Went to start the car after a few days sitting…it cranked slowly because the battery was next to dead due to a slow drain. I charged the battery while in the car without disconnecting it and when fully charged I had no power at the key…no lights…nothing.
I assume a fuse blew during charging?
I’ll check the fuse box tomorrow…but is there anything else it could be?

 

Fusible link in starter wire harness

 

Thanks…I was thinking that maybe the cause. Where exactly is that fusible link? I never had to deal with one in the past. Is it replaceable?

 

Look at the wire harness connected to the starter. Yes most auto parts stores carry replacements. It probably is 14 gauge.

 

Get a good wiring diagram. Theres a good one here by Robertea I will link too but you will need to print it.

There are a couple of fusible links, down at the starter and up at the horn relay. The horn relay has a bare bar that acts like a buss bar and has a fusible link that goes into the passenger compartment. Take a meter to your start and test the grounds at the motor and the frame. You should have a ground from the starter to your bell housing and one on the drivers side to the frame. Check your ground wire at the rear from the frame to the battery. These corrode and will break up under the insulation. They should test along their length at almost zero resistance.

as for your battery drain it may be your wiper interrupt switch being on. Its a rotary **** under the dash that cuts the ground to your wipers so you can stop them on the glass to change the blades. When this is in the interrupt position which is any portion of its rotation other than against its stop, it will keep the parking solenoid energized which will drain your battery. To combat this, I initially installed a battery disconnect to kill all the power in the car when I park it, and it has saved me a lot of jump starting headaches. But my knee would hit the rotary switch and it would disable the wipers and would leave me dumbfounded for a few moments when I needed wipers but they didnt work. I solved that with a on-off-on toggle switch. There was a factory notification that was installed in the AIM about this issue. Buy and AIM if you dont have one.

here is a vacuum diagram fo r your next issue


the wiring diagrams are in the links below

 

Heres a copy of Willcox's AIM . Ernie gave it to me years ago

 

If that one is corrupted, i was looking at it and few pages didnt download, heres a second download

 

Thanks for all the reply’s. I checked the battery after charging and it was over 12v. I cleaned the terminals and connectors, reinstalled the battery and still everything was dead. I next checked power at the alternator and starter and got over 12v. When I got up I noticed lights on in the car….and it started without issue.
Now just need to confirm if it was those battery connections or something that might come back.
I’ve messed with that rotary **** under the dash in the past and thought I had it off. Tomorrow I’ll verify the battery drain and see if it’s that **** or something else in the fuse box. I know the clock and maybe my newer stereo draw power when the ignition is off. If need be I’ll look to put in a power disconnect at the battery. It’s a tight space…any suggestion on a disconnect to buy?

 

A blade disconnect not a rotary disconnect