Need some help figuring out why my car won't start.
I tried to start my 78 yesterday and absolutely nothing happened. No sound, although the interior lights came on. Charged my Optima battery for four hours with a new battery charger, still nothing. No grind, no clicking, nothing. Installed a new Optima battery today, still nothing. When I have the key in and turned on the windshield wipers won't work either. Seems like a battery problem, right? So, what am I missing?

 

Have you checked all of the cable connections and make sure they are good and tight? Sounds like a bad connection somewhere.

 

Yes, the terminal ends are tight. Do you think the negative ground on the frame might be loose?

 

Is your starter wiring connected? Coil, Distributor, any other electrical connection?

 

 

I've eyeballed the starter from top and from bottom and all connections look tight.

 

fuse link?

 

Fuse link? Where would that be?

 

With your lights on, what do they do when you turn the key to start? Stay on bright or go dim until you release the key from start?

 

looking tight doesnt mean anything......take them off and clean the connections at the frame ground connection and at the starter.......and from the ground strap to the engine (located by right front wheel lower arm) after this....use a test light and confirm that you have power at the starter......then confirm you have power at the fuse panel......my guess is your connections are so badly corroded that you do not have a circuit.

 

Thank you bobs77 and each of you who responded. Tomorrow morning I'll jack up the car and begin looking at the starter more closely. It's just three years old, like everything else on the car except the turn signals, but everything wears out at some point. Thanks again to those of you who have tried to assist me.

 

If a stick shift, you need the clutch depressed. Park or neutral for auto trans. But you said your wipers don't work either, so I'd say a bad ground. Horn blow?

 

Yes, the horn blows.

 

I'm not sure of the wiring schematic of your car, but fuse links usually come off of the starter big post or a junction. Even the alt can be used as a junction. How many wires are on the starter big post? If there is more than the big battery cable on the starter post then they are most likely your fuse links. They look like any normal wire. Often you can not tell if they are bad by looking at them. If you pull on the wire and it stretches like a rubber band then it is bad. Often they will break inside of the insulation and cant be seen. Most fuse links but not all will have a black 1/2 inch cylinder with a flag on them usually about 6-8 inches from the starter post. pull on that short section to see if it stretches.

 

Neutral safety switch ???

 

Just to the right of and aft of the distributor on the wiring harness is a rectangle plug with 6 or 8 wires in/out of it. That plug carries everything for the entire car- It's a short harness (called "Starter Extension Harness" in the catalogs) The power from the battery runs to the starter, then to the fuse links that are in that harness, then up to the connector and into the engine harness. If that plug gets corroded, it makes the terminals get too hot and it melts, leaving you with some things that work and some that don't.

(I know it's there in 74-77, so I'm going to say it's there in 78 too)
Just looked at a 78 WDM-- it's there, the WDM I have shows 3 wires- Red/White, Red, and Purple, but I suspect there are others in that plug too.

 

TimAT: Thank you. The car started after touching the purple and black wires on the starter with a screwdriver with the ignition turned on. It might be the ignition switch but your thought is worth pursuing and we'll check out the short harness. Thanks for your reply.

 

I'm fighting the same thing on my 76 too....no crank, no sound....nothing. From what I'm learning, it really can only be a few things.

1) Starter/Solenoid: Check to make sure that all connections are TIGHT and CLEAN. Corrosion is easy to overlook.

2) Key Switch: Pretty self explanatory there

3) Ignition Switch: Located on the column and fairly easy to swap out. I'm changing mine, although I'm guessing it's fine. Since I have everything already apart, it's an easy thing to change, and it's over 30 years old.

4) Neutral Safety Switch: I'm aaaaaalmost convinced that this is the culprit, at least in my case. I found a dangling wire near the solenoid that has a connection "made" for the solenoid, and a flat connector that was connected to a fused plastic piece. From what I'm told....bad switch, no start. You might check this out to see if you have power there.

5) Wires crossed: This can cause issues, but in your case I don't think this is an issue, unless you took something apart and got them mixed up. Easy to do, and a bear to sort out. They start all looking the same!! Aaaargghh! I digress.

I am (of course) offering my OWN advice, even though I have yet to get to the bottom of my own personal issues. I just haven't had time to check everything out, but I'm confident that this will help. Let me know what YOU find, and maybe this will help me too.....who knows??!! Good luck!

Trevor