Totally stumped on this

[70RTdroptop]

Haven't posted in a while here, but I've got one heck of a problem with the Challenger.. Took it to work the other week, ran fine. It's about 10 miles to the job, so it got a fair workout. On thew way home, I noticed that the ammeter was reading at full charge. Got home , shut her down. Couple days later, wanted to take it for a spin. Turn the key, nothing. And I mean nothing, no rattle like you get from a low battery, just dead silence. Only thing that worked was the top motor - everything else was dead. No lights, no fan, nothing. At first I thought that the battery was dead, but no, seemed to have a full charge. Found that out by taking a screwdriver and jumping the starter solenoid. Engine cranked fine but would not start.. Am totally at a loss here as what I should try here. I am running a MSD  6AL electronic ignition system.
This really sucks because we're having great weather here in Cody, WY, and I can't get to enjoy it

Any ideas from you gurus?

Thanks a bunch!


It's got a new alternator and VR, if that helps any.

[LAA66]

 Possibly the fuseable link burned thru. If so there maybe a short .

[brads70]

I just replaced my battery cable after getting it flat bedded home. It had  the " green death" inside  under the insulation?   

[footin70rt]

I'd look closely at the bulkhead pass thru connector where the main power feed goes through. A little corrosion in there and the heat builds up, melts a little and then nothing. Been there!

[dodj]

I'd look closely at the bulkhead pass thru connector where the main power feed goes through. A little corrosion in there and the heat builds up, melts a little and then nothing. Been there!

Look for melted insulation on wires and pull apart the bulkhead connector. Full charge MAY have indicated the VR grounded the field wire or an electrical issue (short) caused it. 

[ChallengerHK]

Years ago my ammeter gauge melted one of its posts. Whole car just died within a second, engine, lights, everything. I'm probably lucky that it didn't cause a fire.

[dutch]

I'd look closely at the bulkhead pass thru connector where the main power feed goes through. A little corrosion in there and the heat builds up, melts a little and then nothing. Been there!

  

that was the reason the previous owner of my car left it sitting for 8 years...  I turned on the turning signal and then started pushing and pulling some wires in the connector... just took a few seconds before I could hear the blinker click.

[Cooter]

You obvously have a connection issue, as the alternator puts out MORE charge when it "Thinks" the battery is SUPER low due to a bad connection.

All the above leads me to the same conclusion...overcharging is not nessesarily the alternator's fault. You would be surprized at how many vehicles have the "Green Death" inside the battery cables.

[70RTdroptop]

Thanks for all the input, everyone! Weird thing  is, though, I was going to start looking at wire issues, etc. the other day. Got out in the garage, got stuff ready to start exploring, opened the car door, and  the map light came on. Thought " What the hell " , turned on the headlamp switch. Lights came on!  Thought " What the hell " again, turned the key. Car starts right up! All this without me doing anything at all since it wouldn't start for me the other week. So now I'm thinking that gremlins live in the wiring and I'll have to banish them. Yeah, it looks like I'll be cleaning wire connections real soon. Downer is that the weather has taken a turn for the worse . Oh, well...

[footin70rt]

Glad to hear your up and running again. After you get all the connections cleaned up I would suggest using a dielectric grease on the terminals to help prevent it from happening again.