No power to anythng

[Lpeabo]

We have a 72 chevy truck with a 350 V8 in it. My son was trying to start his truck tonight after replacing the fuel filter and the truck revved up and stalled and then there was not power to anything. No fuse looks burnt out. It was starting and running fine but had symptoms of a plugged fuel filter. The two aren't related but is the series of events that got us to where we are. There is power at the battery. No other signs of power. Need help to trouble shoot.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Lpeabo

We have a 72 chevy truck with a 350 V8 in it. My son was trying to start his truck tonight after replacing the fuel filter and the truck revved up and stalled and then there was not power to anything. No fuse looks burnt out. It was starting and running fine but had symptoms of a plugged fuel filter. The two aren't related but is the series of events that got us to where we are. There is power at the battery. No other signs of power. Need help to trouble shoot.

No headlights or anything? Is the power wire from the + battery post still connected to the junction block on the inner fender by the battery?

LockDoc

[bigmac73]

sounds like something shorted out against the exhaust or he knocked the ground cable loose from the block when changing the fuel filter

[Lpeabo]

No head lights and no interior lights. Battery is on the passenger side and there is a ground to the fender. There is a positive connection on the driver side. Both are still connected.

[bigmac73]

add a ground to the engine block,

[gutsyracing]

this happend to me this summer, there is a smaller wire (10 gauge or so) from the battery to the a black 2 post junction terminal located on the passenger fender. if u look close on the wire it says fusable link. I lost power when my connection came lose. that was on my 69 good luck

[imjeff]

Your electrical problem could have caused your "plugged fuel filter" symptoms. The ground should go from the battery to the engine block and it should have several ground straps to the body from the motor. There are no fuses in the fuse box that would cause your problem. I would make sure the battery is at full charge, the make sure the cable is good from battery to starter. I usually run as big of wire as I can get. Assuming your battery is charged, it sounds like either a ground or positive battery cable issue. Those cables can look OK and be broken inside, BTW.

[swamp rat]

>>>there is a ground to the fender<<<

Hopefully you just have your terminology mixed up, the ground does not go to the fender.

The Negative battery terminal should terminate on the engine itself.

The positive cable go's directly to the starter, then the secondary heavy gauge red wire from the positive post on the battery ties to that "junction block" on the fender.

It sounds to me somehow your battery drained while changing the filter, if it was unhooked make sure it was hooked back up properly. Could it have been possible that you just inadvertently left the lights on last time you shut it down and it died before the filter change? Your definitely going to need to get that battery charged before you go much further or minimum a jump start..

[Lpeabo]

Thanks everyone we will check out your suggestions. I do know that we have two braided grounds straps that go from the valve covers to the firewall. I will check the other wires that were suggested in the daylight tomorrow. thanks

[bigmac73]

i would reroute those straps to the back of the heads to the firewall, I also have a ground cable from block to frame (small Lawnmover battery cable)

[cdowns]

i'd take the wires off the battery clean them up real good and reinstall them

[sboris]

May have been mentioned already, but I had the pos cable going to the starter ground itself to the header once.. Killed everything.

[Lpeabo]

I have found the culprit. I have a positive wire that runs off the + battery terminal to a + panel on the inside of the fender. There are 4 red+ wires that run off this junction. The one that has failed has a 12 inch foam coating over the wire that is dried out and a small sealed black molded object approx 1 inch long that is either inline fuse or some type of resistor. This may actually be a fusible link that deteriorated. This wire is crossing over to the drivers side and becomes part of the wiring harness. Looks as if main power line to the cab

I am trying to confirm that this is a fusible link and confirm the replacement size to purchase. Main wire looks to be 12 gauge. How big should the fusible link be?

16 gauge

[imjeff]

Two sizes below (4 AWG sizes below) is the rule of thumb. 16 gauge should be the right one for a 12 gauge wire.

Jeff