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Started the task of putting the Corvettes away for the Winter. Pulled both out to swap places in the garage. Went to start the '61 to put it away ... and nothing ... no instruments, no clock, no starter click. Fooled with fuses in the driveway for a while, then pushed it back into the garage. Looked at it again today, changed all the fuses (again) and still nothing. Battery has 12+ volts, ballist resister is good, so I'm at a loss. I installed new wiring in the car 4 years ago and have had no electrical problems.
Check battery cable connections. And then check for voltage at the ignitions switch and fuse panel. You may simply have a bad battery connection. Do you have headlights?
No headlights. No lights of any kind. First time I replaced the fuses, I got interior lights and instrument but won't start. After that, nothing -- no lights, no instruments, etc.
Take off your cables and wire brush both the posts the cable ends. A battery brush works good for this. Remove the cable where it connects to the block and clean that area.
Coat the posts with a dielectric grease and install your cables. This at least would be a good start.
Last edited by stratplus; Nov 17, 2015 at 09:32 AM.
Since you got a flicker when you disturbed the fuse panel, you may have a bad connection at the bulkhead connector/connections to the fuse box. Check for voltage there. And before you do anything, do a load test on the battery....it may show 12 volts static, but may not even be capable of any current draw. Verify GOOD battery, and track your voltage from there. If you have no lights, no nothing, you have a broken circuit....what about the ground to the engine/frame?
Happened to me . I had a battery ground wire connected to my valve cover . It was loose and the car was totally out of action . Tightened up all your connections . Doesn't sound serious though .
Cleaned battery terminals and tightened solenoid connections --- still no power. Negative battery cable grounded to bolt on bellhousing and tight. Positive cable tight and have power through cable to solenoid. Charging battery, but still no power. No power to fusebox or ignition switch. Could a bad starter solenoid cause this problem? How can I eliminate a bad solenoid as the cause?
Do you have a wiring diagram? Not familiar enough with this wiring system to offer advice on where the path of current goes and in what sequence. I would think the fuse panel and ignition switch would be powered at all times....is the + cable to the solenoid the only source of voltage to the system?
Positive cable goes to large terminal on solenoid. Two wires, violet and green, come off the solenoid and into the wiring harness then go through the firewall. Will look on wiring diagram to see where they terminate. No power coming out of either violet or green wires, even with the ignition switch on.
Well the mystery is solved! Got to poking around under the dash with the circuit tester and happened to connect to a terminal near the oil pressure/battery cluster ... and the interior lights and clock started to work. Disconnected the tester ... they stopped working. Disconnected the battery, took the nut and two red wires off the terminal, cleaned everything, coated them with dielectric grease and reinstalled wires and nut. Reconnected the battery, everything still worked, and started the car!! I'll need to look at that connection again, as it didn't seem too tight. Pulling the instrument panel is next ... not my favorite thing to do!
Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and help!!
Well Spring is here and the '61 is out and on the road. Took it to the local St. Pat's Day Parade two weekends ago. Everything was fine ... until the speedo started making a horrendous noise. Finally stopped working as we pulled into the driveway. Took dash apart and sent speedo away for repairs. Thought as long as I'm there, I'll take another look at the ammeter electrical problem I had last Fall.
Pull the right side gauge cluster out --- and noticed that both terminals on the ammeter were loose. Had tough time getting wiring off, as the posts turned with the nuts. Finally got them off. What a pain!
I have a few questions about these gauges/pods:
1. Do all ammeter gauges have the problem of the posts turning? Will rebuilt/new gauges have the same problem?
2. The gauge cluster pod has an 'odd' color scheme inside. The ones I see from vendors are all a light green, mine is light green with a 'swath' of darker green between where the gauges would be. Is this normal, or someone's idea of a better idea? Image attached.
Any ideas? Can't wait to start on the fuel/temp side ...
Can't help you with the green, (it looks intentional), but I am in the same boat with my '61. All the gauges work except for the speedometer: when it's hooked up, it sounds like the worlds biggest pencil sharpener. So I disconnected it immediately. My car is a driver car with original interior and very old paint that looks good at 10 feet. My dilemma is should I get all the gauges rebuilt when I pull the speedo, and do I get the gauges re-silk-screened. As a technician, I know that if I don't get the gauges rebuilt while the dash is out, with my luck, one or more will soon fail. So I'm leaning that direction. I am not sure how out of place brand new faces will look with a 55 year old interior that show patina but no real abuse or corrosion. I would definitely have your other gauges rebuilt while the dash is apart, though!
Well Spring is here and the '61 is out and on the road. Took it to the local St. Pat's Day Parade two weekends ago. Everything was fine ... until the speedo started making a horrendous noise. Finally stopped working as we pulled into the driveway. Took dash apart and sent speedo away for repairs. Thought as long as I'm there, I'll take another look at the ammeter electrical problem I had last Fall.
Pull the right side gauge cluster out --- and noticed that both terminals on the ammeter were loose. Had tough time getting wiring off, as the posts turned with the nuts. Finally got them off. What a pain!
I have a few questions about these gauges/pods:
1. Do all ammeter gauges have the problem of the posts turning? Will rebuilt/new gauges have the same problem?
2. The gauge cluster pod has an 'odd' color scheme inside. The ones I see from vendors are all a light green, mine is light green with a 'swath' of darker green between where the gauges would be. Is this normal, or someone's idea of a better idea? Image attached.
Any ideas? Can't wait to start on the fuel/temp side ...
Mine looked the same way. Make sure the clean inside area on the fuel and temperature gauge since the gauge grounds to the housing that way. I would clean off the tabs on the end and remove more rust for a good ground.
Last edited by jimh_1962; Mar 25, 2016 at 11:14 AM.
'61 electrical problem?
