Electrical gremlin

[kdkdracing]

73 Challenger, 360, rebuilt everything, needs paint. Has been running great. Hitting the local cruise nights. Drove around town yesterday. everything was fine. Shut off the engine, opened the garage, tried to restart engine. Everything was dead. Even the door courtesy lights. Towed the car into the garage. Did some tests with my multimeter. Battery 12.8v, power to the alt. Raised the car up, pulled the seat, crawled under the dash. Nothing shorted or loose. After a frustrating hour. The dome light came on. Car started up. Runs fine, restarts. Taking it to a carshow tomorrow. DOn't want to trailer it home. No clue what the problem is. Any ideas?

 

[Adam]

Check that the negative cable is tight on the terminal, and has a good paint free contact to the block. Also check the connections on the starter solenoid..

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.moparaction.com/Tech/archive/roadside.html

 

[moparleo]

Excellent article. You will find that most of our Mopars' electrical gremlins will be related to poor grounding. Disconnect, clean and then coat with dielectric grease all electrical connections on the car.

 

[Daves69]

Grounding and bulkhead connections.

 

[dongei]

Had this happen to me and it was the fusible link.

 

[Mopars & Missiles]

Grounding and bulkhead connections.

Agree, most likely bulkhead connector intermittent.

 

[Mopars & Missiles]

Had this happen to me and it was the fusible link.

Pretty sure if the fusible link burns out, there would NOT be any power at the alternator stud, as the OP stated he had.

 

[68bigblock]

Had this happen to me and it was the fusible link.

this happened to me as well, check this link if it feels "rubbery" it might be your problem

 

[dongei]

I'm pretty sure the fusible link hooks up at the starter relay.

 

[moparleo]

Check this.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...e8d446cb7f39ff66901c279c365f5ebao0&ajaxhist=0

 

[Mopars & Missiles]

.....Battery 12.8v,......... power to the alt.........crawled under the dash......Nothing shorted or loose.......After a frustrating hour, the dome light came on........Car started up,....Runs fine,.....restarts....

Had this happen to me and it was the fusible link.

this happened to me as well, check this link if it feels "rubbery" it might be your problem

So, tell me, will your car suddenly "restart and run fine" after your fusible link has failed?? Without replacing it first, of course? Seems improbable.

But then I don't have a '73 and know its specific wiring, only going by my two '69's and a '70 and how they are wired.

 

[moparleo]

The next time it happens, if you have someone with you, preferably at home do the wiggle test. This is not a joke but a actual type of electrical test for shorts. With the ignition on, go ahead and start to wiggle the different wires until you find the problem. This can actually find bad grounds and shorts in the wiring, but not necessarily faulty component https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWniVHKXHW4

 

[68bigblock]

So, tell me, will your car suddenly "restart and run fine" after your fusible link has failed?? Without replacing it first, of course? Seems improbable.

But then I don't have a '73 and know its specific wiring, only going by my two '69's and a '70 and how they are wired.

It happened on my 68 charger, i know what your saying usually you blow a fusible link its done. in this case after driving my car i would go to restart it and nothing, after it cooled it would start, this happened a couple times then some one suggested to check the link and if it felt spun-gee try changing it, so i did and it never happened again. So i don't know if they can get weak and not carry the required volts/amps or what.

 

[kdkdracing]

Gremlins

Thank everyone for your help. I left out the fact that I also have a battery / alternator disconnect switch. I removed the switch from the circuit and everything is working as it should. The switch got hot and opened the circuit. It was working again when cold.

 

[moparleo]

Yep. We need the whole story to help. Glad you found it.