Electrical Gremlin
 

I have a 71 BB. Both the the alternator and starter failed this summer I had them rebuilt and everything was working fine. One evening we were going for a drive and everything electrical went black, no lights anywhere. I pulled the starter, it checked out ok. I would appreciate any imput. Some have said bad ground. The ground connected to the starter looks ok. The battery is ok with no corrosion on the cables. Could it be the ignition switch? or a fuseable link? I would like to drive it again before the snow flies and stays around for a while.

Thanks,

ET

RE: Electrical Gremlin
 

Welcome to CF.:)
Of course, my first thought is a blown fuse. I wouldn't think the ign. sw., maybe the light sw., but I would look at the fuses first.

RE: Electrical Gremlin
 

Glad to be here. I'll post some picts later. The fuses are ok.

RE: Electrical Gremlin
 

Check your grounds.
Look in you manuals for engine compartment ground connections. I believe there is one off your bat to rad support.
I had a similar problem to yours and that's whats it turned out to be.

RE: Electrical Gremlin
 

Give us some symptoms. Does trhe starter turn? Do the lights go on? Is it completely dead?

If a system is not working it is probably a ground. If the whole car is dead and the battery is OK then you need to look for a fusable link to the starter. There is one near the starter and if it burns out you have no power to anything. Look for this link.

RE: Electrical Gremlin
 

Good Job Red70vette!
After confiriming that the ground from the battery to the frame was in good working order, I thought it would be best to examine the wiring around the starter for any indication of problems. The fuseable link is in a piece of rubber tubing, so at first I thought it was just an insulated wire, but after pinching it in different areas I noticed that the where was wire on either end but not in the middle of the tubing. I pulled the tubing apart and sure enough there was the fusable link, burned out.

To remedy the problem I installed an inline fuse.

However two questions remain:
1. What size fuse do I use? (I installed a 25A)
2. What caused this link to burn out?

I appreciate all your help.

[IMG]local://upfiles/3844/27A332DA5A724E9090BE841F9E7AA24D.jpg[/IMG]

RE: Electrical Gremlin
 

I don't know if an inline fuse is the answer because I don't know how much juice goes thru that wire. The fusable link is a smaller guage wire link attached to a larger guage wire so that when a short ocurs the smaller guage wire burns out before the whole harnass burns. You might want to get a wiring diagram but I think the starter wire is a 12 guage wire and the link is 14 guage.

You can burn out a fusable link by creating a short in the wire. You really need to do some research here as I have not worked on that aspect of the wiring harness.