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No Power?

68 plymouth

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Apr 27, 2010
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Anaheim Cali
I have a new battery and new cables, yet no power is getting through... the lights won't turn on and when the keys are in i dont hear a thing when i try and turn it over?

its a 68 belvedere, someone says its the fuses but i cant seem to find them anywhere... another guy suggested it was the starter solenoid?

can anyone throw some pointers out to me so I can check them all, thanks..
 
Check the main wiring harness plug on the firewall. (about a inch and a half wide square with about 20 some wires, next to your steering column) They get corroded and you will loose everything. Also check your ground wire coming from your batt. to were ever it is bolted.
 
I just checked, it had minor corrosion at the firewall connection but it was driving fine just a month ago, you see it was driving fine but i didnt have it registered so i had to let it sit for a month....

and since I was told it had a minor short and it would drain the battery i took the negative cable off and wrapped in plastic... Well i took the plastic off and tried to start it up the other day and it completely dead, like no power is getting anywhere...

where are the fuses located at?
 
I would think that they are under your dash, just left of your brake pedal. Disconnect your batt. and remove your fuse block and check out the back of it for corrosion there too.

If you were told you have a short somewhere you need to be looking for a couple of burnt wires or maybe a bad headlight switch...

I would still pull apart that main harness plug and clean up that corrosion...
 
nope none next to the brake pedal, theres a little fuse box behind the glove compartment, but its just the cylinder glass baby fuses...

I need a picture of where the fuses are located at on a 68 plymouth belvedere...
 
I was told it had a start, but it was driving perfectly.. then it just sat for 3 weeks and now its completley dead? seems like it would of done it before hand..
 
Are your fuses labled, "wipers,tail lights, cig. lighter, ect.? If so thats your fuses.

Corrosion, rust ect. can work over night thus causing a bad connection...
 
have someone wiggle the bulkhead connector under the hood while you are in the car attemping to start it. If it is not making connection it will act as though there is no battery in the car which is what sounds like is your problem.
 
have someone wiggle the bulkhead connector under the hood while you are in the car attemping to start it. If it is not making connection it will act as though there is no battery in the car which is what sounds like is your problem.

ok ill try that as soon as someone comes home...
 
Break out the multi-meter, and start checking the battery, the grounds, the connections at the starter, the connections on the fire wall, then the fuse panel.(If it like the Coronet, it will be in the glove box)

All the wiring inside the the engine bay that control the lights, wipers, and power goes to that area on the fire wall where it plugs into the main harness that goes inside the car to the fuse panel and out to the gauges and switches.

There not that much wiring in these cars compared to the newer ones out these days. If your wires are in tact and not broken, most likely in a connection point that has either gotten unplugged or corrison like what was said by the others above.

I've had a battery cable once that looked great, but inside the insulation it was totally corroded at the starter connection.

whatever you do, don't start cutting wires and checking that way, you will only make it worst and makes the wiring a nightmare in the future, especially under the dash. check them at the plugs. that usually where the most of the problems occur.

Hope this helps, and let us know what you find.
 
I just fixed a 70 Challenger last week with this same type of problem. The other weak link in that system other than the bulkhead connector as mentioned already is the ammeter up in the dash. The main power for these cars runs through a fusable link on the starter relay , through the bulkhead connector, to the ammeter and from the otherside of the ammeter to a group of around 5 wires that are a factory soldered splice/union.

From there it feeds the non-switched 12 volt side of the fusebox, the steering colum, headlight switch , ignition switch(which when on will feed the switched 12 volt side of the fusebox and the alternator. It really doesnt feed the alternator but provides a path from it back to the starter relay and provides alternator voltage rather than battery voltage to the car when running.
Check your schematic just to be sure.

Long story short you will need to measure for voltage going in and coming out of that ammeter. The one i worked on the gauge input side burnt out, the wire was attached but the stud was just barely hanging on to the circuit board. I could wiggle it back and forth and hear it arcing. I have seen cars with bare wire at those connections from the ammeter going bad and causing so much resistance the wires were melting the insulation.

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml will take you to a great article with drawings.

Hope this gets you up and running.
 
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I just fixed a 70 Challenger last week with this same type of problem. The other weak link in that system other than the bulkhead connector as mentioned already is the ammeter up in the dash. The main power for these cars runs through a fusable link on the starter relay , through the bulkhead connector, to the ammeter and from the otherside of the ammeter to a group of around 5 wires that are a factory soldered splice/union.

From there it feeds the non-switched 12 volt side of the fusebox, the steering colum, headlight switch , ignition switch(which when on will feed the switched 12 volt side of the fusebox and the alternator. It really doesnt feed the alternator but provides a path from it back to the starter relay and provides alternator voltage rather than battery voltage to the car when running.
Check your schematic just to be sure.

Long story short you will need to measure for voltage going in and coming out of that ammeter. The one i worked on the gauge input side burnt out, the wire was attached but the stud was just barely hanging on to the circuit board. I could wiggle it back and forth and hear it arcing. I have seen cars with bare wire at those connections from the ammeter going bad and causing so much resistance the wires were melting the insulation.

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml will take you to a great article with drawings.

Hope this gets you up and running.

that was exactly it, thank you. I just took it for a spin, it felt good..... I forgot i took my gauge cluster apart and those wires were just dangling not connected to anything, What do I connect them to? to the back of the light switch?
 
Thats Great! Sorry about delayed response, been outta town.

I spliced/soldered those two ammeter wires together(bypassing the ammeter completely). I added an aftermarket small voltmeter to a switched 12volt source just to be able to keep tabs on things.That article from MAD is very helpfull. It shows an improved schematic that makes the main power feed circuit much more efficient.
 
Good Article and information to know. Just stripped all the interior out including the dash and and all wiring.
 
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