1971 Dodge Coronet Electrical System issues

[Gipsy Danger]

So I finally got all the cooling problems worked out on my old 71 Coronet, took her out for a test drive to check for leaks, got a couple of blocks from my house and she died on me dead as a door-nail. Wouldn't crank, turn over, not even the buzz when the door is open, nothing. Called some buddies to help push her home, kept trying her every couple of minutes...call it denial...and wouldn't you know it right as my buddies arrived she fired up and drove her home. I'm going to start going over things tomorrow, but any ideas of what to check first would be helpful. Thanks in advance!

 

[Dcreole!]

There is a guy who did all my electrical & motor work on my 72 Coronet in Pascagoula, Ms...awesome MOPAR guy. PM me and I'll give you his contact info

 

[nm9stheham]

The first thing to do for these symptoms is just simply clean both battery terminals and battery cbale connections with a battery terminal brush. Then clean up and retighten the places where the battery cables connect on the starter realy and the engine blcok or body. Very often this is just coorosion on the battery terminals.

If you have a voltmeter, then this can be easy to work through. Wiht cars of this age and type of electrical system, a voltmeter wil lbe a very handy tool. Start with the 2 schematic sheets for your year/model of car from here so we can have a common roadmap to refer to:

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=27

 

[Gipsy Danger]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'm going to try and work through it myself first Dcreole!, but if I get frustrated enough I'll give you a shout for that Pascagula guy's info.

I picked up the electrical schematics for my car yesterday and will start with the couple of things you mentioned first nm9stheham.

 

[moparmarks]

Check where the black and red 10 ga. wire go through the bulkhead on the firewall. That is a trouble spot.

 

[Gipsy Danger]

Found the issue. A couple of crappy wire splices. A little heat shrink and she was ready to roll. Thanks again for the suggestions guys.

 

[nm9stheham]

Yep, one other ecent issue here was the same thing. How did you correct it? Solder connections?