Car runs, no electric inside, fusable link is good

[Curly68]

Thanks for any help with this, I am terrible with electric so please don't assume I know much. 1968 Charger RT parked for a few years. I changed the alternator and ballast resistor and the car starts and runs. No interior lights, headlights, brake lights, heater does blow the fan. Looking at Chilton wiring schematic trying to figure this out. The fusable link looks good and nothing melted in bulkhead, ammeter looks fine and the fuse block is powered in all circuits except the orange wire which I believe is only powered when headlight switch is on. But when I switch headlight on still nothing. I pulled the connector off the dimmer and pulled the connector off the headlight and couldn't get a test light or multimeter reading on any of the inputs. Not sure where the power is supposed to be coming from. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks!

 

[pnora]

The black wire from the switch goes to a splice that is hot all the time.

 

[Curly68]

Thank you pnora. So if I test light the spot in the harness connection where the black wire is connected I should get a reading? But I did test that spot in the headlight harness and no power. My chart says that the black wire that should feed the light switch comes off the splice fed by the Ammeter. It looks like that same black wire splice feeds the fuse block which is powered and reading fine. lol, this is so darn confusing.

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Start here by downloading the actual wiring diagram for your car. There will be 2 drawings A and B for your Charger. https://www.mymopar.com/downloads/wiringdiagrams/1968Wiring.zip

 

[pnora]

Thank you pnora. So if I test light the spot in the harness connection where the black wire is connected I should get a reading? But I did test that spot in the headlight harness and no power. My chart says that the black wire that should feed the light switch comes off the splice fed by the Ammeter. It looks like that same black wire splice feeds the fuse block which is powered and reading fine. lol, this is so darn confusing.

You are right on the splice. If there is no power at the headlight switch, that wire is directly off that splice. So you need to trace it and find the bad spot.

 

[Curly68]

Start here by downloading the actual wiring diagram for your car. There will be 2 drawings A and B for your Charger. https://www.mymopar.com/downloads/wiringdiagrams/1968Wiring.zip

Thanks, I did print those out and look at them. Can I ask you something about electric diagrams:
I understand what the rectangular symbol with the lettering A-Z is- that's the bulkhead that passes wires from the interior to the engine bay. But what does the square/rectangular symbols 1-9 mean? Is that a splice? And if so, does it look like a plastic connector or is it just wires spliced and then wrapped in tape?

 

[Curly68]

You are right on the splice. If there is no power at the headlight switch, that wire is directly off that splice. So you need to trace it and find the bad spot.

Thanks, do you know what the splice will look like? I mean, is it a plastic junction connector or something? or is it just 3-4 wires twisted together and then taped up? Assuming it's untouched from the factory I mean.

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Thanks, I did print those out and look at them. Can I ask you something about electric diagrams:
I understand what the rectangular symbol with the lettering A-Z is- that's the bulkhead that passes wires from the interior to the engine bay. But what does the square/rectangular symbols 1-9 mean? Is that a splice? And if so, does it look like a plastic connector or is it just wires spliced and then wrapped in tape?

9th symbol down on the right side is the splice symbol. If you are talking about the rectangle on the A drawing that's numbered 1 through 10 that is the connector for the turn signal switch. Last picture in this set shows the Turn signal connector for the switch.

 

[Curly68]

9th symbol down on the right side is the splice symbol. If you are talking about the rectangle on the A drawing that's numbered 1 through 10 that is the connector for the turn signal switch. Last picture in this set shows the Turn signal connector for the switch.

View attachment 1724149

BeepBeepRR, thanks so much for doing that for me. This is really helpful. The splice I'm showing on my diagrams does not have any numbered squares, it just looks like the splice symbol in the chart, so I guess I'm not looking for a plastic type connection but rather wires taped together.

 

[Gold Rush]

From what I've seen those splices are not just a bunch of wires taped together. Don't know what that weld process is called but it looks like some sort of weld to me.

 

[Curly68]

From what I've seen those splices are not just a bunch of wires taped together. Don't know what that weld process is called but it looks like some sort of weld to me.

OK, that helps, thank you. Your signature story sounds amazing, good luck