Suddenly Electrically Dead?

[YourBuddy'sTruck]

Been driving the truck around all day...6+ 10Mile short trips.
Pull into hardware store on my way home and went to start up and ...Nothing?
Dead? Turn the key and Zilch!?
Battery is fine, even tried a jump to be sure.
Actually took the time to pull the starter.
(Yep, right there in the parking lot. Actually was kinda fun as a guy near me had Seager's "Against The Wind" playing for most of the ordeal).
Took the starter in to Advance and it bench tested fine.

Could anyone be so kind as to point me in the right direction for things to check?
Neutral Safety Switch?
Ignition Switch?
Fuse?

When I try to jump the starter at the solenoid, I get nothing there too?
This thing has some pretty gnarly PO wiring too.

Anyway....I will have time to poke at it tomorrow eve and would love any "Did you look at such and such"s as I can get.
Time now to surf this forum for info and probably get side tracked on other topics.
Cheers!
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[Codez67Chevy]

Did ya check your connections at your battery? Even though they are connected it could be a bad connection. Make sure all connections are clean and tight. Every problem needs to be thought of with the simple stuff and then if you rule that out go on to the hard stuff. Connections and fuses are the simple things. Then its onto looking for shorts, burned wires, or even broken wires/ worn through. And insulation on the wires.

[YourBuddy'sTruck]

Yeah...will do.
The "no jump at solenoid" has me thinking that the + is not connected somewhere/how?
I'll start with checking the + line to the starter and go from there.

Odd though...the all of a sudden part?
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[BlackedOut67shorty]

Check the wires that go into the harness in the engine bay, they do come loose over time and make the truck seem like it is dead. Happened with mine a couple times
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[bigguy69]

Also check the little block on the fender. There should be a hot wire running to a junction block on the fender. Mine corroded over time. It gets power in the truck.

[GASoline71]

What bigguy69 said... it's called a "Fuseable link" and if it's burned out or corroded it will leave you dead. It goes from the battery to a small junction post on the passender side fender.

Gary

[YourBuddy'sTruck]

Ah...secrets are being revealed to me!
But seriously...I'm a total newb and just figured our what PO means in this forum.
The litteral is understood.
The figurative is followed by 'ed...as in PO'ed!
WHat a mess! And it's mine...so I love it! = )
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[CastIron]

Do a google search for volt drop test. That will locate the problem and any other potential problems.

[YourBuddy'sTruck]

Cleaned & checked a bunch of connections.
Recut & connected battery lines.
And VaVoom!
Probably the battery lines, but maybe the others.
Regardless...she's up and running.
Thanks for the suggestions.
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[Codez67Chevy]

You Bet Man
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[Longhorn 70]

There may be one more possibility, the dreaded HEAT SOAK. Sometimes when solenoid wires are old, the solenoid is weak or ignition switch or NSS has resistance, this can happen too. If it happens again, look at the ammeter whilst turning the key to start, check to see if the radio works, check if it starts in neutral, have someone turn the key while you tap the starter with a hammer.....

[MikeyMan]

Originally Posted by bigguy69

Also check the little block on the fender. There should be a hot wire running to a junction block on the fender. Mine corroded over time. It gets power in the truck.

I've had issues with this many times.
When my truck loses all power, I turn on the headlight switch. Then I go under the hood and wiggle the wire(s) at the junction block til I see the headlights come back on. Then I know I have my power back.
This drove me crazy! I'd get stuck somewhere and tried jump starting, rapping on the starter while someone turned the key(heat soak) and even did a battery swap once.
Finally, discovered by accident that the wire from the junction block that feeds the cab power(across the core support) was the culprit.

[YourBuddy'sTruck]

Yep. Did that too.
I still think the battery leads were the culprit, but ruled that one out while at it.
Thanks again for all the input.

With help from all of you, the electrical side of things is no longer an enigma-like spirit that lives under my hood? ; )
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