Electrical help?What did I do now??
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 133
Likes: 0
From: High River Alberta
Electrical help?What did I do now??
Well boys I was happier than a pig in S....T when I finally got my shifter working.Connected up all my wiring and put a ground on the pos on alternator.Needless to say when I hooked up the battery pos ..all hell broke loose.Sparks flying,battery arking and smoke from the alt.Think I fixed that problem but now I dont have power to anything,but starter and alt..No gauges,radio windows,anything.Turn the key you can hear the beatle walking and nothing else.Any help out there on what I hell I did and what to check now???All fuses look good also in fuse box?
Race Director
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 19,659
Likes: 34
From: Lenoir City Tennessee
Ci 6, 8 & 10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
I would say you got one of the fusible links somewhere. I don't know what year car you have but I do know one is near the starter on most all cars.
Hopefully someone will be with the same year car as yours and can lend a hand.
Hopefully someone will be with the same year car as yours and can lend a hand.
Last edited by Eddie 70; Apr 11, 2009 at 08:00 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 6,640
Likes: 287
From: Ann Arbor Michigan
Yep, one of the fusible links is kaput.
Here is the schmatic for my 78', I would think your 80' is simular. You can see that link "B" goes to the gauges turn sigs etc. and "A" goes to the headlights. Find the wires coming off the starter solenoid, it looks like the red one is the one you popped.
Here is the schmatic for my 78', I would think your 80' is simular. You can see that link "B" goes to the gauges turn sigs etc. and "A" goes to the headlights. Find the wires coming off the starter solenoid, it looks like the red one is the one you popped.
Last edited by Duke94; Apr 11, 2009 at 08:13 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 11,520
Likes: 13
From: CORVETTE 77 385 C.I. TEXAS
Race Director
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 19,659
Likes: 34
From: Lenoir City Tennessee
Ci 6, 8 & 10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
You could probably reach down to the links and feel of them. The soft one is going to be the bad one. If you cannot tell which is softest, try pulling on them from opposite ends. The one that stretches is the one that needs replacing.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 3,246
Likes: 4
From: Bay Area CA
You're actually pretty "Lucky", the alt pos is hooked up direct to the + batt lug at the starter, and the main Batt cable, so it took ALL the current, and did what it was supposed to do- open. Be advised that the current also went through what ever 'Ground' wire you hooked up to the pos alt lug, that will need checking/ replacing also. The rest of your wiring should be ok, though if you can, you might want to replaced the #12 to the alt too, just build the 12 and 16 link into one piece, and replace the whole thing. I would get my wire from a reputable source also, you want true 12 gauge and good insulation- try a good hardware store for 12 gauge stranded C.
