Electrical or battery problem?
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Pearland TX
St. Jude Contributor
Electrical or battery problem?
Maybe someone can give me some help. Most of you know that I pulled the matching #'s engine out earlier this year and went back in with a 355. Just some background so you at least know some of the possible reasons why I can't get any juice at all to anything electrical.
The battery(Duralast Gold) was bought about 4 months ago and was just sitting in the back of my pick-up until a few days ago. I have a flip-up top on the truck, so it was not in any weather. When I turned the ignition on I got absolutely nothing. So, I hooked up a trickle charger to the battery and it was in the red for almost 3 hours and is now just moving down into the green area. The radio will not even light up when I turn the ignition on. Any thoughts? Think the battery is deader than a doornail? Or possibly I left something not hooked up? I would have thought I would get something on the interior although the starter might not engage. The hot battery terminal is hooked to the starter. It's been so long since I installed this engine... where's the ground go to? Maybe it's just something as dumb as that. :yesnod:
The battery(Duralast Gold) was bought about 4 months ago and was just sitting in the back of my pick-up until a few days ago. I have a flip-up top on the truck, so it was not in any weather. When I turned the ignition on I got absolutely nothing. So, I hooked up a trickle charger to the battery and it was in the red for almost 3 hours and is now just moving down into the green area. The radio will not even light up when I turn the ignition on. Any thoughts? Think the battery is deader than a doornail? Or possibly I left something not hooked up? I would have thought I would get something on the interior although the starter might not engage. The hot battery terminal is hooked to the starter. It's been so long since I installed this engine... where's the ground go to? Maybe it's just something as dumb as that. :yesnod:
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 11,322
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From: Living in the Hartland
Re: Electrical or battery problem? (bgrice)
Try a diff batt or take it in to get tested. If it is 4 months old you should almost get a new battery although I think they pro rate the warranty based on length of time from purchase. I believe the neg line hooks to the frame under the battery compartment.
Safety Car
Joined: Jan 2001
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From: South Central Louisiana
St. Jude Contributor
Re: Electrical or battery problem? (Fevre)
Your bat may have took a crap while riding around in your truck, another reason to buy a battery with 2 year free replacement, I have been very glad I did MANY times.
If you don't have a test light invest in one, in most cases it is the only thing you need to diagnose anything with 12v.
The ground cable should hook from BAT to engine BLOCK then to FRAME.
Sometimes you will see just the opposite, BAT to FRAME to BLOCK.
If you don't have a test light invest in one, in most cases it is the only thing you need to diagnose anything with 12v.
The ground cable should hook from BAT to engine BLOCK then to FRAME.
Sometimes you will see just the opposite, BAT to FRAME to BLOCK.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,407
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From: Carmichael CA
Re: Electrical or battery problem? (bgrice)
You should see something while the charger is connected. It sounds like either you ground is bad, or your cables, or you didn't connect all the wires when you connected the starter up. The battery positive cable connects directly to the starter, and so does the main power feed for all of your internal vehicle systems. If you didn't reconnect the main power feed then you will get zip even with a fully charged battery.
On the other hand by saying that it's in the red that you mean it had very little voltage then the battery may be bad. A volt-meter would be a very good investment. A test light will light up even if it's 6 volts, though dim. A bad battery can show as much as 10 volts and have a bad cell which will cause a heavy drain internally. But, even with 10 volts I would expect the interior lights to at least show some dim light. Try opening the doors while it's dark outside.
On the other hand by saying that it's in the red that you mean it had very little voltage then the battery may be bad. A volt-meter would be a very good investment. A test light will light up even if it's 6 volts, though dim. A bad battery can show as much as 10 volts and have a bad cell which will cause a heavy drain internally. But, even with 10 volts I would expect the interior lights to at least show some dim light. Try opening the doors while it's dark outside.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Pearland TX
St. Jude Contributor
Re: Electrical or battery problem? (72GACRZR)
Thanks to everyone who has replied. I left the battery on charge until late last night and then this morning hooked it up again to see if it again needed to be charged. It's not the battery and even my idiot light proved it out. I'm getting no juice at all through the ignition switch, so I've got something screwed up. I just don't know which direction to go right now. I will be the first to admit I am not an electrical wizard. But, I have to admit I have had 3 different starters on this new engine & none have the same connections.
It has been fun getting back into working on this car over the holidays. The driver's side header to the sidepipe has been completed without doing any welding. And no... it was not Bubba'd! The passenger side appears it will be more of a problem though. I attempted to route the header up to the head with the starter still on. That is not going to work. I had stuck the stock starter back on yesterday and I can see already I'm back to the mini-starter.
What the hell... back at it again tomorrow.
It has been fun getting back into working on this car over the holidays. The driver's side header to the sidepipe has been completed without doing any welding. And no... it was not Bubba'd! The passenger side appears it will be more of a problem though. I attempted to route the header up to the head with the starter still on. That is not going to work. I had stuck the stock starter back on yesterday and I can see already I'm back to the mini-starter.
What the hell... back at it again tomorrow.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Pearland TX
St. Jude Contributor
Re: Electrical or battery problem? (wombvette)
So..... a big "DUHHH!" I guess it would help to have the ignition wire hooked up to the starter too, huh?
Mini-starter is back on and the passenger side headers took a beating(literally... a sledge hammer) on one of the runners to get it to fit underneath the steering linkage. So much for that warranty! :lol:
I'll work on hooking up the sidepipe on that side next weekend.
Mini-starter is back on and the passenger side headers took a beating(literally... a sledge hammer) on one of the runners to get it to fit underneath the steering linkage. So much for that warranty! :lol:
I'll work on hooking up the sidepipe on that side next weekend.
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Re: Electrical or battery problem? (bgrice)
Yeah -- all power goes through the starter. If the starter is not hooked up - or not done correctly - then you will get 0 volts anywhere.