No power to anything...

[Cody Goode]

Sorry if this has been talked about a million times I tried to search and couldn't find anything similar. Currently trying to get my hunk of junk to start for the first time. After buying a new battery and new main cables I hooked em up to do a smoke test. Good news I got no smoke! Bad news I also have no power...to anything. My ignition switch does nothing, I have no headlights, no brake lights, nothing. But I can jumper the solenoid and the car will turn over...ran through the wiring and everything seems to be in the right place. Nothing looks melted or any burn Marks at connections. Going to pull the ammeter and just bypass it because I heard if the ammeter is busted you wont have any power to anything....wondering if you guys had any other ideas???

Thanks
Cody

 

[704406]

Follow the second wire usually red from the battery positive terminal to the fender mounted starter relay.
On the same terminal it connects to there should be a fuseable about 6-8 inches long that plugs into a large gauge wire in the main wiring harness along the inner fender. Check that it's there and not blown.
With out that link there will be no power to the car's ignition.

 

[Cody Goode]

Follow the second wire usually red from the battery positive terminal to the fender mounted starter relay.
On the same terminal it connects to there should be a fuseable about 6-8 inches long that plugs into a large gauge wire in the main wiring harness along the inner fender. Check that it's there and not blown.
With out that link there will be no power to the car's ignition.

Thanks! That could be it the only thing coming off that terminal is the positive that goes straight to the ammeter. Nothing that goes into the main harness...could this also be the reason I dont have any lights? When I bypassed the ammeter my blinker switch is making the brake lights act like hazards but still no headlights or front blinkers...so I guess the wiring is all gummed up...

 

[Adam]

Must also have a good ground.

 

[moparleo]

When you say "start for the first time" what is the back story on this. New harness ? Just got the car ? Recent changes ? It helps to know more than it doesn't start. If everything is hooked up properly and dothing is damaged, ht ebiggest problem on older cars is the electrical connections, especially the grounds. One of the first and most important projects to do on our old cars is to start at one end and work your way to the other end, cleaning and greasing ALL grounds and connections. Replace all bulbs while they are out while you clean the sockets. No cheap or used bulbs. Do it once and do it right. High quality American or German made bulbs. When you are finished, check that everything works. If anything doesn't work now, you have a broken/shorted wire , faulty component/gauge etc...

 

[Cody Goode]

When you say "start for the first time" what is the back story on this. New harness ? Just got the car ? Recent changes ? It helps to know more than it doesn't start. If everything is hooked up properly and dothing is damaged, ht ebiggest problem on older cars is the electrical connections, especially the grounds. One of the first and most important projects to do on our old cars is to start at one end and work your way to the other end, cleaning and greasing ALL grounds and connections. Replace all bulbs while they are out while you clean the sockets. No cheap or used bulbs. Do it once and do it right. High quality American or German made bulbs. When you are finished, check that everything works. If anything doesn't work now, you have a broken/shorted wire , faulty component/gauge etc...

You are absolutely right. I kind of put the cart in front of the horse and just hoped I'd get lucky...currently going through all the connections now and cleaning everything up before the next try. Thanks

 

[Cody Goode]

Hey guys I'm back...so I pulled my manual traced everything and cleaned up all connections, replaced lamps, replaced dimmer (foot) switch because it had seized. My nuetral safety switch was soaked so I replaced it. I now have ignition and my engine will turn over from the keythumbsup. But I still have no lights except when my key is in accessory and I hit the blinker the hazards in the back(only) come on. But still no headlights, no blinkers, no side marker lights, no dash lights...you get my point. Oh and also the hazard light switch wont trigger the tailights to go off just the blinker switch...everything appears to be good. The dimmer foot switch connector looked a little melted so I ordered a new one. But honestly it doesn't look too bad...any ideas? I cleaned the heck out of my grounds...I'm at a loss seems like I'm missing something obvious since I have zero lights

 

[aussiemark]

All you can do is get hold of the wiring diagram and go back to basics, get a test light or multi meter and follow the power from the source (battery) to the end (headlight plug or where ever else is not working) and also check your earths for continuity. These cars have very simple electrical systems compared to new cars with multiple ecu's but the factory wiring diagrams are a little hard to follow but take your time and don't take short cuts because the one circuit you don't test will probably be the one causing the problem.

 

[Cody Goode]

All you can do is get hold of the wiring diagram and go back to basics, get a test light or multi meter and follow the power from the source (battery) to the end (headlight plug or where ever else is not working) and also check your earths for continuity. These cars have very simple electrical systems compared to new cars with multiple ecu's but the factory wiring diagrams are a little hard to follow but take your time and don't take short cuts because the one circuit you don't test will probably be the one causing the problem.

Thanks I'll triple check again lol just making sure I'm not missing something huge or obvious

 

[moparleo]

Sounds now like the problem is in the column. Remove steering wheel, replace turn signal switch with a high quality unit, preferably OEM. Check the ignition/key switch. Almost there...

 

[Cody Goode]

just an update for you guys because I personally hate when forums are left open ended.

so the car I'm working on is a 1970 challenger se 383 auto
I bought it site unseen besides some pictures and had some idea of what I was getting.
it was seized when I got it from sitting close to 20 years but I was able to break it free the number 3 cylinder was vapor locked very close to tdc. so when it broke free the cylinder was very clean and I just had to clean up the corrosion ring at the very top. I know the right way would be to tear the whole engine down and rebuild it but I just want to drive the car asap so I'm taking the chance and I can always rebuild later. Ive had the car now for about a year and a half. I have a very low budget and this is really my first time diving this deep into a project so I know its going to take a while..it will need a lot of body work and sheet metal(basically has no floors but surprisingly the trunk floor looks very solid) but as of right now I just want it to run and drive ill use ply wood for the floors if I have to because I just want to drive this thing!!!


the culprit for the ignition was a faulty neutral safety switch, replaced and it turned right over from the key. I ended up finding some real bad connections at the fuse block so I replaced the whole block. now I have brake lights, hazards, reverse and front and rear running lights. the hazards still come on whichever way I turn the blinker lever(so I'm guessing something is loose or I just need to replace the switch like moparleo has already mentioned) but still no headlights, side markers or interior lights. have yet to replace the headlight bulbs but its hard to think all four went out at once but I'm going to pick some up this payday... all the grounds are good...trust me I went over them cleaned and greased more than 3 times just to make sure. as for the car firing up I took it one step at a time testing with a volt meter from the ignition to the spark plugs. replaced the ballast resistor, the module, the coil, the cap, points and condenser, the spark plugs and spark plug wires. I have spark all the way to the coil wire and the spark is very strong I readjusted the points but my battery died before I could try to fire it again. I'm very new at all of this so I'm sorry if I'm making rookie mistakes but thanks for all of the input and help you have already given me I'm sure ill be back soon with either good news or a lot more questions...

thanks
cody

 

[Chryco Psycho]

You may want to consider glass headlight housings that will take an H4 bulb & use a good led bulb in there instead , they are far whiter & brighter , you could just do the 2 outer ones for now it should provide all the light you will need

 

[Cody Goode]

You may want to consider glass headlight housings that will take an H4 bulb & use a good led bulb in there instead , they are far whiter & brighter , you could just do the 2 outer ones for now it should provide all the light you will need

Thanks I'll have to try those after I get the oldschool ones to work lol just bought 4 of em