1974 Dart no-start

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dnicodemus12

dnicodemus12

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Bradenton, Fl
Have a 1974 Dodge Dart Special Edition 318. Has been in our family since it was new. It has been well taken care of since the beginning. The problem now is that I can turn the key and the car starts immediately. This can be repeated for several starts. Then, suddenly, turn the key and all you get is the sound of a weak or discharged battery for several attempts. Then, turn the key and the car starts right up. No particular pattern to this. Put in a new quality ballast resister- 4 prong, replaced the module, coil, starter, battery is one yr old. The car does sit without being started sometimes days or weeks on end as it is garaged and another veh is being used. When it does start, it runs perfectly, shows charging on the gauge. I want to replace the lock cylinder with a good quality part from SMP- Standard Motor Parts, which I used to use in my shop many years ago. Is it possible that a weak/dead cell in the new battery could cause this? I no longer have access to a VAT40 tester, and no one in our area wants to work on classic vehs. Suggestions appreciated!
 
Had a similar problem on my son's 75 Swinger 318, bought a trick digital voltmeter from amazon that plugs into the cigarette lighter, was able to rule out the charging system, took the instrument cluster apart to fix the speedo and found that some water had been leaking through the windshield wiper seals and the ammeter terminals were corroding, cleaned them up and don't know if it was a coincidence or not but the problem has not returned.
:burnout:
 
1974 was the only year of the seatbelt interlock system. It kept you from starting the car if the seat belts weren't fastened. They were usually disabled, but there's an interlock relay that is hooked into the start system. If I had to guess, you have a bad connection somewhere in the seatbelt system or the bypass to get around it...
 
The 74 Duster that my son is restoring had a similar issues when I first rescued it from the junkyard ...start fine sometimes ...then nothing... the weird part was when it wouldn't start I could honk the horn and then it would start without fail the next try... I suspected a bad ground somewhere... I am not saying honking your horn will fix your problem ... I am saying check all your grounds! 67hfish gave you good advice also , look for loose /corroded connections , I doubt it's the battery ... old cars and excessive resistance in the wiring go hand in hand .
 
Wasn't aware of the seat belt interlock ... don't think my Duster has it... matter of fact don't remember ever using the belts myself (had to train myself to wear 'em after my kids were born)!
 
bellhp said:
Wasn't aware of the seat belt interlock ... don't think my Duster has it... matter of fact don't remember ever using the belts myself (had to train myself to wear 'em after my kids were born)!
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If it was a '74, it had a interlock. They were bypassed most of the time, there was even a TSB on it. They were only made for one year, they were that awful.

Not saying it can't be something else, but on a '74 the interlock is always high on my list of culprits for any starting related issue.
 
bellhp said:
Learn something new every day...http://www.allpar.com/fix/electrical/interlocks.html
p.s. just looked at an underhood picture of my sons car and it indeed does have the emergency start button on the driver side fenderwell .
Click to expand...

There you go. Just unhooking the seat switches still leaves the relay in the system. When everything is working properly that's ok, but the relay, and it's multiple connections, can still wreak havoc if they start to act up. If nothing else its just more connectors to develop loose connections and shorts. And of course, since its wired into the start system those can cause a no-start problem.
 
Thanks for all the tips! Just to clarify, at times, when I attempt to turn the car on, just get the chattering sound of the starter drive trying to engage as if the battery was almost dead. After a couple of times of this in a row, the veh starts right up as if nothing is wrong. I will check seat belt interlock system and emerg start relay and connections as well. But, I will take the battery down to the parts store and get it load tested after charging it up. Gotta make sure the power source is right on...
 
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