New harness, now no power?

[apostle228]

So, the wiring in my '73 Satellite (318) was completely Frankenstein.... It worked, but was scary. SO, I ordered the correct engine and dash harness from year one. Obviously the trick of laying then out next to the old harness wasn't gonna work because the harness in my car currently was very "custom" haha... I got it installed fairly easily actually, but now I have no power... To anything except the red wire leading to the amneter. Voltage tester shows no power at fuse box, ignition switch, or anywhere except the red amneter wire and the red wire at the starter relay... Where should I be looking?? What could be wrong? I don't know where to start.

 

[69Bee]

How about starting with the large 10AWG Black wire that goes to the other side of the ammeter.

 

[apostle228]

Is it possible the problem could be the amneter? Can I just jumper the black and red wires together or is there more to it than that? Because I know the black wire leads to the alternator and it's supposed to be hot there right?

 

[idrivemopar]

This may sound silly, but make sure your connectors on the bulk head in the engine compartment are fully plugged in, when I did mine they were a bit firm first getting them on. Also make sure you have the ground connected on the dash harness and the fusable link on the starter relay is good. Does you car have a block to firewall ground wire, and if you replaced the engine harness along with the forward light harness, make sure that one is grounded. Also double check the connections from the steering column to the dash harness and make sure they are making good contact as I had some problem with intermittent connections there on the barrel connectors in the blue and white plugs. Hope this helps.

 

[70redbee]

I would start by getting a FSM (factory service manual) You can trace all the wiring to make sure everything is as it should be. You can buy a colored wiring diagram off ebay. I have the color coded diagram for my Super Bee and it is great and easy to follow. Also as the others have said, check connections for tightness and all your grounds. Scratch the paint on the grounds to get full grounding. After you have all this figured out, do the Mad electric amp gauge bypass to get the load off the amp gauge. I also have the year one engine and forward light harnesses and they were a perfect fit. Good luck, wiring problems SUCK!

 

[apostle228]

So I feel dumb... My car didn't have the gauges hooked up at all, including the Amneter... I didn't know it had to be hooked up to complete that circuit until I looked at my wiring diagrams... haha, as soon as I hooked it up she fired right up...