electrical issue

[Premium72]

okay. last week we had a starting issue. this week a another.
got a new ingnition switch and neutral saftey switch, and haad 2 wire crossed.
so now im leaving homedepot and while driving the engine just dies. try to turn it back over. nuthn. key wont start it again. went back to home depot got some wire an aligator clips ran a wire from the +bat post to the + pos on the dizzy. jumpd the starter with a sd and boom. fires up drives home. WHAT THE HELL HAPPEND? with the wire clipd from bat to dizzy i can start the truck with the key but no with out. i know you guys can help you never fail. thanx. w.

[Premium72]

bump

[VetteVet]

Sounds like you have lost the 12 volts to the ignition switch and when you jump from the Battery to the distributor you are feeding the key switch by an alternate circuit. Where is the distributor wire routed from the distributor.? The fuse box, Key switch or? A fusible link or blown fuse would account for the sudden death of the engine. What wires did you cross and did the engine die then or later? Do you have and ammeter in the circuit? It may be bad.

[Premium72]

the wires that were crossed where on the starter. the wire from the distributor, i have a white wire going to the dizzy. and had a yellow one that i was told was wrong. so ive ran one from the fuse block to the dizzy so there is a constant 12volts now. but i didnt do that before it stopped on me. it was running with the white cloth covered wire and the yellow wire on the +post on the dizzy and on the starter the purple on the passenger side an yellow on the driver. let me know. im losen it here. thanx. w.

[VetteVet]

These waters are really muddy so let's clear them up.
It's sounds to me like you have a points distributor in one sentance and an HEI distributor in the next. The very first thing you should do is post what you have when you need an answer. I searched some of your posts and I still couldn't tell which type ignition you have.
Anyway if you have an HEI distributor (big cap, internal coil) then you only need a 12 volt source to the bat. terminal on the cap. This needs to be hot with the key on and dead with it off. most guys run this wire to the ign. Unfused terminal on the fuse box.
The purple wire goes from the key switch start terminal to the neutral start switch ( if you have an automatic trans) and then to the inside terminal next to the block on lthe starter solenoid. No other wires are needed so the yellow wire can be eliminated. The yellow wire originally went to the pos ( + ) side of the stock coil. It allowed a full 12 volts to go to the coil while starting the engine and then after the engine started the voltage for the coil comes through the white wire and it is a resistance wire that steps the voltage down to around 9,5 volts to avoid burning up the coil and points.
Like I said if you have an HEI dizzy you no longer need either of these wires.
When you say the engine won't start with the key you should say it will turn over but not fire up. I assumed it wouldn't turn over because you said you jumped it with a screw driver and it started. HTHs.

[Premium72]

all you said is correct sorry for the "cloudy" ness. hei dizzy. so i just need one wire. from the fuse block that has 12v when key on. check!. i ran the tuck this way for about 7months before i toke off the fenders door an hood to paint. also pulld the engine to clean sum things up. didnt change much while doing this, but im having more isssues now then before. also what is the cloth covered white wire in the harness to that ive had hooked to the dizzy? and why now wont the truck turn over at all? when turing the key with out the jump wire i made with the clips i get nuthn. thanx. w.

[hvychve]

vettvet, you left nothing out, pretty much some'd it up, key hot to H.E.I. dizzy. and remove the rest, resistor wiring and bypass off the starter, not needed, that pretty much sums up that , and yet I still am confused at the problem at hand. I guess with the statement he is saying it wont turn over at all, I am assuming it wont crank????? hmmmm. I wonder if he has issues with power at that little black junction on the right fender , that supplies power to fuse block and ignition sw. etc. There should be a fusible link from the pos. post of battery to this little black junction. I would wonder if we are on the same track?

[Premium72]

fuseble link seemd to be okay( wasnt broken) if its the lil black box. i can get that. im not sure what your unclear about.
truck died.
wouldnt do anytihng when turning the key, nothing.
jumped the starter with a screwdriver, would turn over but wouldnt stay running, would act like it was going to crakn but never would.
got a wire with clips and clipped the bat to the dizzy +posts adn jumped starter again. boom drove home.
so.
350
hei dizzy
auto trans
new ignition switch and neutral safty switch last week.
i now know i need only one wire at the dizzy(12volts from fuse block)
still have no action when turning the the key.

what do you suggest? thanx. hope that clears anthing up.

[VetteVet]

I just had an idea by reading your post about taking the hood and fenders off.
Is it possible that you are not making contact on the junction block on the right passenger fender.( see picture below). The block is right behind the white bottle. Or maybe all the wires aren't hooked up. There should be a black wire from the battery positive post and a red wire that goes to the block beside the master cylinder. the red wire feeds the fuse block and all positive circuits from there including the key switch.
I would suspect that if this were your problem you wouldn't have any power in the cab and no lights, brake lights or horn as well as the interior light heater blower, dash lights etc.

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[kxnomore]

I've heard that while you are cranking the engine, the yellow wire from the starter to the coil is temporarily "hot" from the action of the solenoid. It sounds like that would explain the reason it almost starts until you release the key. Do you know if you're still using that wire to go now to the distributor?

That yellow wire somehow makes it back to the ignition switch, I believe? I am pretty sure it changes color on the way, unfortunately. Maybe someone here knows what color the "run" wire is that comes off the ignition switch is so that you could then check there for proper voltage when the key is turned to run.

If that has 12 volts then just keep going back towards the distributor/ coil until you find where the 12 volts disappears. This may be no help, but it might keep the thread going until someone who knows can help better...

good luck, these are tough challenges.

[Premium72]

well it was pretty bad..CUZ IM A JACK A$$.. in the excitement of putting my truck backtogeather for the 2nd time i over looked the bolt in the engine harness to the fuse block... if anyones in the area i think i could use a swift kick in the ass!!!... everything is running chipper!!.. thanx for all the help guys even pointing out the small stupid crap like the lil juncture next to the battery some times folks forget the lilttle dumb ish like that. thanx a billion folks. have a good luagh on me at least it was a cheep fix

[68 P.O.S.]