New to Chargers...69 Charger R/T won't start with key

[stangman39]

Hi all,

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Tinkering with my first Mopar with a 69 Charger R/T 4spd.
Had it delivered and the transport said it fired right up when they unloaded it. It then say for about 2 hours in 20 degree cold!
When I went to drive it home we got nothing when turning the key...no gauges, nothing.
Had to run a jumper wire directly from the battery to the coil and then it fired with the key and was able to drive it 2 miles home. When I turn the key off the car keeps running so I have to pull the jumper wire off the coil etc.

I've messed a lot with old Mustangs but am green when it comes to these Mopars!

Any helps or what else I should trouble shoot first would help a lot! Thanks

 

[BeastlyBirdie]

By you saying "nothing when turning the key", do you mean that the starter didn't engage? If that's the case, check the starter relay on the driver's side fenderwell. If it starts, but the second you let go of the key it dies, its a bad ballast resistor (white porcelain thing on firewall).
Also, wiggle the wires on the back of the ammeter on the dash. They are notorious for giving a no run condition. And, later, replace and bypass it (lots of information on that)
And congrats on getting something without the blue oval curse, lol.

 

[earlyrides]

When you are checking the relay try jumping from the big lug to the smaller red wire going to the starter with a screwdriver.
be sure you are in park or nuetral if it is a 4-speed.
if the starter turns then you have a nuetral ground issue.
be sure to check the bulkhead connector on the firewall too.
many times in a pinch you can disconnect and reconnect the connector from the bulkhead to get it home.
later when you are at home in the cozy warm garage you can clean and put some dielectric grease on the connections.
be sure the fusible link is good too.
Danged 40 year old harnesses!

 

[stangman39]

On my way home from work I stopped and picked up a new start relay. Before installing it I jiggled the original replay and also the junction box above it. Car fired right up! Not sure if it had anything to do with the cold yesterday and it had warmed up to around 55 today.

 

[stangman39]

This issue I'm having seems to be intermittent. Sometimes it works with the key, sometimes it doesn't and I have to jiggle the starter relay and the bulkhead connector. I can tell when it will start with the key if I hear a click when I turn the key once to the right.
Should I just go ahead and replace the relay and go from there? Is there a way to narrow down if it is the relay or the ignition switch?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Propwash]

Check the large dark blue wire running from the starter relay into the middle connector of the three bulkhead connectors. I would check the terminal connectors (male to female) for that wire as well as the others. Make sure they are nice and clean (especially the large dark blue-known weak spot to cause fires). Also check the connections at the starter relay. Make sure everything is nice and tight. Clean up as much as you can and don't be afraid to dab on some dielectric grease here and there. Disconnect the battery when tighten/loosening things up at the starter relay. The end of a wrench/ratchet can set of a firework show or possible blow the inline fuse if you're on a live stud and it hits metal. Start with the easiest things first. Loose wires/bad grounds and or connections. Majority of the time, that's the issue electrical wise.