ok so the other morning i went out to start my galaxie which is a daily driver, and i messed up and did something out of of order...i turned my headlights on before i turned the ignition...nothing too terrible you would think but as soon as i did i heard this nasty pop that was distinctively electrical... well instantly my headlights went out and the car didnt start. so i pulled out my handy dandy test light and discovered that my starter solenoid was bad...so i replaced it...now i can get my accessories to to work and my solenoid to fire, but the starter doesnt kick off so im assuming that the starter is bad...but now also the headlights will not come on...all the fuses are still good, although i still have the voltage regulator in the car it isnt hooked up to the alternator, i have converted to a one wire alternator andand left that part disconnected... now the voltage regulator is more of a powerboard so i didnt have to completely redo all of my wires...everything has worked fine for a year now without problem...untill now ANY IDEAS?????
it's late and I am tired...but.. It sounds like the car is wired wrong.. I have no idea why, but it sounds like you "popped" the fusible link that is a saftey feature built into the headlight switch. (It pops during a front end crash if the H/L wires are shorted) It is not a replacement part, so you would need a new switch. How to test: see if there is power going into the H/L switch. If yes, then see if power is coming out, and going down to the dimmer. If you have power at the dimmer, the H/L switch is OK
I know its dumb but check the motor ground. then look for the brown wire that feeds the key it has a fuseable link I think that will be your issue
That is a circuit breaker. It should click out during a short or overload, then switch back on after it cools down. Test it...power in, power out...or in other words, power on both sides
If you think that is the one the just do a wire jumper and by pass the breaker and see if that's the problem . I am still going with some other posts that you have a wiring problem ! There is no way that should have happened when trying to start a car unless the negative was looking for a ground and found one you didn't know about . If you heard a pop was it inside the car ? If yes then look under the dash in the back of the light switch . I would start from there since you had the lights on and that is when it happened . Retro Jim
ok it definately wasnt that....i really need to completely redo the wiring harness in this car...it looks like it was done by rats...only reason i havent so far was because everything worked...till now
Just be glad it happened at home and not down a durt road in the pouring rain ! Can I give you one good piece of advise ? If you are going to rewire the car , give Glenn33 a PM and he will set you up with a great USA made harness that is really super nice ! I have seen them but have put one in mine yet . Will be this winter . Very reasonable and Glenn with help you with any problems you might run into . If you ask him what harness you need , he will help you out there also so you only get what you need to buy ! Retro Jim
What he said! I found some bad headlight crossover wires behind my radiator one day so I decided to replace them...Once I got under the dash I realized there was no stopping so I bought some different colored wires etc. and started in To make a too long story short, I could have bought a set up from Glenn with all the labeled, color coded wires, fuse block etc. for less than it cost me for the stuff I bought.
X2 on checking the grounds. Nothing I hate more than troubleshooting old cobbled wiring. If it won't start I'd just run wires as if it didn't have any at all for the starting circuit. Then I'd save for a new harness. Its very satisfying to rip the old one out.
Jester...After seeing that picture of your wiring, I'd be very careful about running the car. Looks like a lot of aftermarket stuff going on there. Nothing worse than an electrical fire. I think you got lucky this time. If I can help, I will be back in the office this afternoon. You can pm me or give me a call at 618-395-8216.
Bad connections...could be ground or positive cable. Start with the basics before you spend any more money. Clean the battery terminals and every connection to and from the battery. Clean the cables ends and the surface that they connect to. Both cables need to have good clean connections to be able to carry the amperage needed to turn the engine over. Any loose or dirty connection adds resistance to the circuit. It doesn't cost any money and it very well could be your problem. If you don't have a battery terminal cleaner get one. You will need one...if not this time you will in the future. Most good shops clean the terminals as part of a basic tune up. Like a lot of us I bought a starter motor only to find out that it was a bad cable connection at the battery. At least you will know that the cables are up to snuff before you buy parts that may not be needed at this time.
x2 regarding glenn33... fixed me up for less than any of the competitors, and gave advice on the phone when I called!
i think im a retard!!! ok two weeks ago i added an electric cooling fan that i ran the negative wire to the negative battery lead and the positive lead to the back of the ignition... i did not have it running with a thermostat system or even a switch... it was a junk fan that i stole of an old lexus that was junked.. anytime the car was on the fan was on... hopefully what im thinking happened is that the battery just had too much draw on it from that fan... that is the only thing different i have done... i wnt out to check my grounds like you guys said and everything is ground well... hopefully i was a moron 2 weeks ago and im not being a moron right now...haha so i have removed the fan and its wiring. i will jump start the car tomorow and see where that gets me oh and just for the record how should that fan be hooked up if i dont want to run a t-stat for it?
Run a switch in between the + lead of the fan and the ignition post. That way you can turn the fan on and off when you think it is needed. I doubt this is your problem. Those fans don't draw that much, unless you are still using a generator charging system. The generators didn't put out much in the way of charging current. An easy way of telling if the charging system is doing it's job is to run the fan and measure the voltage at the battery. If the charging system is doing it's job the voltage should go up when engine rpms go up. Another way is to simply look at the ammeter to see if it swings toward the charge side of the gauge. If it stays in the middle or toward the discharge side, the charging system is under capacity.
The Jalopy Journal
