‘61 Won’t crank after harness replacement
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 106
Likes: 13
From: Georgetown Kentucky
‘61 Won’t crank after harness replacement
I hooked up the battery for the first time today. Headlights and taillights worked. Turned ignition on and gas gage pegged to past full. Turned key to crank starter and nothing happened. Ignition switch and starter appear to be hooked up correctly. This is an Lectric Limited harness. I feel like I’m missing something obvious.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 58,061
Likes: 7,146
Army
You can hook up a jumper wire from the + battery terminal to the + side of the ignition coil and try again, if the car starts you have something screwed up with the wiring of the ignition switch or ballast resistor...
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 17,571
Likes: 3,460
From: Fresno California
If it won't crank, you're not getting voltage to the starter solenoid. Start there. I would check for voltage to the 'S' wire at the solenoid. You can jumper the S and the B+ at the solenoid and see if it cranks....
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 106
Likes: 13
From: Georgetown Kentucky
The new wiring is fairly straight forward but the wiring and the ignition switch are new. The motor has ran before when it was wired temporarily and started with a remote switch.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 2,749
Likes: 776
From: Dadeville AL
The gas gage pegged symptom causes me to add one thing to what has been said already. Bad grounds are one of the most common causes for electrical problems on fiberglass body cars. And because the grounds are mostly NOT "plug wire A into connector A" things, they are easy to overlook. Make sure your starter is properly grounded and check on the one for the fuel gauge sending unit AND other electrical items at back of the car. ...... My favorite tools for sorting out electrical problems are 1) a multimeter for checking the availability of +12V in hot wires and low resistance in ground wires, and 2) a long jumper cable to a known good ground to be sure whatever item I'm testing is properly grounded during the test. ..... Lastly, there are so many things that could account for your "no start" condition that you'll need to do just a little troubleshooting and report back to get targeted advice.
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 106
Likes: 13
From: Georgetown Kentucky
Well I found out what the problem was. Apparently I missed one of the blades on the back of the ignition switch when I plugged the harness in. I had that plug on and off the switch several times but I had to squeeze the blades closer together to get it in correctly. It fired up! First time with a key since the early ‘70’s!
Gas gauge is still pegging when the key is turned on. I even have the extra ground on it to the frame.
Gas gauge is still pegging when the key is turned on. I even have the extra ground on it to the frame.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 22,200
Likes: 4,187
From: Kannapolis NC
Well I found out what the problem was. Apparently I missed one of the blades on the back of the ignition switch when I plugged the harness in. I had that plug on and off the switch several times but I had to squeeze the blades closer together to get it in correctly. It fired up! First time with a key since the early ‘70’s!
Gas gauge is still pegging when the key is turned on. I even have the extra ground on it to the frame.
Gas gauge is still pegging when the key is turned on. I even have the extra ground on it to the frame.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,186
Likes: 156
From: Toosoon Arizona
Did you remove the ground in the wire harness that is connected to the fuel gauge?
The "new" ground to the chassis/fuel sending unit is sufficient for a circuit and the brown wire in the factory harness
The "new" ground to the chassis/fuel sending unit is sufficient for a circuit and the brown wire in the factory harness