Car is dead..help !

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grassy

grassy

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Went to start our '75 Duster, 360 with orange box ignition. Was driving it last night.

Thought we left something on so went to boost it...still dead. Won't even turn over.

Tried putting her into gear..thought that the only start in neutral may not be engauged..

The car doesn't have a ballast.

Absolutely nothing works....almost like having no battery in the car at all. The batter sparks (when I cross the booster cable ends) so I assume I have some current in her..

If the battery is truly farked, would it act like this ? wouldn't jumping by pass the dead battery.

fuses maybe ?

Any help is appreciated.

Ian.
 
sounds like a fusible link is toasted.

they look like a fat piece of wire, usually (but not always) with a tag that says "fusible link"

they are designed to blow out like a fuse. when they go, you have to trace what caused them to blow before you replace them. you can splice in an inline fuse to use for testing, then when you find & fix what is blowing it out, replace the fusible link

they are superior to inline fuses because there are no parts that can tarnish/corrode.

make sure when you wire it back in you use butt connectors / then crimp / then solder / then tape / then lastly heatshrink over the tape
 
Dop the headlights work?

x2 on the fuseable link...
 
Can you put in a new fuse in the fusible link or if I replace it, what size should it be ?

Any ideas what could have caused this ?

Thanks
Ian.
 
Do you still have the amp guage in the car (everything in the entire car goes through it)

It's pretty much got to be the fusable link or the amp guage.
(Barring the really obvious stuff)
 
No, amp guage is history.

I have 2 fusable links on my firewall. It would be the one on the middle of the box that leads to the starter, correct.

So I take a wire with a fuse on it and cut the old one out.

What gauge of wire should I be using and what size fuse ?

Thanks
 
If you feel the fuseable link wire, you can feel a soft spot where it "blew"...


Go to NAPA and ask them for fuseable link. Fuseable link is basically wire that acts like a fuse. You can just splice it in where the old fuseable link was. Match the wire gauge of the old fuseable link to the new one.


However, you need to find out what caused the spike in power that blew the fuseable link in the first place or you will just keep blowing them. Look for a short somewhere in that circuit.

Fuses are for safety. they will blow if the circuit is overloaded. If you just bypass the fuse with wire, then you risk a potential fire or melted wires...
 
There is not much space in there...i think it is 10 gauge..

No soft spots I can feel..the fusible link cover is hard plastic..

is there anyway to bypass this just to test ?
 
if you can get your hands on a volt meter they are really helpful... that way you can probe around and see where you lose your 12V

also if you put it in ohms mode you can check to see if the fusible links are blown or not.
 
Sorry for the delay in response..

first I am going to do the wiggle test..then I will go at it with my circuit lamp...have my truxty, well used manual beside me :)

I shall be back...
 
moparlover said:
if you can get your hands on a volt meter they are really helpful... that way you can probe around and see where you lose your 12V

also if you put it in ohms mode you can check to see if the fusible links are blown or not.
Click to expand...

If you work on cars and you don't have a voltmeter, get one.

Like stated above you can remove the wire and test it for continuity.
 
I have one..but it disappeared into the garage somewhere..didn't need one anyway..the circuit lamp worked..

My problem seems to stem from alternator / ignition switch feed wires in the connector that goes into the bulkhead connectors..when you push the unit in, the tabs back out of the holder.

What can I do to make sure they are being inserted properly ?
 
Did you happen verify the power comes out of the bulkhead connector on the inside?
 
the male spades are split just pull the out of the connector and open them up a bit and re insert. the females have a tab that bends out to hold them in the connector.
clean them up good and appy a small amount of electric grease while they are removed.
 
Yes. Didn't have any grease...I suspect I will be re visiting this in the future.

Car fixed...wasted a day and missed having the stripes put on.

I also noticed the battery post holders were oxidized and old looking so I renewed them tonight as well.

We are making a list of things we want to go over before we put her on the road but it hasn't been bad since putting her on the road.

Thanks all.
Ian.
 
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