Been fine till today, charged battery open the door,clock stops, no power anywere. Shut the doors ,have power, turn key,no power anywere .I have check the connections at starter & solenoid ,in engine compartment ,maybe ignition switch? :banghead:

 

Doubt if the doors have anything to do with it. Trace the power from the battery, to the stud on the starter solenoid, to the screw terminal bus on the horn relay, thru the red wire from there to the gang connector under the master cylinder, to the "BAT" terminal on the ignition switch. That circuit is hot all the time, and is how power gets to the switch. Also check the battery cable connections and the battery ground cable connection at the starter bolt. The terminals in the gang connector below the master cylinder (especially for the red power wire) are frequently corroded and can melt the molded plastic cavity around the red wire. :thumbs:

 

been there,
done that.
it's always some little thing too.
i HATE electrical problems
:mad :banghead: :mad :banghead:

 

I hate them too..... so much so that I installed a new dash and engine harness..... amazing all the things that now work!!!!! no more electrical problems..... courtesy of Lectric limited to the tune of about $400 and a weekend of pure joy.... :mad but its over now and it been a blast to :auto:

 

Vette still won't start , :banghead: checked wiring like John advise.just had battery checked at auto zone,okay. When I tap brake ,lose power, turn key to start,lose power .I'm thinking brake lite switch or ignition switch I did find out that I can get upside down under the steering wheel its no wonder I drink :cheers:


[Modified by Mike H C, 12:32 AM 5/21/2003]

 

Sounds like intermittent ground loss. Get a jumper cable and run from the negative side of the battery to the engine and/or frame and see what happens. :)

 

JohnZ covered the potential problem areas really well. I believe MikeM might be on to something too. The battery cable ground connection at the block end sounds suspicious .. ? .. My own "intermittent" experience involved the red wire at the BAT terminal behind the ignition switch. At first, the engine would misfire, on occasion, while driving down the road. It started getting worse as time went by, so I changed out the "usual suspects" - points and condensor, plugs, spark plug cables .. Nothing changed. I was just about ready to change out the coil when one day the car quit COMPLETELY, in traffic .. :eek: .. Turn ignition key, and nothing doing. Geez .. Now WHAT .. ? .. I had to figure an electrical connection was the culprit, but where. ? .. It was getting dark outside and by luck I reached behind the ignition switch and kinda "pushed" some wires around. Problem FOUND .. ! .. I felt a huge sense of relief knowing that I would be able to drive the car home, as well as finding what the problem was.
From what I could tell, the red wire in the harness seemed a bit "short", compared to the others that were fitted into that particular wiring socket that connected to the ignition switch. This was as it came from the factory. Perhaps, over time, vibration and expansion/contraction forces eventually loosened the red wire from the crimped end on it's terminal connector. I added a similar guage short section of wire and crimped the works together to effect the fix. There was never any problem, afterwards ..

 

What happens if you turn the ignition to "ACC" and try to run the blower, wipers, etc? (close the door)

 

If power is going away whenever a load is applied
You are losing capacity somewhere..
It is either a dead battery or shorted cells or a loose connection to the battery terminals or ground cable to the engine block. Also check for broken or loose battery posts.

Check all connections.. Not just a visual,
If the connection is poor, voltage checks might still indicate that all is well but capacity could well be reduced due to corrosion.
Try cleaning all the connections

Let us know what you find.

Tony

 

:iagree:

Just exactly what I was about to say!!! If you loose power as soon as a load is applied, you either hjave a bad battery or a bad connection. Try installing a known good battery and tighten the connections.

 

I had the EXACT same problem. It was the cannon plug on the firewall for the ignition harness; it also contains the main hot wire for the fuse buss. This red wire was the problem. It had become hot at some point (or many points) and the plastic housing on the cannon plug that held the red wire's spade in place was all melted away. This allowed the red wire to make intermittent contact, hence the door opening, bumps etc. The complete power loss is the load implied on this circuit during cranking or say headlights on with a poor contact. I tried to fix the problem but just decided to get a new M&H ignition harness and be done with it. It seemed like a waste to replace the whole ign set for just a shot cannon plug, but it is nice to know that the wiring is new.

Mark

 

Thanks for replys I have had battery, starter solenoid checked .I have cleaned grounds the main red wire cercuit seems to be good .When I put any load on it goes dead.I replaced the voltage regulater 6years ago,but I think it could be the problem any body I need help :crazy:


[Modified by Mike H C, 1:01 PM 5/27/2003]

 

This has been discussed here before. My suggestion is the 'big red wire' connection on your firewall. It's below the steering column. Find the 'big red wire' , then install a jumper wire from there around to the same connector under the dash. Use the same heavy gage wire. Should be fine now. It was too expensive for me to buy a new harness so I just soldered and 'hard wired' mine. Even though the connector looks good, I haven't figured out why the general thought a paper clip type connector would work in this situation. Mine hasn't missed a beat now in three years. :cool:


[Modified by MasterDave, 7:59 AM 5/27/2003]

 

.......................and when you shut the door, you are causing light contact to be made at the connector. Light enough that when you load the circuit, it breaks.

I bought a '64 last Summer, that according to service records I got with it, had the same repair John and Dave recommended performed on it when the car was only one year old for the same reason you are stating.

You say the red wire circuit "seems to be okay". It either is, or it isn't. If you have limited experience with electrical, try this: pull the switch from the dash and let it hang. Attach a test light to the red wire terminal on the switch. Apply whatever load it takes to make everything go dead. If you lose the light at the switch, your red wire cicuit is probably defective and the first place to look is the bulkhead connector. Take your test light and work your way back toward the battery using this same method. You'll find it. This is assuming you do not have a bad ground.