66 charger, no power to anything, battery is ok

[66charger]

1966 Charger 318 automatic. I was driving along when everything just quit, engine, all lights....nothing at all. There is power at the battery. No power to anything ignition,lights nothng no where????? I haven't looked any further not sure where to start. I know of the ballist resister but I don't know how much this controls.

 

[SwedCharger67]

Bulkhead connector?

1966 Charger 318 automatic. I was driving along when everything just quit, engine, all lights....nothing at all. There is power at the battery. No power to anything ignition,lights nothng no where????? I haven't looked any further not sure where to start. I know of the ballist resister but I don't know how much this controls.

Most likely a problem with bad connection in the bulkhead connector. See the attached picture with the red arrow. Terminal "Z" is where the battery voltage goes into the car and the rest of the system. You can easlily check it from the engine compartment.
The other weak point is terminal "P" which is connected to the alternator.
These 2 terminals easily overheat and melt plastic when the connection is bad and the resulting resistance is high.

 

[YY1]

Fuseable link?

 

[67 coronet]

start simple.do you have power at the starter relay?volt meter is better than just a test light to check with.make sure both ends of both battery cables are clean and tight.also,as yy1 said,make sure the fuse link is still good.(comes right off the starter relay up to the bulkhead connector.)

 

[nothingbutdarts]

Fuseable link?

X2

 

[WP29440SE]

the starter relay needs to see a ground, whether it be through the neutral safety switch, the clutch safety switch or the case itself depending on the year. you can directly ground the starter relay to the body , but it will start in any gear. check for power at the relay by crossing the power to the starter solenoid.

 

[nothingbutdarts]

the starter relay needs to see a ground, whether it be through the neutral safety switch, the clutch safety switch or the case itself depending on the year. you can directly ground the starter relay to the body , but it will start in any gear. check for power at the relay by crossing the power to the starter solenoid.

Good thought, but if you have no power to anything in the car it would not be the relay. The relay is only to energize the starter.

 

[WP29440SE]

Good thought, but if you have no power to anything in the car it would not be the relay. The relay is only to energize the starter.

LOL yea i realized that after i posted it. i just went ahead and left it up. like has been stated , it must be a fusible link or a really poor positive battery connection.

 

[A383Wing]

bad connections at rear of ammeter could be problem as well...all the power to the car goes through there first

Bryan

 

[66charger]

I also believe it must be something simple more or less, for everything to quit working WHILE IT WAS BEING DRIVEN.Thanks alot everyone I will try the suggestions as soon as I can. I'm in Alberta, Canada. So you can probably imagine the weather is not great, garage is not heated and the sun starts to set about 5:30- 6:00. Any more ideas are also welcome. I will post the fix when I find it. Also, can any one comment on the electroluminescent lite pack for the 1966 charger. Mine it seems???? when it was running starts to dim and almost fade away altogether after about a 1/2 hour or so of being on. Replacement time? And where could I get one? Don't know if this is related to the problem of the whole car shutting down. The electroluminescent lite pack started acting up quite some time ago, the car quit working just the other day.

 

[D575]

Bulkhead connector x2.

 

[moparmarks]

There is a 10# gauge wire that is the main circuit. Starts at the starter relay with a fusable link. Then goes throught the bulk head to the fuse box. Then to the ign switch, amp gauge and then back through the bulk head to the alt.
The weak points are:
Fusable link
bulk head
Amp gauge
Ing switch
Ing switch harness connector
Using a voltmeter start at the fusable link and trace up the circuit to see where to open is.

 

[WP29440SE]

I also believe it must be something simple more or less, for everything to quit working WHILE IT WAS BEING DRIVEN.Thanks alot everyone I will try the suggestions as soon as I can. I'm in Alberta, Canada. So you can probably imagine the weather is not great, garage is not heated and the sun starts to set about 5:30- 6:00. Any more ideas are also welcome. I will post the fix when I find it.

i recently did the mad bypass in my duster and it cured a whole host of problems including my charging problems. i bypassed the ammeter guage and added a volt gauge. i also bypassed the bulkhead and added new fusible links. here is the link to the artical, there are two pages . when you get to bottom click to view the second page http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml

 

[SwedCharger67]

Most likely a problem with bad connection in the bulkhead connector. See the attached picture with the red arrow. Terminal "Z" is where the battery voltage goes into the car and the rest of the system. You can easlily check it from the engine compartment.
The other weak point is terminal "P" which is connected to the alternator.
These 2 terminals easily overheat and melt plastic when the connection is bad and the resulting resistance is high.

I have to correct myself...the bulkhead terminal connected to the alternator is "P", not "N" as I had written previously. Sorry.

You find the schematics here:
http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=27

 

[A383Wing]

Also, can any one comment on the electroluminescent lite pack for the 1966 charger. Mine it seems???? when it was running starts to dim and almost fade away altogether after about a 1/2 hour or so of being on. Replacement time? And where could I get one? Don't know if this is related to the problem of the whole car shutting down. The electroluminescent lite pack started acting up quite some time ago, the car quit working just the other day.

I can rebuild the power pack...it's not related to the car quiting. If dash lights dim out after a bit, the power pack needs rebuild

Bryan