Electrical Driving me crazy!!

twilder

twilder

Member
'30 Coupe. New wiring, altenator, amp meter, coil and battery. Drove perfectly just a couple months ago, now not getting anything electrical! Safety fuse good. Horn and lights work every now and then. Won't crank at all! Starter doesn't even engage. I'm at my wits end. Could bad points be the culprit? Acts as if no electrical power at all.
 
Bad ground? I think 98% of the electrical problems I've had over the years have been bad grounds.
 
The first thing is to check the battery. Cables and all connections. Do you have 6.3 volts or more on the battery? Do we have 6.3 volts at the starter cable on the switch? Are the cells full of water? Did we do a hydrometer test. Batterys can have 6 volts and still not be good. Check these things first, then if thats okay, follow the flow of electricity though out the rest of the circuit. Disconnect the fuse block for test purposes. They are known to not be the best made items. Vibrations causes loose contact and all sort of things seem to be wrong.
 
You need to get a volt meter and a wireing schematic( like on page 92 in Brattons catalog), and start with battery voltage, and go from there. Are you battery connections clean(post & clamp?) is your ground cable the same, some times old cables have hard to see corrosion, that would act the way you describe. Chuck
 
Thanks guys for your suggestions. I may replace my battery disconnect switch and see how it goes from there. All your other suggestions all check out ok.
 
Thks Bob, I will try that. I only thought about changing it because it's a cheaper plastic version and it feels as though it may be broken inside. That may be my mystery electrical problem
 
Regarding the battery cutoff switch, there was an article in the February 2013 Skinned Knuckles magazine about that exact problem. The cutoff is the one that mounts on a battery terminal and has a green plastic handle. Evidently there was a poor contact causing heat to impact how the bolt contacted the parts. The author had to make some changes to the bolt to make it work again so don't assume this part is foolproof.
 
An update guys. I replaced the battery disconnect switch, put new battery cables on and cleaned the crossmember where ground strap goes. Put new bolt on ground strap. Fired right up! Thanks for all your help!
 
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