73 dead on road
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 55
Likes: 0
73 dead on road
My 73 just died on the road as in everything died. No fire anywhere acts as if disconnect disconnected. Does the anti theft plug in kill every thing.? Ground is all I can check under car and it looks good
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 6,134
Likes: 46
From: Raleigh North Carolina
Could be a hundred different reasons. Fuel/Ignition related. Could even be water in the tank. Timing chain slip, etc etc. This is a tough one to answer without more info... too many possibilities.
Instructor
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 122
Likes: 18
From: Trenton Ontario
you might have burned a fuse link either at the starter, or on the inner fender next to the master cyl./ vacuum booster. or your alternator could have stopped charging and you just ran the battery down. power or ground connections at the battery should be irrelevant once the car is running. you should be able to start the car, remove battery, and go drive the car. if a loose ground connection from the battery to the frame could make your car shut off, it would imply that your alternator has failed or lost ignition power.
Multi meter to test either side of the links, voltage at primary to coil and good starter, frame grounds.
2026 Loser of the Year
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 36,579
Likes: 7,020
From: New Or-leens Loo-z-anna
Can someone hold the key in the "crank" position while you "move-shake-wiggle" under-hood wiring harnesses/fuse-box connector on firewall/ground wires to see if car might try to start because of a loose-broken wire or connection.
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 234
Likes: 3
From: Johnston Rhode Island
Is this the first trip out this year? Have you done any work prior to today's ride? You are looking at something electrical by your description. Start with checking the battery. If she is 12volts that's a good first step.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,259
Likes: 154
From: Deplorableville Nebraska
My 73 just died on the road as in everything died.
Pro
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 650
Likes: 1
while we are on the subject of fuse links, I just wanted to say I think they are outdated, unreliable, and can only lead to the kind of "dead on road" horror stories we are reading about in this thread. on a lot of truck and bus and rv applications where on an old car there would be fuse links, instead there are circuit breakers. and I ask this thread, how smart and reliable is that? not a single wrench or drop of blood or sweat required to at least get off the street. they have self resetting circuit breakers, similar to what mounts in fuseblock for power windows on a lot of cars, but are made to mount to a firewall or somewhere else. you can get them in any amp rating you like. if you have burned fuse links, now might be a good time for an upgrade to prevent this situation from ever happening again
I will be replacing all my fusible links with modern fuses. But most importantly, find out what the hell burnt the link in the first place!
Good luck.
