No power to anything

[67ChevyRedneck]

I hate my truck.

Drove to work today. Truck was fine. Battery charging normally. Shut it off. When to do a hardees biscuit run and nothing. No clicking, no power, no headlights, nothing. It's as if the battery was disconnected.

Popped the hood. Everything looked ok. No corrosion on the terminals, no broken or burned wires. W T F!!!

The truck has been converted to HEI and an internally regulated alternator, which have been working fine for about 4 and 1 years, respectively. Battery is new. Also, did not see any blown fuses...

Only think I can think of is my ground wires somehow got instantly extremely dirty???

Also, something very funky.... *sometimes* (this has happened maybe 4 or 5 times in the past several months) if I shut the truck off with the headlights on, the headlights would still work, BUT when I went to restart the truck, nothing happened, BUT if I turned the headlights off, the truck would fire. Same thing happened ONCE when I had the heater on when I turned the key on, turned it off, truck then started.
Any ideas? I'm hoping I can "jump it" to at least get it home tonight

I'm trying to save $$$ for a home, but dang it, I may just have to rewire this damned POS.

Sometimes I just want to say ****

[mbgmike]

I would check both the headlight and the ignition switch. Are they old? I;ve had trucks that won't start and then crank when you walk off. If they are old I would just replace them. I would check to see if you have power to them first.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by mbgmike

I would check both the headlight and the ignition switch. Are they old? I;ve had trucks that won't start and then crank when you walk off. If they are old I would just replace them. I would check to see if you have power to them first.

EVERYTHING is old

[cdowns]

i'd clean both ends of both battery cables with sandpaper also the frame where the ground wire bolts to //do this before just throwing parts at it

[shifty]

i know the answer to this one, actually

and i really don't mind sharing it with you at all!

you need to sell the truck to me for $200. i'll be by to pick it up this weekend.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by cdowns

i'd clean both ends of both battery cables with sandpaper also the frame where the ground wire bolts to //do this before just throwing parts at it

I'll have to do that this weekend! Thats my strongest guess as to what's wrong with it as well. The only problem is I have to work on it outside and it's dark at 6:15 and I get home at 6:30

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by shifty

i know the answer to this one, actually

and i really don't mind sharing it with you at all!

you need to sell the truck to me for $200. i'll be by to pick it up this weekend.

Change the 2 to a 6 and add a zero

[shifty]

$0600? You have a deal!

[shifty]

BTW, on a serious note - I have my entire interior harness AND fusebox which appear to be in pretty good shape, along with my original headlight switch. Currently, it's hanging out on my basement floor. Don't hesitate to gimme a holler if you need it, bud. Feel free to swing down and get it next time you head to Athens.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Thanks for the offer! If I can't get it fixed I may try that.

One of the reason's I'm really pissed is because I installed a used, but EXCELLENT condition (all of the wires were still "soft," not brittle, and there were no burns, cuts, or cracks on ANY wire!) completely uncut original underhood harness from a '72 just 5 or 6 months ago. Cleaned ALL the grounds, battery connections, and even FINALLY added a "proper" + junction box (it was part of the '72 harness). It has all grounds. Battery/frame, engine/frame, cab/engine.... sigh

[shifty]

Well, that's everything on the engine side of the firewall...I'm offering everything on the cab side of the firewall

I can't give you the engine bay side, because I'm using the original wiring to run my headlight relays

[Longhorn Man]

First thing is first.... make certian that the battery is not a dead player. Try to jump start it, use a multi meter, throw a wrench between the positive anf negitive posts (just kidding on the last one)
if the battery has juice, then it's time to dig a little deeper in the battery cables.
But first, turn on the headlights and maybe the stero... this will give you an audio and a visual if the power comes back on.
Do you have top post, or side post?
Either way, try to turn the connection a little... don't be afraid to put some ass into it.
Do you have the cheap 'clamp on' type terminals on the battery side of the cables? The crappy ones you'd get from wall mart or k mart?
If so, try un-clamping the clamp, and make the strands of wire in a round shape instead of where they were smashed down. Check for dirt and green crap while you are there. Cutting a penny in 1/2 and then curving it to fit in the wire chanel will help take up space if the cable is getting smashed down too much.
Ground cable.
Where is the cable grounded to? If it is on the alt bracket like on 70's stuff, I recomend moving it to the block if you have enough cable. The self tapping bolt that holds the cable on the bracket is known for stripping easily and causing a crappy connection. Regardless, ensure the cable and the surface it is bolted to is clean, and fastened tight.
Positive cable.
crawl under the truck, and gently tug on the positive cable. If the lights and radio come on, then the connection on the starter is bad. Even if they don't come on... it'd be a good idea to disconnect the cable and inspect it... but first, disconnect the ground cable from the battery.
Reconnect neg post.
If we are still in the dark, then go to the little wire that goes to the junction block on the fender. Check for power at it. If there is no power, the problem is between the battery and that bock. If it is hot, then follow that wire back, and across to the fuse box/bulkhead. checking it along the way for cuts, smashes, or any other signs of being bad.
If all good, then have it towed home, the problem will probably be in the fuse box and or bulk head on the firewall.

[shifty]

Oh - and I've heard a million stories about people having some positive wire get pinched when the hood is down - so the truck starts up when the hood is up, but won't start when the hood is down. It happenes to at least two people recently, and there is at least one thread about this somewhere. I forget exactly where the pinch happens, but ... that could be happening as well.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Played with it some...

Battery is not dead, has 11.9V (it's 22 degrees out) and even put a jump on it, nada.

Tried to check the fuse in the harness... broke it

Dang thing is tiny, where the heck do you get another?

I put another fuse in, too big, but still, no power to truck.

Neg. cable has always been connected to the block.

Top post battery. All connections were cleaned somewhat recently, but I'll do that this weekend.

I'm done with the damn thing until at least friday.

Thanks so much for the detail Andy. I'll give all of those a try this weekend.

Oh, also, the truck has a volt gauge, so I know for sure no power is reaching the dash at all.

Also, again, it's and int. regulated alternator, so no ext. reg. to go bad

Shifty, when I redid the wiring I routed it through all the factory places, it's nowhere near the hood

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhh

Edit: Also checked fuse block with volt meter, nothing. So it can't be the headlight switch, or ign. switch, right?

[Mickey_D]

The only input I can offer here is the wiring diagrams that Francisco did up. They're in this post here:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...9&postcount=81

[shifty]

Some questions:

Is there power at the voltage regulator where there should be? It is possible the voltage regulator took a crap on itself. It is mounted next to the horn on the driver's (in)side of the radiator support.

Start measuring the power from the battery -

Do you have power at the bulkhead next to the battery?
Do you have power at the voltage regulator?
Do you have ANY power on ANY lead in the fusebox?

The idea is simple troubleshooting: Find where the power stops.

You can use the diagram provided in the last post to know what wires should have power @ the regulator.

Also, have you looked at your ignition switch as well to make sure nobody tried to hotwire the truck and left some lines off or something?

[VetteVet]

Go to the first sticky thread in the electrical forum that says "wiring diagram finished",
open the thread and scroll down to post 19, and look on page two for an excellent diagram of the engine side wiring. The rest of the truck diagrams are there as well. You will have to eliminate the external voltage regulator wiring and trace the red wires to the alternator and battery and there is a threeway splice of red wires in the harness to trace out. There is actually only one wire that feeds the fuse box and the rest of the truck with positive power. This is the wire that runs to the fuse box, through the firewall connecter to the horn relay and the light switch and it allows the horn and lights to work without turning on the key. There are also two fusible links in the circuit that will kill power if they blow.
I have to say that the majority of problems like you are having are ground related or poor cable connections at the battery. Good luck.

[stonewall618]

not to sound dumb.......but have you checked to see if the thing that you use to start...the place where your key goes...have you checked to see that all the wires are snug or that is not bad... that happened to my uncle...it was an ez fix...i think the way you can test this is by undoing all the back cables and then touching the red to the black...if the radio and such idems come on then that is your problem....past that it sounds like a short...to me any way

[70C10Toejam]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Played with it some...

Battery is not dead, has 11.9V (it's 22 degrees out) and even put a jump on it, nada.

Actually that is VERY dead. Charged should be 12.5-13 volts. Sounds like alt. not working.

[us111]

hello,,gotta be a bad ground if u get nada even with jump..when u say nada does that mean no lights,nothing?

[Longhorn Man]

stonewall... if the ignition switch was messing up, the headlights would still work.
toejam, even at 10 volts, he would get something electrical. Besides, he said he did try a jump. 11.9 is not uncommon at all in sub freezing temps.
us111 There are a million places he could be losing power. You can't automaticly blame the grounds.

[RustyParts]

You might want to check the junction on the firewall where the engine bay harness connects to the inside harness may be loose or have some burnt or corroded connections.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Ok fellas....



SHE RUNS


I can't honestly say what fixed it.

I replaced both fuses in the harness (had to go to Napa to find them.) I would have gone their first, but it was the farthest store from me

I took apart EVERY, and I mean EVERY, ground strap and every ground wire on the under hood harness,cleaned up all surfaces, put a good coat of dielectric grease on everything and put them back together.

I pulled the battery cables apart, cleaned and put the dielectric grease on them too!

Did the same for the wires going to the starter.

I also pulled apart the bulkhead connector and it looked good. No corrosion or melted wires, so I put some dielectric grease on those connections too and put that back together.

Put the battery back in and she fired right up

Thanks so much for all the input and feedback all.

Also, I can now turn the headlights on, THEN start the truck too

According to my volt gauge in the cab, the battery is charging a little over 13V.

Also, thanks for the links with all the sweet wiring diagrams, I bookmarked them

ROCKS

[stonewall618]

grats on fixing it

[67ChevyRedneck]

My damn truck is evil, pure evil

Ran up to spartanburg for work today (40 mile round trip) and I stopped for gas on the way home. Hop in to fire it up and.........


NADA

It's so damn frustrating I just laughed at the old girl.

A couple fellas helped me push her to a parking space (it was a gas station/Wendys.)

Took the battery to Advance. It was a little low, but OK. 40 minutes later it was charged.

Put it back in the truck.

Nothing

Put on the new battery cables I just bought.

Nothing

I KNEW it wasn't the grounds, there is just no frickin' way. I cleaned the crap out of EVERY ONE of them!!!!

I noticed that the junction box wires looked a little rusty around their O shaped clamp things. I had cleaned up the ends on Saturday, but maybe, just maybe, there wasn't a good connection inside the O clamp thingys anymore....

FRICKIN' BINGO!

I spliced the damned wires to the + battery cable, started the old girl and hauled butt home

I'll fix it properly this weekend with new end connections, but my God, what a pain in the butt