3rd day of an electrical headache

[FELON'S]

Previously running 68 chev C20 unitl I changed out the Steering Wheel Saturday- Wont turnover without the screwdriver to the Selenoid trick..

Battery, Volt Reg, Fuse Box, Ignition all read 12.5 (in Start position all 9.0).

No Neutral Safety Switch
Purple wire to and @ Selenoid read 9.0 in start position.
No lights, no hazards, no nothing, nada, zilch....

So I I disco'd Horn, AC/Heat control, steering column harness, Fuel pump, Radio, Panel...Still nothing... I even studied the wire harness diagrams...nada...

Thoughts?

[70C10Toejam]

battery is dead. 9 volts is not enough. if you bypass the solanoid, great way to burn the starter.

[FELON'S]

I thought about that, wouldnt jump either...Turn the key...Nothin..Doesnt even click...Just a 3-4 volt voltage drop.

[Texasbigblock]

change the solenoid! if you jump across it and it works then the solenoid itself is bad. When u jump it all you are doing is bypassing it and running straight hot to the starter. Someone correct me if im wrong

[68 short step]

id agree, also sound like the ignition switch itself..

[Premium72]

yeah sounds rite to me. also replace the lil black box on the driver side of your core support(the correct name slips my mind), they go out an give you some similar nightmares, id have the battery tested first and think about a new starter. good luck. electric problems arre nitemares.

[VetteVet]

Originally Posted by Texasbigblock

change the solenoid! if you jump across it and it works then the solenoid itself is bad. When u jump it all you are doing is bypassing it and running straight hot to the starter. Someone correct me if im wrong

When you jump the solenoid the only thing you're doing is changing the source of the operating voltage and applying a full 12 volts to it. If it clicks in and the starter turns the engine over, then it's doing it's job.
A voltage drop is caused by a large resistance on a circuit or a poor connection such as a bad ground or wire loose on a terminal not making good contact. I would think that if this problem started after the steering wheel swap then it is related to that. Why no neutral start switch? is it a stick shift?

[Longhorn Man]

he said he has no lights, no hazzards, no nothing. None of that goes through the starter, nor the ignition switch.
On the battery, you'll see a small wire off the positive post, going to that little stud on the fenderwell. Check that wire real good. Check for power on that stud. If there is power, then follow the wire that comes off the other side up to the fuse box. ALL the power to the truck runs off that single wire. The ONLY exclusion, is the main positive cable that goes to the starter.
Your problem will probably be in that wire, either before the stud, or after the stud.
That small one to the stud SHOULD have a fuseable link. Thyat's where it SHOULD be bad. It is there to protect the rest of the vehicle.
If it is burned up... now you get to figure out the fun part;
Why did it blow?

[cdowns]

the other wire that is responsible for every bit of electricity in the truck is the negative battery cable its called a ground it likes to be mounted clean and tight on shiney metal

[Longhorn Man]

However, he said he can crank the engine over by jumping the starter. Even if there were no body grounds at all, there would be enough of a cround through the shifter linkages to light up the dome light or something.
ask me how I know It took me forever to figure that out when i first got my first truck.

[FELON'S]

68 Short Step and Longhorn called it..

Had the wife pick up an ignition switch and new pigtail today. ..Cranked over first time..Whew....I'll return the $50 starter tomorrow

Now. The little black wire going from the firewall to the Battery is cut under the hood..Its an old break, the PO must have removed the half that went to the battery ..But odly enough reads 12.5V on the Firewall side, only in the Key's on position...I'll look more into that over the weekend, but if it has the voltage on the firewall side, would it still need to go the battery? It must be pulling volts from the fuse box right? Will it arc if I connected it to the battery now?

Thanks for eveyones help....

[FELON'S]

So here we are on day 5....Last night we successfully installed our new ignition switch..Thankfully it turned over and fired right up...Wife was proud and I had a tear in my eye... So in between crimping each and every wire down, and plugging each accessory in, I turned it over...Just to be safe you know.. but that was the extent of it, turning it over and revying the gas....

So tonight we finished puting the foo foo stuff back in place in the cab..About 20 minutes ago we loaded up the kids, started her up, reved the engine....And then I put my foot on the brake to put her in drive then she died.......Yep...She died....I just sat there. The wife hurried the kids in the house...And I just sat there.... So evidently because somewhere in this beautiful beast when I step on the brake the fusible link blows..I replaced it and started it up...Foot on brake=blown fuse.....

What in the name of up above would cause this?

[Longhorn Man]

my first though, the wire that goes across the top of the firewall... the one that the fuesable link goes to... it's getting pinched by the brake booster linkages.

[Luvlegs]

Hang in there dude! It's a pisser until you get it and that smile will come back - can't tell you how many times I pulled the truck out of the shop, wife and baby girl came towards the truck and it died..... I too just sat there... I think I spent 3 months just doing electrical stuff (and noone gets to see it)
For what it's worth, I had 2 fusible links in parallel on my truck. When they blew, shortly after doing the headlight relay conversion, I simply replaced it with an inline fuse... blew everytime I turned the headlights on... but I didn't know it until AFTER I shut it off and it wouldn't restart... THAT was frustrating - making a jumper in the dark to get back to the house. Anywho, I bought a roll of "fusible link" wire - it's cheap. Cut two lengths about like the originals that blew - soldered them in and that was the (knock on wood) last of my electrical issues! Now I get to work on other add ons and fun stuff. Don't give up!

[Premium72]

maybe check your tail light wires also, i had a night mare on my 49 coupe, the old cloth wires were bare and were arching all over the place had to rewire the whole car after that night of chaos and panic. good luck dude. before you know it youll have replaced everything and have a new truck. good luck

[2bits]

Hey, at least that right there tells you exactly what circut to test. Lucky these trucks only have limited wiring and you can see almost all of it, follow the wires and all the advice above and you'll probably go "How did it last this long" when you find that short.

[Longhorn Man]

while yes, it could be in the brake light wires, it isn't likely.
The brake lights have a fuse that would blow way before the fuesable link ever would.
Unless it has a bolt, or a fuse wrapped in foil anyways.

[FELON'S]

Thanks for the input..I'll Give it a shot..At this point is it easier to start at the tail and work back to the cab? Or vice versa?

[Longhorn Man]

I'd start with a bulb, then look under the rear bumber for hillbilly wiring jobs for trailer plugs.

[jhow66]

That little black wire is probably the amp gauge wire that goes back to the battery with a 4 amp fuse next to the battery. To blow the fuse link when you step on brake and not blow a stop light fuse first there is a dead short some where on main feed. My bet is behind fuse panel where two wires will be melted together.

[FELON'S]

Hillbilly wiring?????? Look at this

[Painter D]

just remember this simple thing. everything on a vehicle is really just a bunch of 12v closed circuits.i revived all my trucks stuff to working status after it sat in a field for 15 years. with all original wires . oh yeah you should eliminate the external voltage regulator . it makes things simpler and cleaner without it.

[Longhorn Man]

The mounting of that hitch scares me almost as much as the hill billy electricals.

[FELON'S]

So the end result was finding some electrical engineer's nightmare...Son and I spent last night re-wiring the entire backside of our truck....Yes the extension cord was hardwired...Yes I looked under the truck before I bought it, and no I didnt see it...Also were several splices that every step of the way had breaks and arcs against the frame..

I realized that the ignition switch was the majority of the issue when I started this problem last weekend, and worked all the way back to it. I found on the new pigtail, the color coding is slightly different then the exisintg switch. It turns out that the 12 brown wire and 20 brown and white wire are for the accessory. I had brown and white wire connected to the brown wire on the new switch (Ground). The brown and white wire goes to the bezel/panel and feeds brakes/domes/etc, causing a short..On top of the hillbilly wiring..

I appreciate everyones help and look forward to future sharing...Thanks again everyone and especially Longhorn...And the wife and kids enjoyed the ride...

[retodd7711]

I love the extension cord! Is that for a refrigerator to keep cold ones cold?
Maybe a microwave for camping trips?