1974 Duster not starting.

[Aces]

no5, no9, and no10 are vacant as they should be.
no2, no3, and no4 the "Acc" ones don't have any power when the key is set in any position.
I forgot to mention that my headlights do work.

 

[nm9stheham]

#-o

But neither of the wires going up to the ignition switch have power going to them. I tested both of them not long ago.

HUNH?? NEITHER of the wires? BOTH? There are 8 (COUNT 'EM, EIGHT!) wires going to the ignition switch connector... you must be in the wrong spot altogether or this is not a stock wired car. I guess that explains ... something! LOL #-o

And the headlights don't go through the fuse panel or the ignition switch.

 

[Aces]

Yeah it has quiet a bit of wiring work done by the previous owner, I was not thinking correctly at the time of saying that only two go up to it, I think one of them, pink in color if my memory servers me right, does have power threw it. The ones I were thinking of do go up to the ignition but aren't bundled in with the rest of them.
Sorry about that, whoops ;)

 

[Aces]

I went out and looked at the fuses that are in slots 6, 7, and 8.
Slot 8's fuse has on the side "25A 32V 311"
Slot 7's fuse has on the side "AGC20"
Slot 6's fuse has on the side "5A 32V 311"
I'm not 100% sure it read 311 as it was a tad dirty even after I tried to clean it off, also I retested the wires going up to the ignition switch and only the pink and blue one have power going threw them.
Also when testing the blue wire it'd make a clicking sound.

 

[Aces]

I'm still seeking advice on this project.
I think I've provided everything that's been asked for, if anything else is needed lemme know.

 

[MrDuster]

Hi Aces, I'm no expert for sure...but I read the thread once and re-read the problem you're having and I have a few thoughts. I might be missing something as I'm doing this on my IPhone and my eyes aren't as good as they use to be. Here's what happened to me a month ago:

After driving around I parked in my front yard and waxed the car...felt good! Getting dark, time to put the car in the garage...turn key...nothing...headlights strong...stumped...felt bad! Called old mechanic friend who said to check the starter relay and try to jump it....car started!-feeling good again....put car in garage. Called parts store...they said bring in the relay and they can match it up...cheap. Cheap is still $$ and I wanted to try and fix it for free...I was raised a poor farm/ranch kid in MT...free is good! Took relay off, grabbed nippers, pieces aff sandpaper, small screwdriver. Peeled back tabs and inspected relay guts. Corrosion on coil; but wire inside wasn't broken and nothing fried, just corroded. Cleaned everything up good, put in vice and used small hammer and punch to close the tabs...20 min total job. Installed relay and it fired up...felt good! Still plan to buy a relay as a spare...but I believe the quality of older parts is better than the newer and to me it's worth the effort. Plus driving to the parts store isn't as cheap as it use to be. Might clean up all the connections and give the relay a look...just my 2cents...Good luck!

 

[MrDuster]

Ps. Re-read post #12....do all those steps and you'll find your problem or have it narrowed down to the starter relay. CLEAN all connections!

 

[nm9stheham]

Your #8, 7 and 6 fuses are rated at 25 amps, 20 amps, and 5 amps in that order. That is the meaning of the '25A' and '5A' and the '20' in AGC20. 32v means they are 32 volt rated fuses sutiable for a 12v car system.

The power for the ACC fuses comes from the ignition switch when in the RUN or ACC positions on a large black wire. So check for 12 volts out of that wire; this wire splits and feeds the wipers, so if they do not work when the key is in RUN, then there is no power coming out of the ignition switch as it should.

Next check for power INTO the ignition switch on the large red wire. That is the main power feed into the ignition switch. It sounds like you have no power to that. The red wire comes from what is called a 'welded splice' in the dash harness. The headlights also feed from this welded splice so the power must be good up to there. So if you really have no power on that large red wire going to the ignition switch, then it or its connections must be the problem. Trace out that large red wire and look at it carefully for signs of getting hot.

 

[RedFish]

I want to say the ignition switch is the problem. When it is turned to on it should make several of the wires coming away from it hot. Those go to the fuse box, etc.. With the switch in start position the yellow wire hot also.
Then again, We don't know what the previous owner did or how he did it. If he followed the madelectrical amp meter bypass and replaced a single fusible link with 2 , you might have one of the 2 failed. Would that result in half a system ? Who knows.
Wish I could be more help

 

[Aces]

Thanks for all the help you guys have provided me with!
I went to look at the wiring today and the Big Red wire that "nm9stheham" mentioned goes into some type of connector which goes into another part of the red wire, well one end was loose and it needed tightened. I did that and scared myself when it fired up.
I was pretty happy it did though.

Any idea how to keep this wire tight? I can get pictures of the connector it goes into if someone could tell me what type it is.
Also now to find a rear bumper D:

 

[RedFish]

A single wire connection just outside the firewall is called service disconnect. Everything in the cabin goes through that. The wire on one side of it is a special type called fusible link. Should have a rubber flag molded on showing its amp rating.

 

[Aces]

Uh not sure what you mean RedFish. But if anyone could help figure out how to keep this wire seated into the connector it's in that'd be great.

 

[TrailBeast]

I think most of us just run a solid wire through the connector buy removing the connectors insides and using the resulting opening to pass a solid wire through so it looks fairly normal.
The connectors were the weak point in these old guy's and girls, as you found.

Mine's a guy.

 

[nm9stheham]

Thanks for all the help you guys have provided me with!
I went to look at the wiring today and the Big Red wire that "nm9stheham" mentioned goes into some type of connector which goes into another part of the red wire, well one end was loose and it needed tightened. I did that and scared myself when it fired up.
I was pretty happy it did though.

Any idea how to keep this wire tight? I can get pictures of the connector it goes into if someone could tell me what type it is.
Also now to find a rear bumper D:

Gald you are making progess! Is this connection in the connector leading up the steEring column that goes to the ignition switch? Or a connection that goes through the bulkhead connector in the firewall? Redfish and Trailbeast are referring to the connection in the firewall.

This connection is probably heat annealed by now (softened) and will not hold its tension. You will have to find a new connection and crimp or solder it properly in place. Is it a flat connector or round? Yes, a pix would help.

 

[Aces]

Sorry for being inactive on this post for a bit.
Here's pictures of the connector that has the Big Red wire in it that is lose.
http://gyazo.com/215c744bd32a82c69dc2d7a4ab072783
http://gyazo.com/d3d8784328b251cb6d5a00d3b9b78fbd
The first one shows it the best, its the white one not the one that looks rather gray.

 

[nm9stheham]

That looks to be the connector to the ignition switch. The red wire carries the power into the igntion switch, and runs a lot of stuff..... including starting. Yeah, kinda important....

 

[Aces]

That looks to be the connector to the ignition switch. The red wire carries the power into the igntion switch, and runs a lot of stuff..... including starting. Yeah, kinda important....

I figured so. Any ideas how to make it so the wire is tighter in the connector?
Or would it be easier to bypass the connector.

 

[nm9stheham]

I am assuming that the wire AND the connector terminal want to fall out togehter, and it is not the case of the wire wanting to pull out of the connector terminal; is that correct? If so, look at the connector terminal that wants to fall out; below the part where it mates into the other connector, there will be a little rectangular tab. That should be bent out at a slight angle, and is what locks the connector terminal into the connector body. You can bend it out a bit and it migth lock in.

Also, if the terminal that wants to fall out is a female circular conenction, bend it inward to make a tighter circle so that it will be tighter on the mating male connection. You also need to make sure that this is very clean then put some dielectric grease on it to prevent future corrosion. You can get this at any auto store; the local Autozone had them up at the counter in little ketchup packets.

If the temrinal is really corroded, or is pulling off of the wire, then IMO you are better off bypassing with new spade terminals on either side. Just use a good crimper or solder them; clean any soldered wires with alcohol afterwards to get the flux out, or it will tend to corrode the wires.