Electrical issue

[steve from staten island]

Getting wiring sorted out, have a new harness and battery and fuses are in. Would not crank but with help from RC got that taken care of. Now i have no dash lights and no gauges seem to work like the gas gauge. The directionals work but no alternator, high beam, oil. The switch to dim dash lights is new and the light switch works the back lights (front lights are not yet in). Any ideas were i should start. Im at a loss here. Thanks

 

[Mike67]

What kind of harness did you get? Remember there are two circuits in a fuse block, one is a constant hot and the other is only hot with the ignition on/accessory. It sounds like you are missing power to the switched side...

 

[steve from staten island]

Got the harness from year one. Supposedly one of the best made, i forget the company. Some circuits are hot with switch on

 

[conv67bdere]

Many, many, many of the electrical issues that happen usually can be traced back to bad ground . . . make sure that the system grounds are cleaned up and providing proper conduction . . . that is usually a very good place to start.

 

[Mike67]

Refresh my memory what's the year/model? Here is a diagram from a Cuda, I wouldn't think there would be a whole lot of difference but it may be able to help you.

 

[steve from staten island]

1969 satellite. is there a ground separate for instrument cluster?

 

[mopar 3 B]

Everything grounds to the body. There should be eyelet ground wires in the harness that screw to the panel in front of the doors under the dash.
The harness came with ends for switches and gauges?

 

[steve from staten island]

Everything grounds to the body. There should be eyelet ground wires in the harness that screw to the panel in front of the doors under the dash.
The harness came with ends for switches and gauges?

Thank you. The harness came with the ends. Ive been suspecting a ground problem . I dont recall seeing those grounds but i will look tomorrow

 

[Mike67]

Make sure when you take it ( grounds) to the body it's very clean, no rust paint or scale. Also don't be afraid to bond different areas.
I will usually weld a nut to the frame and run my neg off the battery to it in order to make sure I have a good ground at the frame since it runs the length of the car. Personally I don't like the block being the only point of attachment for the ground so I will also take a bond strap from the block to the frame.
If you are still having problems take a #10 and run it straight back to the neg terminal on the battery and tie the rest of your instrument grounds to it...

 

[miller]

Ive been suspecting a ground problem

Instruments grounds through the instrument panel itself. You might check a bare spot on the panel, to the dash, to the body...they all should be the common ground, usually connected by the bolts and screws.

 

[747mopar]

In an effort to eliminate bad grounds a drilled and tapped several 10-32 holes in a bar of copper, mounted it under the dash and grounded it to the block. Might be overkill but I have a go-to place for good grounds now. You can test all of your ground by attaching a meter to a good 12v source then touch the other end to your ground points to see if it gives you 12V. I don't like to leave anything to doubt because as your finding out it can be a real pain tracking down electrical problems.