Truck has good battery but can't get it to turn over?

[BlacklandCamper]

I would start with the wiring from the battery to the ignition switch, then move from the switch to the connections behind the dash. Some of the connections at the light switch ground through the dash, and you never know...

Here is something no one else has asked...

Do your wipers, and horn work? Both of them only work when the ignition is on "Acc", or "Run". If they both work, your ignition switch is indeed passing power. Check the connections and wires from the switch to the solenoid, and the chassis grounds along the way. The main circuit you are concerned with is Battery - Switch - Starter - Ground.

Good luck! It sucks, but if you have been dealing with electric gremlins already, this is something that needs to be done. Besides, consider this a good time to reinstall your radio, and hook it to switched power like it should be.

[ClemsonChevy]

Originally Posted by White70C20

Hello all,

71swb4x4, Here is the pictures of the junction block that's mounted on the pass. side fender and the little one that's mounted on the wheel well.

One of the red wires from this junction block is hooked to the negative battery cable

Attachment 1240437
The red wire from this is also attached to the negative battery cable.

None of the wires on that insulated post in the first picture should be connected to the negative side of the battery. That would create a dead short and you would know it when you hooked up the battery cables. I would remove all of those wires at that connection and clean them with some sandpaper and reinstall. Unhook the battery first, of course. Near that junction on my truck IS a ground wire that comes from the negative cable and screws directly into the inner fender with a machine screw.

[71swb4x4]

The wire on that junction block, and likely the circuit breaker, should be going to the positive terminal on the battery.
Take both off the negative terminal, and attach them one at a time to the positive terminal. Trace the wire coming off that circuit breaker first and see what it is powering.

[litew8]

I agree with BlacklCamper (doesn't look like a junction box), ClemsonChevy and 71swb4x4 (get rid of the unnecessary and clean). What is custom on this truck that it required a circuit breaker? Is it valid any longer? What is your stereo setup like? Did it have an amp etc..? Try and get the wiring back to original if at all possible.

[BlacklandCamper]

Originally Posted by White70C20

I have cleaned and re-checked every ground I could find.

71swb4x4, Here is the pictures of the junction block that's mounted on the pass. side fender and the little one that's mounted on the wheel well. Attachment 1240436
One of the red wires from this junction block is hooked to the negative battery cable

Attachment 1240437
The red wire from this is also attached to the negative battery cable.

Is there anything else I could do besides going through and checking every single wire? If that's my only option at this point I just might go get a new wiring harness.

Where are the rest of those wires going?

If any wires on the first junction are going to hot, and one is going to ground, that's an issue.
If the wire on the circuit breaker is going to ground, and the other is not, there is another one to check.

[jdw]

The 2nd photo is a shortstop circuit breaker. It basically keeps the wires from pulling too much juice and causing a fire for something that pulls a large load. What do those wires go to? Ac/DC converter, battery charger, towing setup... Something janky. You pulled the radio. Start tracing that back to where the juice was going. Odds are there's something grounding. Then I'd refer back to the diagram provided and get it back to original as possible.

[jdw]

Hmm. Got to thinking. Can you take a picture showing the battery terminals and those junctions?

[KyleSeal]

Check to see if the engine is getting spark.

That was the problem me and my father found on a '68 we were going to buy but it wouldn't start, so we checked, and no spark.

[White70C20]

Hi guys!

Good news! I got my truck fixed (hopefully not just a temporary thing).
Those two wires that I had hooked up to the negative battery cable were indeed supposed to be connected to the positive cable. I hooked them up the right way and it fired right up.

The reason the headlights and the lights didn't work was because I forgot to hook up a little yellow wire to the negative battery cable (I'll admit that one's my fault for not making sure every single little wire was hooked up).

I'm not going to question why it decided to work all of a sudden, I'm just going to enjoy the truck while it lasts.

Thanks

[BlacklandCamper]

[litew8]

still look into getting rid of the unecessary stuff. You say those were 2 wires that You hooked up - but the issue was around before you tampered with the wires, no? Now would be a good time to give it a good once over to ensure things are checking out as they should be. Don't stop now!

[In The Ten Ring]

How clean are the battery connections? I ask because I haven't read the whole thread (have a head ache) and I tried to jump a guy last week and could not. I didn't think to clean his battery cable connections.

I'm going to put some sandpaper into my car's tool kit for just that eventuality.

[White70C20]

I went through and cleaned up the block surfaces where the ground cables mount with a wire brush. I replaced both battery cables and the block to frame cable as well. I just made sure everything was a clean as I possibly could.

[nolimitssjca]

Congrats on sticking with it until it fired. Now take pictures of the working configuration for future reference.