No power to car?

[DRoCk]

I got a few loose ends closer to tied up today and wanted to try to fire my car.  Unfortunately, it acted like it had no power to anything.  The headlights would not turn on and it would not crank or anything.  The only thing that would work at all is my cd player, its on a separate wire and switch to the battery.  I even put jumpers on it to make sure it wasn't just a low battery.  Still nothing at the column or even to the headlights.  Is there a fuse I should be checking, or something else?  My wiring looks like crap, but it all worked when I parked it and nothing has really been changed that way except for adding a mini starter.  Help!!!

[68_Val_Sedan]

check the fusible link.   it is marked as such and located by the bulkhead connectors that feed the wires into the car ...

[DRoCk]

When I installed the mini starter, I think I may have hooked up the 2 smaller wires wrong.  One of them goes solenoid and the other with the main power cable to the starter correct?  If thats how it is, then that might be my problem because thats not how I did it.  Would that stop power from getting to the rest of the car?

[dartracer]

Did you check to see if you had power from the solinoid to the wire block on th fire wall? Do you have power to the amp gauge? As that feeds every thing in the car.

[smitty72]

you didn't take the dash apart did you? if you did check the amp guage make sure it is hooked up.

[DRoCk]

No I didn't take the dash apart at all, although I did have the column out.  I haven't had a chance to look at it again since yesterday morning, but I am fairly sure its due to the wrong wire running to the solenoid.  I'll check all this stuff out as soon as I get a chance.  Thanks for the help so far!

[DRoCk]

OK, so I messed around on the car a little more this morning.  Still doing the same thing after wiring the starter the right way.  Not really sure what to check now and I'm kind of frustrated.  The wiring on this car is a mess.  So many wires on the column plugs are messed up or spliced or whatever.  Whats the easiest way to deal with this?  I think I almost just need to start from scratch with a new complete harness.  Is the Painless  kit the way to go?

[Jim_Lusk]

You need to start with a wiring diagram and then check voltages along the way. You may need to start with a better wiring harness even if it isn't new. The bulkhead connectors on Mopars are a problem with corrossion and spreading.

[DRoCk]

Yeah, pretty much every wire on the car is really crusty and spliced to something else it seems.  I am almost certain that there is a short somewhere, but I have no idea where.  I really think the whole thing just needs redone, then hopefully it would be a non issue.  Just from looking at a couple of the connectors that have wires that are cut and gone that I would need a whole new harness.  Plus I think if I put an new harness in and did it right, I would be dollars ahead in the long run.

[OldVart]

If you had the steering column out, check and make sure your neutral safety switch is connected correctly. Been there - done that.

[DRoCk]

Will do, hopefully I can find it in all the mess!!  I really wish I would have taken pics when I took it all apart.  I have a feeling that would have made this all a lot easier.  Since the car still wouldn't be driveable because of the exhaust, I may still end up rewiring it. 

[jbarker]

Hey DRoCk- I think Jim Lusk and 68 Val sedan may have you on the right track.  I had the exact same problem in my car yesterday.  No power to anything.  I have a '71 Dart.  Not sure exactly what you have, but if its close to mine this might be helpful.  The bulkhead is the plastic thing on the firewall that about 5 million wires goes into.  There are actually 3 separate connectors, each with 8 wires.  On my car, the main power wire to the car is in the center bulkhead connector.  More specifically, it is the lower driver side wire in the center connector.
Once you've found this wire, Check 2 things:
1. there should be a fusible link on the wire, labeled "fusible link"  Check it with a meter to be sure its resistance is near zero.
2. be sure the tang on this wire  is not corroded or loose where it plugs into the bulkhead on the firewall
If your car is not like mine, ignore this drivel.  Hope this helps.  Let us know what happens.
-Jay

[DRoCk]

I don't think I have a fuseable link...which I doubt is good.  I've been in that area a lot working on the exhaust manifolds and haven't seen one yet.  I would guess that means its bypassed?  At any rate, the wiring in this car is so cut up and sliced and everything else, I am still really thinking that I got my winter project right there.  Besides, it still doesn't have any exhaust past the manifolds, so its not going anywhere for a while just because I need to sort out funding for that.

[75Dart440]

I just got done fixing a boat load of similar problems on my Dart Sport.  I ran a new 8 gage wire from the Alternator to the starter relay, removed the dash and bypassed the amp gage by soldering the two leads together and shrink wrapping them.  Then I had to remove the bulkhead connectors and clean the connections with fine emery cloth, replaced the neutral safety switch, repaired the wiring to the voltage regulator and cleaned the terminals at the steering column as well.

I now have good voltage inside the car and out.  Charging system hits the battery with 13.8 at idle.

But if I have another wiring related problem on this car, I swear I am gonna order a Painless 12 circuit harness for Mopar muscle cars in the spring and be done with it.  At this point that would have been $543.00 well spent considering the time I have in the wiring troubleshooting.

[69dartdrew]

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml
the link above is where I got the info for my wiring repair, also installed relays for headlamp circuits.

I ran into the same problem with my 69 dart. I bypassed the ammeter and drilled a hole thru the bulk head connector and ran a solid wire thru the hole i drilled, bypassed the crappy connection, bypassed the ammeter which is a known problem, and now its great, my dome light doesnt flicker and my headlamps are consistent brightness now. the bulkhead was nasty, took some electrical cleaner, cleaned it out for the other connections, and put in some di-electric grease to avoid further corrosion.

Good luck,

[DRoCk]

Alright I've decided on a new wiring job for the whole car.  There are just too many cut wires and splices for me to figure out.  By the time I did get it straightened out with new wires where they need to be, I could have just pulled it and rewired it totally.  There are some really nasty looking splices in the electrical.  And I know for sure I don't even have a fuseable link in the car.  Where can I get one...Year one???  Thanks for the tips so far, this is my new winter project, which should be fun in my unheated garage!

[68_Val_Sedan]

you can get a fusible link for anu autoparts store ... but most universal wiring kits come with them.   Check E-bay and do a search for "universal wiring harness" ... several kits are available for around $150.   

[75Dart440]

If you are not concerned about looking original under the hood you could go with a circuit breaker such as this 100 amp 12 volt unit on ebay.  These breakers are commonly used on car audio amplifiers, etc.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Circuit-Breaker-100-AMP-Reset-Self-Test-12-Volt-12V_W0QQitemZ330191365493QQihZ014QQcategoryZ32813QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

You would want to size the breaker to your wiring size and alternator power output or accessory load.  I am planning on using a 100 amp unit from the alternator to battery feed, and then a 40 amp unit for the wire that feeds power to the dash (since I am no longer routing the charging current through the dash and back out to the battery).

Here is what I plan to do to mine soon: