Suddenly it's totally dead?

[Jeff Barschel]

I have an intermittent electrical issue. The car can be running fine one minute, turn the key off and go to start again... and nothing (no click, no headlights, aftermarket tach needle will move a bit). It actually happened to the mechanic when I had it in for some work. They tried to trace and it stumped them. Suddenly, as quickly as it had nothing it was fine again. Started ran fine, lights signal, ammeter showed charging. It has been fine for six months when it did it to me today. Just went to try to start and totally dead (tested battery and it's at 11.8 volts).

Going to do some detective work, but thought i'd see if anyone has seen something like this or has suggestions on likely places to start looking. I was thinking ignition switch, but could be out to lunch .

 

[DCCoronet]

Something similar happened to me when I hit a bump and the car shut down while moving in the road and I reached down a wiggled the bulkhead wiring and boom! big backfire and it started running and got all electrical back. I replaced all of the connector ends on both sides and have not had a problem since.

 

[mopar 3 B]

11.8 volts at the battery. Thats were I would start.

 

[funknut]

Do you hear a click at the starter solenoid when you go to start it? If no click at the solenoid then it is somewhere between the ignition switch and the solenoid.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's a quick answer here.

Intermittent issues often point to a failing component, bad connection or loose wire somewhere. Bulkhead connector as mentioned above is a fairly common issue and a cheap way to rule it out would be to disconnect all 3 connectors and inspect for anything badly melted, burnt or corroded (disconnect battery first). If you don't find anything major, you can clean things up by spraying a generous amount of electrical contact cleaner on both sides and let dry. Before reassembly be sure to load up both sides with dielectric grease.

11.8v at the battery isn't good. It's either a dead battery or there's a problem with the charging circuit or voltage regulator.

 

[Billccm]

What year?
Yellow wire at solenoid is for crank.
Disconnect negative battery lead.
Place negative lead of ohm meter on positive battery. Place positive lead of ohm meter on solenoid. When in start you should measure less than 2 ohms.
Have someone hold key in start position and wiggle wires.

 

[Xp29h]

Do you have an MSD ignition box by chance?

 

[threewood]

1. Bulkhead connector
2. Battery positive cable to clamp connection

 

[Dennis H]

Bulkhead Connector. Check with care. Brittle components.

 

[Ranger16]

Is this an old car or a reto? Mine is a survivor and I had a similar problem. Found the + battery cable at the starter relay was corroded so bad it should have never started.


That said.

 

[Lionized]

Disconnect battery connections and check both posts/connections at ammeter gauge.
I've loc-tite'd my posts because they can vibrate loose.

 

[Jeff Barschel]

Hey Guys.... Thanks for all the great info. I thew a charger on the battery and will get at it later today.

There is no click, no nothing, totally dead.
It's a 1969, with a fair bit of work done on various parts, but not much under the dash. No MSD, it has a Mopar electronic distributor and orange module. Some wiring been replaced some not. As many have said this will be interesting and take time to solve, but with your help I have a few places to start. We replaced the end of the battery cable at the starter, because someone else routed it too close the the clutch linkage and it got pinched and eventually shorted. I thought that might have been the issue but not.

I will update later today or tomorrow with what we have or have not found.

THANKS AGAIN !!!!

 

[Billccm]

I wonder if you have an open fusible link.

 

[Jeff Barschel]

Well, spent about 6 hours at it yesterday.
Starter relay had a bit of corrosion on connectors, cleaned it up and it started. Not sure if that was the problem as it has just as mysteriously started working again before. But hey fingers crossed.

While we were at it had by buddy put some tension on the wire going through the firewall to the ammeter and it caused a change in reading so.... pulled the dash out and went down the rabbit hole. Ammeter connections were a bit tarnished and one of the nuts was a bit loose so cleaned and tightened that down. Also cleaned all bulb connections and ensured continuity, and cleaned dash dimmer and now I have dash lights (never had them before). But, when we removed the dash we noticed every wire going into the dash connector had a short mark in exactly the same place so I now have to shrink wrap and test every wire .

Pulling the dash apart was an interesting experience as the shop manual does not tell you about the two screws at the top of the dash pad that you have to move things to see.

Not unexpected, but was hoping things were in better shape under there as the previous owner had replaced the wiring harness, but I think is had it's issues too.

One step at time and we will trace everything under there and make sure all is good.

Thanks again for all the advice is was very helpful and provided a good list of places to check.