Not getting power to the ignition.

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John Collins

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This is for a 1973 Dodge Dart Sport. For starters,I’m a novice with electrical. I took apart my dash a few weeks ago to give it a refresh. I took decent pictures and took note of anything that might trip me up when reassembling. After reassembling the cluster bezel and installing it, I’m not getting power to the ignition and it won’t start. It’s just dead. The bezel is getting power, but when I try and start the car, there’s nothing. The rest of the dash... radio, A/C and what not hasn’t been reinstalled. It has an aftermarket wiring harness that the previous owner had installed. Does everything have to be reconnected to the harness for the ignition to work? I don’t want to fully reassemble the dash if I have to go back in there to figure out other possible failures. Any help is appreciated.
 
On an aftermarket harness, without seeing some of it, anybody's guess.

If you had the column loose to get the cluster out, or even if you didn't I'd check the neutral safety switch, it may be out of adjustment if you moved all that

Check that you didn't knock loose a harness connector. Did they eliminate the bulkhead connector? Check that.

Wander over to MyMopar and download the two sections for the free 73 factory service manual, which by the way got there because of guys on here. Also go to the wiring/ wiring diagrams section and download the 2 page aftermarket wiring diagram, which is not as detailed but might be somewhat easier to follow.

I say this because even though you have an aftermarket harness, the switch/ starter relay/ neutral safety should still be wired the same.

I'm assuming the key turns on "other stuff" like acessory? In other words exactly what does/ does not work?

The functional path for the starter is..........ignition switch.........twist to start.........power on the yellow "start" wire........out through the firewall.......to one flag terminal on the starter relay.......out the other flag terminal........down the firewall to the neutral safety switch center terminal.........grounds the relay in park or neutral
 
Thank you so much for the extensive response!!

Key turns on all accessories that are powered. The only thing that doesn’t work is the ignition, out of the things that are plugged in. I’m going to follow your instructions and figure this out tomorrow. I’m floored by how helpful the users on this site are, by the way. I’ve read many many many threads at this point and each one was filled with helpful information and thankful people!
I can’t understate how awesome this site is because of folks like you.
Thank you sir!
 
I went through and checked all connections and installed the gauge cluster bezel. I got power to the ignition, but it wasn’t turning over. The battery seemed low, so I put it on a jumper and it didn’t start. I “trickle” charged it for a couple hours and when I tried starting it again the ignition had no power again and the open door noise stopped working. The gauges and lights in the bezel have power. I’ve gone over the wiring again to make sure I didn’t bump something, but everything seems to be plugged in. I’m lost, again. Lol.
 
start with the simple stuff ~ are the battery terminals clean and making good contact with positive and negative cables? Are all of your connections solid? Have you tried to "hot start" the car ~ run a wire directly from the power side of the solenoid to the starter side? Two replies have mentioned the neutral safety switch ~ have you checked it and verified that it's wired properly and not loose?
Yea, a volt meter is a good idea.
 
I’m heading to O’Reillys to get a volt meter.

Get yourself a test light as well.

What you need, and likely can't get (or maybe you can, "North Forty?" or Tractor Supply?) is some alligator clips and make a couple of jumper wires, as well as a clip lead to reach from the battery to the furthest part of the car IE front to rear, with small wire. Does not matter, no16 is fine.

Also if you can (know) post up a link to whatever specific harness is in the car? Like Painless no XXXX?

Some (likely most) aftermarket harnesses fuse various things that were never fused in the original. This means you have to check that, and those fuses can be more difficult to check. You cannot always "see" that they are blown
 
It was the freaking battery terminals. They looked fine, but I guess the oxidation from the battery is visible. I gave them a good cleaning with a battery terminal cleaner and just like that, I got power to the ignition. The car still won’t turn over, but I’m getting power all around and it cranks in park now. The open door alert noise isn’t happening still though, which is puzzling. Now to figure out why it won’t turn over. Thanks again guys.
 
You said it "cranks in park now", but, then you say you need to figure out why it won't turn over.......I'm confused. Either it cranks over with the key, or, it doesn't. Does the starter relay click? Are you getting 12 volts to the ballast resistor for the ignition? Do all the dash gauges work?
 
It’s been a busy couple days and now I have the time again to figure this out. I bought volt meter and I have y’all’s wealth of information to draw from here in this thread. Thanks again.


It cranks, but doesn’t tun over Cudamark. Gauges work, No clicking from the starter relay and no power at to the ballast resistor or coil, but the MSD ignition control is getting power.
 
So, the starter cranks the engine over, but, it won't fire up. Ok, looks like you need to find out why it's not getting juice to the ballast resistor and coil. Check for 12V coming off the ignition switch at the connector at the base of the column. Then check to see if power is at the bulkhead connector. Then the engine harness connector. You can also put a jumper wire from a known 12V source (like the starter relay) to the input side of the ballast to see if the engine will now start and you don't have some other issue too.
 
It’s been a busy couple days and now I have the time again to figure this out. I bought volt meter and I have y’all’s wealth of information to draw from here in this thread. Thanks again.


It cranks, but doesn’t tun over Cudamark. Gauges work, No clicking from the starter relay and no power at to the ballast resistor or coil, but the MSD ignition control is getting power.

You need to update your terminology.

"Cranks" and "turns over" means the same thing.........rotating with the starter

"Fires" means coughs, fires, starts to run, may or may run and quit

"Fires and runs" or "runs" is obvious


As above you need to trace and figure why the ignition is evidently not getting power. If you can detail exactly what ignition you have and the part number of the wiring harness "would help". If you have good eyes or a magnifier, some brands of aftermarket harness have the wires marked that is printed with the circuit they feed
 
Copy. I’m learning. Thank you for you patience.

I was able to get power to the coil and I tested that all spark plugs are getting spark and they did get spark. Car cranked. I put a teaspoon or so of gas into the carburetor and it didn’t fire, so I tried again. Still did not fire. I then checked the spark plugs and at this point they’re wet with gas. I then went to Oreilys and get starting fluid. I spray a little in the carburetor and then try starting and the car backfired through the exhaust and on the second try it backfired through the carburetor. That’s where I’m at. I’m going to remove and clean the spark plugs with a wire brush, or just replace them entirely and try it again. First without anything added and then with a mix of starting fluid and a touch of gas.
 
Copy. I’m learning. Thank you for you patience.

I was able to get power to the coil and I tested that all spark plugs are getting spark and they did get spark. Car cranked. I put a teaspoon or so of gas into the carburetor and it didn’t fire, so I tried again. Still did not fire. I then checked the spark plugs and at this point they’re wet with gas. I then went to Oreilys and get starting fluid. I spray a little in the carburetor and then try starting and the car backfired through the exhaust and on the second try it backfired through the carburetor. That’s where I’m at. I’m going to remove and clean the spark plugs with a wire brush, or just replace them entirely and try it again. First without anything added and then with a mix of starting fluid and a touch of gas.
Sounds like the timing is off, or firing order.
 
What if anything have you done to the engine? Had it been running OK? You replaced any parts or the distributor? I agree^^ sounds like it's out of time.
 
What if anything have you done to the engine? Had it been running OK? You replaced any parts or the distributor? I agree^^ sounds like it's out of time.
If you pulled the distributor, maybe it's 180 out?
 
Thank you! Timing makes sense. Firing order is correct. I’ve done nothing to the engine and it ran nicely... A little rough on the idle, but not horrible. Everything worked before I took the dash apart and reassembled.
 
Well then it should run fine. What is the mileage on the engine? Any chance the timing chain magically slipped a tooth?

The only time "out of time" should "make sense" is if you have done something....like loosen the distributor or remove it or maybe replace plug wires. Have you had the dist cap off? Maybe it's sitting crooked?
 
29k on a LA360. 318/360 performance intake manifold and a 625 Carter performance carb. I don’t know anything about the engine really, beyond the basic bolt ons. Ive only had it for a month. The previous owner had it for most of those 29k miles and it stopped being a daily driver the last 5 years, but was driven every month or so for a few miles. He bought it from the guy who had it built and didn’t know the specs on it.
 
It made sense because the idle was a little rough. I guess I’m just hopeful for an easy solution as well. Lol. I did take the cap off though, looking for corrosion. I’ll go check that. Thank you.
 
Finally got it started. After adjusting the timing, It still wouldn’t fire. Turns out that my mechanical fuel pump wasn’t doing it’s job. Traded that out and after a couple attempts with the aid of the starting fluid, it fired up. It was ticking pretty loudly and some thin white smoke was coming from the exhaust. I retarded the timing in small increments and after some tweaking, I was able to get a nice smooth tick free idle and the smoke went away after the second attempt at adjusting the timing. Thanks again for all the help.
 
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