1940 Olds. Started engine, all gauges, (VDO) were working, including air conditioning. The gauges, and air went dead, along with turn signals. The fuse panel is old school with round fuses. Who ever installed the wiring did a very net job. The fuses are all good, but some are not hot. Where should I check first? Where does the main hot wire to the fuse box rout from? I’m sure this is something simple to fix, if I just knew where to start. I don’t have a build book for the car. Also, if this is not the proper place to post this, please direct me as where to post. Thanks
A picture of the fuse block would give us some clues? Usually there are two or three main buses in a fuse block, one gets power all the time (battery), one goes on with the ignition (Ign) and one with accessorys (ACC). If the things that don't work are all stuff that should only work when the key is on, check for a wiring problem between the ignition switch and the fuse block. again, pictures are a big help!
Yeah check back side of fuse block for burnt rails. Then I guess you could run the hot wire from the fuse box rail that feeds those fuses. Or at least you would be able to see were that hot wire originated from.
Your fuse block is obviously aftermarket, so there's no standard for how it's done. But I see there are two hots landing on it, which indicates separation of switched hots from the ignition, and constant hots. Looks like maybe the top 3 fuses are constant hots, so might have power all the time, whereas the others are keyed hots, and should only have power with the key on. So check your ignition switch to ensure it has power in, and when turned on has power going out.
What’s that ?! It’s going to your ignition fuse . Like has been said constant battery power Switched power Accessory power find all three of these off your key switch and where they go to your fuse box and buss bars. lots of wiring under there, looks like someone spent slot of time a long time ago to do it right . start at the ignition switch, hopefully the wire colours stay consistent to where they terminate. if you have power into and out of the seitch and constant power at your fuse box you need to keep following those circuits. how is the car wired for constant ( battery ) power to the fuse box ? maxi fuse Fuseable link One of these should be coming off your battery , alternator ( or generator ) or starter into your fuse box. Good luck hunting keep us posted .
Looks like there was something else on the board that was removed, note the two screw holes. Possibly a switch. Switch was removed, rather than rewire completely someone made a homemade Kerney/Kearney to join the wires together. If the engine was still running but everything else died, I would inspect the ignition switch. Usually Ignition power gets its own terminal and the accessories are on a separate terminal. Anytime an ignition switch gets old the contacts can become worn out, sloppy, or corroded. Check for power there. If a common power source, and it's good. Move on to grounds. Ignition would be grounded inside the engine bay, dash components would be grounded inside the cabin. It wouldn't hurt to go around to each of those fuse terminals and verify they are still clean and tight.
Mad mike nailed it in that someone connected the two wires together with a screw and nut rather than just removing the jumper and connecting the wire to the fuse block as it should have been done. That bottom fuse is for the lights and the only thing that that might have been between that jumper and the other lead should have been a dimmer switch. There are two spots on the wire just above the terminals held together with the screw that look like the insulation has been hot. I don't think that wire is your current issue though. To figure that out you need to get up on the back side of the ignition switch and see if you have power out of the switch on the accessory side when the key is on. Or see if a wire has come off. Then start tracing wires. It is going to come down to a power here, no power there deal. I see that there is no wire to one side of the dash light fuse, did the terminal come loose from that or was there ever a lead to it? The fuse blocks and strips are common boat electrical pieces. I don't see any bus bars that the wires feeding the fuses would have been connected to though. Meaning somewhere there are probably some connections with a lot of wired running to them.
Hi Without me seeing the car * can only tell you from my experience with our time capsuled machines of love . Since multiple branches of your loom and panel are involved I would check for proper grounding using some test leads . May sound crazy but it is hard to get a good ground on rusted bodies . You sound confident as to the mechanic who installed your loom and box but rust just keeps on compromising our efforts as time goes . The main fuse box and connectors can be enhanced but I'm not going to divulge my trade secrets online but will be happy to do so in a private conversation if you would like to start one up and please do send me pictures of the box and where your ground straps are and the straps themselves . Also send me the main power cables and your charging system . If I don't hear from you I'm sure zwith time you'll have it solved . Wiring is patience patience and testing and retesting
This car is 3 days new to me, so I really know nothing about it. But I am learning. I do appreciate all the help.
Since your fuse panel and terminal block have the wires attached with screws, make sure all the screws are tight. Those screw terminals do make it easy to check for power with a test light. There should be power from the ignition switch to your fuse panel in the ignition on position on the IGN and ACC posts of the ignition switch. Just keep on checking with a test light until you find the problem.
Hi Someone did a nice job and took care doing it . From the looks of the area around the box it just may be that your gremlins are actually ground problems . For proper wiring troubleshooting you have to have clean metal grounds which are smooth for a real flat-footed ground . It's timely but I've found this to be more an issue with our older machines . What looks good on top may be a rusty connection so get a set of test leads and connect to the ground terminal on a circuit and I usually use a bolt on the underside of the dash or a screw on the rocker panel trim for a guaranteed ground connection . Also do you have an engine to firewall ground strap ? Lots of these get left out when an engine is swapped or rebuilt . Are the headlights dull ? If so a proper ground may be needed . What is condition of battery cables and their connections ? I tell you these things to do first because of condition of what I see behind the fuse box in the picture . Please tell me what is going on with some lights , tail lights and turn signals and send me more pictures of the battery connections and all charging circuit . Also let me know if using test leads for a ground on the dash makes even the slightest difference .
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