Marty's 73 - Restoration update

[Marty73]

It's been a LONG time since I posted anything to the board. Life just gets in the way sometimes.

Anyway - on the 73 Challenger  -  in the last year or so I have completed replacing the dog house and finished out the body, working on getting the panels lined up. For the life of my I cannot get the hood to properly gap with the front fenders! Also time to sand off all that spray can primer as it's almost ready for paint! If someone in the Charlotte NC area knows a paint guy who will paint over someone else's body work - I'd appreciate a tip!

As an added bonus, mechanically the car suddenly decided it won't run. No spark, I replaced the engine harness and ignition module. Will replace the ballast and coil this weekend (I planned on doing all this anyway). But the funny thing is I have no dash lights either....is there a main fuse somewhere that may have blown that would stop all my dash lights? This is my first MOPAR restoration so I'm learning as I go -

Hopefully next time I post the car will have some color

[Bullitt-]

Might help to know what is working....Headlights?  Starter turns over the motor normally? 

[Marty73]

Don't have the headlights hooked up -

Story is last fall I pulled it out of the garage to let it run/warm up - I try to do that about every 3 to 6 months. Started up fine and ran for about an hour. I turned it off and it never started again.

Turn the key, nothing, jump the starter relay and the engine turns. Check for spark and there is none. That's when I noticed there are no dash lights either. Not so worried about the key not running the engine, this car eats ignition relay's like candy (hence the changing on the engine harness). I'm betting money on the ballast resistor - but the no dash light part scares me - there were when it was running - but not now

[Bullitt-]

Of course I can only speculate but it sounds like power is not getting through the bulkhead to the interior.
All power is routed via the heavy RED wire cavity #16 labeled Battery in the diagram below..
After passing through the bulkhead connections power then goes to the ammeter, another weak point.
I'd test for power at the fuse block on the terminal labeled BATT (lower left), if not getting power there you can be sure there's a bad connection, probably burnt or corroded at the bulkhead.
If that's the problem the best solution is to bypass the bulkhead & ammeter, instructions found here http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges2.shtml


Not sure what you mean by ignition relay but if your referring to the starter relay on the fender by the battery I'd suspect either a starter that's drawing to many amps, should be 180-200amps, or a bad cable running from the relay to the starter... had many Mopars & not a single starter relay failure or starter for that matter...




 

[Marty73]

That's perfect - time to break out the voltmeter. I'm getting back in the garage tomorrow.

Thanks for the tip!

[Marty73]

Still no joy, could a bad pickup coil cause this?

I've replaced the coil, ignition module, engine harness, ballast, cap and rotor

I read elsewhere on the board that I can run 12 volts to the + side of the coil to eliminate the ignition switch as an issue. Is that true? I'm scared of burning something up

[rhamson]

I had a similar problem and traced it to the fusible link which was burned out. I don't know if that helps but make sure if or when you replace it you turn off all your accessories of as there may still be a problem with your voltage regulator. I fried all the dash lights, head lights and a good Pioneer radio.   

[Marty73]

I actually bypassed that... I know, bad idea...

I'm truly stumped

[Bullitt-]

I actually bypassed that... I know, bad idea...

I'm truly stumped

At least temporarily put a breaker in place to keep your car from burning down.
If your blowing it frequently that indicates serious issues that really need to be addressed. 



Still not cranking with key/switch?
Well if your getting power to the fuse block then there may be 2 or more separate issues.
Many of the won't crank issues are associated with the ignition switch or related wires & connectors.
The big wide plug running up the steering column is fed power on the RED wire labeled 12R Battery in the diagram below. Bad connections here are common.
When the switch is turned to start there should be power to the Yellow wire labeled 12Y Start. This is the wire that runs to the starter relay on the fender which reminds me of another issue getting one to crank.. the safety neutral switch provides the ground to the starter relay can have issues or be out of adjustment.. ck this  http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=101640.msg1002245;topicseen#msg1002245

None of this explains the dash light issue.. that may be unrelated to the won't crank/won't start problem.

   

[Marty73]

Finally got back out to work on it, replace the rest of the engine bay harness since I already bought it. Still no joy. I have power all the way to the bulkhead connector, but nothing past that. There is 43 years of electrical tape under the dash, so I need to buy another Year One harness anyway. Another 600$...yay.

If anyone has bought one, do you know if it comes with a new bulk head connector? Or is that a separate part?