Potential ignition issues

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cpostiglione

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Trying to figure out potential ignition issues. Was driving it down the freeway with no issues. When I got off and did a little backroad cruising I stopped at a light. Needed to turn the headlights on and the car died right as I pulled knob out. Then it wouldn’tstart at all with key turns. I believe I’m missing a connection just not sure which one.

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Does it at least crank?
Did you put a voltmeter on the battery?
It was running with that configuration at the switch?
What recent work has been done?

What are you driving a mustang:lol:
 
First lines of the first post of any thread should be:

  1. What year
  2. What model
  3. What engine
  4. What transmission
  5. What recent electrical and/or mechanical mods.

That being said...

You have some high resistance connections in your ignition switch connector resulting in melted connector and wires.


The missing ground connector in your wiring harness connector is not an issue.

Later model vehicles that use the same ignition switch have a ground wire in the harness. Aftermarket adds it to the switch because it makes the switch forward and backwards comparable to a larger base of cars.



You need a good wiring diagram


Mymopar.com has many, free download.

Classiccarwiring.com has laminated color coded wiring diagrams around 25 bucks best 25 bucks I ever spent.

Then you will have to start tracing out circuits and find the fault
 
Ya know, if we quote a person’s message they get a notification that they’re post has a response.

Dies when the headlights are turned on usually means the charging system isn’t working.
 
That's some ugly looking wiring. I suspect you overloaded the main power supply to the dash.... at the bulkhead connector, ignition switch connections, fuse box, light switch, fuseable link, battery connection, etc. Time to trace where you have power to where you don't.
 
It doesn’t even appear to be a ‘67 to ‘76 A body based on the ashtray that is visible in the background of one of the pictures?

Looks like some wiring ‘work’ was already done on the vehicle too……
 
H'mmm looking in the black magic water - it's a 1964 a-body with a 225. ;)

Two really excellent suggestions above.
1. Alternator wasn't supplying enough power and the battery was low. Result was too little power available to ignition.
2. Damage to feed (aka supply) wire or connection resulted in the fact it couldn't handle the extra load.

So initial checks are pretty easy.
Check the battery condition. Old school - measure the acid. Sealed battery, measure the voltage.
Check if any of the non-key power items work. Dome light, parking lights, headlights. When they are on, the ammeter should show appropriate levels of discharge.

One more - no tools - check is to follow the alternator output wire, and the battery output wires to the bulkhead. Also the battery ground.
If they look like the wires on the ignition switch, clean, fix replace as needed.

Having a multimeter will help in figuring out the problem, but the above will get you started.

As far as what each wire function is. Hold on.
 
69FBCuda said:
Does it at least crank?
Did you put a voltmeter on the battery?
It was running with that configuration at the switch?
What recent work has been done?

What are you driving a mustang:lol:
Click to expand...
it doesn’t crank at all.
I did and the battery was fine. Even had a bench test that came back all good.
Not sure if it was running with that configuration, it was the first time digging into it
For recent work none has been done.
 
Dana67Dart said:
First lines of the first post of any thread should be:

  1. What year
  2. What model
  3. What engine
  4. What transmission
  5. What recent electrical and/or mechanical mods.

That being said...

You have some high resistance connections in your ignition switch connector resulting in melted connector and wires.


The missing ground connector in your wiring harness connector is not an issue.

Later model vehicles that use the same ignition switch have a ground wire in the harness. Aftermarket adds it to the switch because it makes the switch forward and backwards comparable to a larger base of cars.



You need a good wiring diagram


Mymopar.com has many, free download.

Classiccarwiring.com has laminated color coded wiring diagrams around 25 bucks best 25 bucks I ever spent.

Then you will have to start tracing out circuits and find the fault
Click to expand...
Sorry for the missing info.
It’s a 1964
270 Dodge dart
Smallest engine according to my buddy
Automatic transmission
Only electric mods are a cigarette lighter charger and modernish radio
 
This is why all my old cars have a stand alone ignition system and a 1 wire alternator...many of these cars are too old, and been through too many owners, to go chasing 50 year old wiring. No offense to anyone that likes to chase wires, and keep thier cars original, there Is surely a place for that....but not for my rigs.
 
If the battery is OK, put it on a slow charger. It's always best to begin tests and even start a car with a fully charged battery.

In the mean time you can use it with a voltmeter (or test light) to help track down the problem.

Here's a diagram of a '63 which I beleive is similar to a '64. If there are things that are different, post 'em and I'll correct.
Concept is the same.

Power source is either the battery (wires labled A) or the alternator (wire R6).
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Ignition switch gets power from J1 (red 12 gage wire). On the switch the terminal is marked B for Battery.
Headlight switch gets power from L1 for headlights, and pink wire from the hot side of the fuse box powers parking lights.

From the "ignition switch",
J2 powers the ignition when running, Q2 powers everything else that is switched on.
J3 and S2 power the ignition and the starter relay when starting.

So with the engine off, testing the unswitched circuits such as parking lights is a way to determine if power is flowing to the mainsplice from the battery.
if not, look for a break or damage at the connections between the battery and the main splice.
If it is, then turn the key to run or accessory and see if power is making it to the heater fan or turn signals.
 
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When your car was running, power should have been coming from the alternator.
The ammeter should have been indicating battery neither charging or discharging.

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For starting, power comes from the battery.
Turning the key to start, current should flow through the ammeter to the ignition switch.
The ammeter should show slight discharge. Does it?
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If not, and you know power is making it to the key switch (previous test), then there is a break in the starter relay circuit and possibly also the ignition start (J3).
 
Fixing the connectors.

www.forabodiesonly.com

A bit of Wiring 101

It seems like the official FABO winter project for 2021 is rewiring your car. A lot of folks have been asking wiring questions over the past couple weeks so I thought I'd try a bit of a how-to. I'm rewiring my 64 Dart wagon after it decided to melt most of the underhood wires into a big mess...
www.forabodiesonly.com www.forabodiesonly.com

The J2 & Gage wire will be best with a terminal made for two wires side by side.

New sections of wire can be spliced in as needed. Strains and kinks will cause breakage.

If the new radio is spliced into the J2 circuit, that will be a problem.
Put it on the radio circuit. There should be a spot in the fuse box to connect into the switched accessory buss.
 
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