No power at all, help with wiring please

-
7

70dart318

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2016
Messages
82
Reaction score
2
Location
Nv
I picked up a 1970 dart with a not original 318 in it. I think it was a slant 6 from factory. I don't know anything about wiring . But I have no power to anything at all when I turn the key. I have good battery, new starter relay, 12v regulator, ignition switch in steering column and new key and tumbler. Here's how it's hooked up right now...I put it back after I replaced those parts to how it was when I got the car.
image.png
..let me know if this is wrong
Yellow circled wire goes to battery. Orange goes directly from positive battery post to starter. Green goes to starter solenoid and the blue goes to I'm not sure lol but it does go behind the firewall I know.
 
Follow the blue circled wire through the bulkhead connector and up to the amp meter, as that is your power supply into the cabin.
If it's not 12v all the way to the amp meter you probably found your problem.

Also check both terminals of the amp meter.
The red wire goes into the amp meter and a large black one goes out of it.
If the red wire on the amp meter has power but the black one does not, it's a blown amp meter and no power can get to anything else.

The two wires on the back of the amp meter can be connected together to bypass the amp meter all together.
 
First thing I would do is hook up my remote stater switch and see if it powers the starter
 
Pawned said:
First thing I would do is hook up my remote stater switch and see if it powers the starter
Click to expand...

2 seconds to jump across here with a screwdriver and that question is answered. :D
Then you saved a whole 3 minutes to do something else.

relay.jpg
 
The more I look around the more I think the previous owner didn't know what he as doing and messed up the wiring. The red wire I circled in blue goes to the firewall but not thru the bulkhead. Just up thru a small hole
 
70dart318 said:
The more I look around the more I think the previous owner didn't know what he as doing and messed up the wiring. The red wire I circled in blue goes to the firewall but not thru the bulkhead. Just up thru a small hole
Click to expand...

That may very well be a "MAD bypass already done" which is highly recommended on these cars.
Follow it and find out where your power loss is.
 
TrailBeast said:
That may very well be a "MAD bypass already done" which is highly recommended on these cars.
Follow it and find out where your power loss is.
Click to expand...
So it's ok to bypass the bulkhead with this red wire? When I get home after work I will check it out.
TrailBeast said:
2 seconds to jump across here with a screwdriver and that question is answered. :D
Then you saved a whole 3 minutes to do something else.

View attachment 1714959762
Click to expand...
I get a single click noise when I tried that once but usually nothing happens... What does that mean lol
 
Would it help if you had schematics for the car? Please take no offense. Are you able to follow schematics?
I have prints on most of the cars 67 to 71. I imagine there was very little change to the 72s
 
Last edited:
Pawned said:
Would it help if you had schematics for the car? Please take no offense. Are you able to follow schematics
Click to expand...
Lol ya it would. I'm new to all this but should be able to follow schematics
 
70dart318 said:
So it's ok to bypass the bulkhead with this red wire? When I get home after work I will check it out.

I get a single click noise when I tried that once but usually nothing happens... What does that mean lol
Click to expand...

Not only is it ok, but recommended as an electrical and charging system upgrade.
You can check it out here Catalog

The single click is either normal, a dead battery, a bad starter or the wires/connections in between the solenoid and starter. (my bet is starter if the battery charge is good)
The one click you hear is the solenoid closing to make the contact for the starter to turn the engine, but the starter isn't turning.

This still has nothing to do with having zero power in the car.
That is the red wire you circled in blue or somewhere along it's path to the inside of the car.

Follow it and find out where the connection is lost.
It's very likely lost right at the back of the amp meter, and connecting the two wires on the back of the amp meter together is part of the MAD bypass.
If this has been done already the red wire will be connected to a same size black wire right behind the amp meter and you want to then follow the black wire till you have a power loss.
 
Send me a PM with your name and email address. It may take me a day or two to get them scanned. Kind of under the weather
 
70dart318 said:
I haven't checked that. I'm new to all this sorry guys lol. Which is the fuseable link? Headlights do not work
Click to expand...

The fusable link would be inline in that red wire I told you to check for voltage.
I don't like flooding someone with a crapload of info all at once, so if you would have said you were checking the red wire and got to a different looking section in it that there was no power beyond that I would have told you about the fusable link.
Basically it's just a section of the wire that will burn in half faster than the rest of the wire. (stupid idea in my opinion) so I replace fusable links with self resetting circuit breakers. (If you get a short with these they shut of but come back on again by themselves)
If you still have a short it will keep shutting off until the short is resolved. (almost sounds like a slow flasher for the signals with a constant short) on,,off,,,,,,on,,off type thing.

Fusable links are usually pointed out by a little rubber tab along the wire that say's (Guess what?) "Fusable LInk" :D
A blown one will a lot of times have a bubble or burned spot in the insulation.
 
Then I have one piece of advice for you, I recommend that you do what I did. I took my Instrument panel drawing over to one of the office places and had it blown up to 24" x 36". I then got a project board (or any large piece of cardboard and pasted it to the cardboard.

As I show in the Picture. one is the normal size and the other is blown up
schematic big and small.jpg
 
70dart318 said:
I haven't checked that. I'm new to all this sorry guys lol. Which is the fuseable link? Headlights do not work
Click to expand...

It comes off of the bulkhead and has a square plastic tab attached that says "Fuseable link". It's wire that acts like a fuse. Pinch it all the way along its length and feel for any soft/mushy spots. If no soft mushy, then it should be ok...
 
Here's pictures of the fusable link. It's on the firewall, right next to the master cylinder.

DSC01927 B.jpg


DSC01925 B2.jpg
 
First thing I did when starting to work on the car, right after the fusible link burnt. Because I could not find the proper rating on the wire and on the packages, I replaced the fusible link with a 30 amp in-line fuse. Which I proceeded to blow at least 25 times during the rewiring of the car.
I continue to use that as I still am totally confused about the proper fusible link to purchase
 
Thanks for all the good info and help guys. Hopefully tonight I can hunt down my problem. I will keep you guys posted
 
Ok so I took a test light and followed the red wire from relay. I have power all the way through. I see where it rejoins the wires from back of bulkhead and the last pic is I think same wire coming out of the wrapped wires along with a black wire. It has power as seen in pic. Now I tried testing the solenoid wire from relay to starter solenoid and I can't get it to light up. Should I be able to get it to light up like the other wires I'm testing? Man this stuff is confusing lol.
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
 
The black and red wires look like the ones that go to the ammeter.

Check to make sure that you are getting power into the fuse block. Then verify that you are getting power out of the fuse block...

The red wire from the starter relay to the starter will not have power unless you are cranking the engine.
 
krazykuda said:
The black and red wires look like the ones that go to the ammeter.
Click to expand...

And also the ones that can be connected together the red wire is where 12v comes into the cabin for EVERYTHING and the black wire is how it goes to everything.
Connect them together and see if you have cabin power.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top