Weird Problem

[dobie]

So two nights ago I jump in the RR to take her to my club meeting. (Mid Ohio Mopar's) I hadn't driven it for 3 weeks or so. As I'm warming her up, I notice I completely lost my gas gauge. The needle went all the way to the left, as it normally does when shut off. I kinda get a bad feeling, ya know? So I drive it there, and the whole way she runs great. No problems whatsoever; only grins from forgetting how much fun it is. Anyways, 2 hours later I go out to go home. Turn the key, and NOTHING. Anywhere. No lights, no start, no bells, no nothing. Of course I think of battery first, so I get a jump, which accomplishes nothing. 20 minutes later a guy says to jiggle the wires coming off of the ignition switch. Sure enough, I must have held my mouth properly as she fired right up, and the gas gauge came back.

Yesterday I take the switch out to clean the terminals. After putting it back together, I have lights and voltage, but no start. Nothing. No clicks, no nothing. Then, all of a sudden I watch my volt meter go to "0". Back to square one, but at least I'm home, and it's going into winter soon. As a final thing, I readjust the bulkhead connectors as amazingly I have power now, but still no start.

:huh:

I may throw in a new ignition switch just for the heck of it. At the very least, that's one more thing I've replaced and should be good for awhile.

 

[Hoosier Bird]

I think your headed in the right direction.......

 

[mcmopar]

Yeah - sounds like a switch going bad or some bad wiring in that area.

 

[roadrunnerh]

Would it start if you jumped the starter relay with a screwdriver?

 

[george68hemirr]

how about the neutral safety switch or starter relay

 

[dobie]

Would it start if you jumped the starter relay with a screwdriver?

Well i tried, although I've never done that before so I may have not done it properly. She still wouldnt attempt to start.

 

[mac]

if you get a chance, check your connections at the 2 larger wires that connect to the ammeter on the back of the instrument cluster. :cents:

 

[Basketcase]

yeah Mac. I had the wires on the amps gauge corrode, and no power. The 300 of my Uncle's that burned in my garage had your problem Steve. The bulkhead connectors were corroded from sitting. If you wiggle them, the car would start. If you didn';t, you had lights and such, but no crank.

 

[V269]

if you get a chance, check your connections at the 2 larger wires that connect to the ammeter on the back of the instrument cluster. :cents:

Is it just me or is anyone having trouble reading Mac's typing ? His girlfriend's jersey keep's getting in my eye. :lmao: :lmao:

 

[george68hemirr]

if you get a chance, check your connections at the 2 larger wires that connect to the ammeter on the back of the instrument cluster. :cents:

Is it just me or is anyone having trouble reading Mac's typing ? His girlfriend's jersey keep's getting in my eye. :lmao: :lmao:

yeah wouldnt you like to lose your breath in them ...

 

[george68hemirr]

yeah Mac. I had the wires on the amps gauge corrode, and no power. The 300 of my Uncle's that burned in my garage had your problem Steve. The bulkhead connectors were corroded from sitting. If you wiggle them, the car would start. If you didn';t, you had lights and such, but no crank.

dobie....do what Basketcase said....pull the bulkhead connector and clean it up

 

[mac]

if you get a chance, check your connections at the 2 larger wires that connect to the ammeter on the back of the instrument cluster. :cents:

Is it just me or is anyone having trouble reading Mac's typing ? His girlfriend's jersey keep's getting in my eye. :lmao: :lmao:

those are nice sweater puppets.

 

[george68hemirr]

if you get a chance, check your connections at the 2 larger wires that connect to the ammeter on the back of the instrument cluster. :cents:

Is it just me or is anyone having trouble reading Mac's typing ? His girlfriend's jersey keep's getting in my eye. :lmao: :lmao:

those are nice sweater puppets.

i was going to joke around with Ken and tell him it was your wife but i didnt want to give him a heartattack

 

[dobie]

if you get a chance, check your connections at the 2 larger wires that connect to the ammeter on the back of the instrument cluster. :cents:

Ok. Thank you. I'll check that next.

 

[dobie]

yeah Mac. I had the wires on the amps gauge corrode, and no power. The 300 of my Uncle's that burned in my garage had your problem Steve. The bulkhead connectors were corroded from sitting. If you wiggle them, the car would start. If you didn';t, you had lights and such, but no crank.

dobie....do what Basketcase said....pull the bulkhead connector and clean it up

I did that somewhat last night. I also tried starting it by jumping the relay. At first, she wouldn't crank at the relay. Then I crawled underneath to jump it at the starter. She finally cranked at the starter. I now can crank her at the relay too. I gotta wait now till I get a second set of hands to see if I have power coming out of the bulkhead into the yellow wire for the starter relay.

 

[Jim S.]

dobie....do what Basketcase said....pull the bulkhead connector and clean it up[/quote]

I did that somewhat last night. I also tried starting it by jumping the relay. At first, she wouldn't crank at the relay. Then I crawled underneath to jump it at the starter. She finally cranked at the starter. I now can crank her at the relay too. I gotta wait now till I get a second set of hands to see if I have power coming out of the bulkhead into the yellow wire for the starter relay.[/quote]
Those bulkhead connections gave me grief also. I replaced every one of them with Napa part number 725147 and 725145. (little beefier) I crimped and soldered each one with the exception of the two wires going to the ammeter. I replaced those with number #8 gauge wire and ran them straight through the bulkhead to the ammeter. You have to drill out those two slots on the bulkhead to do this. Also leaving about 6 inches of extra wire under the dash so you can unplug the bulkhead if you need to. Little black RTV in those two bulkhead ammeter holes only on the engine side, and you can unplug it, and it still looks stock. Don't know if this will help, just thought I would share. After all, isn't that what P-BO would want. (sharing) P-BO = President barack obama............Jim

 

[dobie]

Thanks for the tip. That actually sounds like a great winter project.


:cheers:

 

[Jim S.]

Thanks for the tip. That actually sounds like a great winter project.


:cheers:

Nah, you can do it in a evening. (assuming you're not married). I am. Took me two months.

 

[Basketcase]

if you get a chance, check your connections at the 2 larger wires that connect to the ammeter on the back of the instrument cluster. :cents:

Is it just me or is anyone having trouble reading Mac's typing ? His girlfriend's jersey keep's getting in my eye. :lmao: :lmao:

those are nice sweater puppets.

:redx:



.

 

[SomeCarGuy]

You are on the right track with cleaning the terminals. That will help.

I would bypass the amp gauge. You can just put one end on the other post and that will be a quick and clean bypass.

Maybe the solenoid is going out of the starter. We had a truck that had a starting problem that we thought was in the wiring. it was a diesel and you could take a hammer and jump the starter, then just leave it running most of the day anyway.

Ended up being the solenoid and we were jarring the case enough with the hammer to get it to work. Was real frustraing as several of us had gone over the wiring and everything was good. It wasn't until i put a push button on it to eliminate the column from having some hidden problem deep inside that we decided it was in the starter.