is it? As I get into this, I find someone has screwed around with the wiring somewhat. I did find the fusable link..it has continuity. Next to the fusable link is a red wire with a use holder and a fuse. I did check the fuse and for continuity and both seemed ok, but why the fuse? I'll dig more into the wiring diagram. I find the black wire that would appear to run to the circuit breaker, but loose the wire behind the power brake vacume canister. I think I will need to go under the car to find the circuit breaker.

marinus_

On my car the circuit breaker was located to the left of the brake, master cylinder and mounted on the firewall.

cbogartjr

Thanks to all, especially Norm. I metered everything. I couldn't find the circuit breaker though. Maybe that is why someone put a fuse in the line. I worked backwards from the fuse box as I had power at the connection box on the fenderwell. Anyhow, I removed the plugs from the firewall/bulkhead (per Norm's {88-Coupe} suggestion) just to see if there was anything wrong there. One plug came off pretty easily. Cleaned the pins the best I could. Made sure they were straight and reconnected to the bulkhead and.... WALAH...back in business!!! This is the second time I have have an electrical problem in this area. Thank you all for your help and guidance. I really appreciate it and this site.....Carl

citcapp

Glad you were able to solve your problem. That is what this site is all about