66 barracuda ignition problem

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brkooduh66

brkooduh66

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Location
Portland
Car: 1966 Barracuda
Problem: reoccuring issue, failed electrical connections before ignition switch, and after the relay, kills the whole car.

In the past 7 years this has happened 5 times, lost connections/continuity to ignition switch. the connection fails in a different place everytime.

First, factory splice in the "underdash" harness. (fix, bypassed the 4 iches of wire)
Second, burnt connector in the firewall connector (fix, replaced all male & female fire wall connectors and the bulkhead plug)
Third, ammeter burned out (fix, bolted all connections from the ammeter together to completely remove ammeter from the curcuit)
Forth, starter relay died (fix, replaced the starter relay also replaced the ignition switch)
Fifth, don't know where its failed yet, could be the Fusable Link, funny its the only thing on the system that hasn't burned up, and it supposed to protect every thing.

Any ideas whats going on? (i do understand Ohm's laws, to an extent)
Thanks
 
Maybe you need to look at amps, how many the alt' can produce and how many you are using in different conditions. A bound up wiper system can draw a lot of current, clogged or otherwise faulted heat/air system can too. Combined loads become overload so failure happens at the weakest link. Evidently the fusible wasn't the weakest link. We have to assume it will be eventually.
You might consider putting the headlights on relays to get that load off the failing circuit but that really isn't diagnosing and correcting.
 
You probably don't want to hear this, but it might be time to rewire the car. Now having said that, "wire" is rarely the problem, but connectors almost always are.

The bulkhead connector, ignition switch connector, headlight switch connector, headlight harness, dimmer, and fuse panel are all right up there with melt damage, corrosion and just plain old age.

I've always liked ammeters, but frankly, after I got my 67 a few years ago, I finally realized "it was time" and rewired the car without one, adding a voltmeter conversion in it's place.

Lastly a relay/ fuse panel out of a Voyager under the hood for several loads, pump, headlights, EFI, etc, has relieved strain on the interior portion and ignition switch.
 
rewiring the car is on the distant horizon. after changing the bulkhead connectors, and someothers i was sure that the problem was solved. this weekend i will be tracking down where the "open" is in the circuit. after studying the wire diagram the only thing i have left to work on is the ignition switch plug, headlight switch, and the fuse panel. when the car went dead nothing was running except for the motor (turn signal lights are LED)
It didn't seem like it could be related at first, but i left my lights on that morning, jumped started with my portable jump-box (which was almost dead too), drove home 15 miles, then the car died in the drive way (or wouldn't restart, something on the starter relay?). i thinking maybe with the dead battery drawing so much extra amprage (maybe 15-20amps) from the alterenator and driving with the coil drawing amperage (maybe another 10amps). a plausible 30 or more amps though an old wire connector...
 
Sounds l the fusible link, or bulkhead connectors. A schematic helps, possible problem areas are terminals Z, Q, H, B, and batt terminal on start relay. A volt meter is always my friend, and often puts an end to guesses.
 
Sonds like the typical stuff we go through till it's fixed. :)
 
I would agree with all the above. Been through issues on both my 66 cuda and now my 65 formula s. The 66 was completely rewired utilizing a kit for a Chevrolet from a rewire company. I am now looking to do the 65 with a kit set up for A bodies! Its not cheap but done once and you will never do it again, the car will be like new! Simply put it is part of making it reliable, rebuilt road car, unless it completely original worth big bucks, one must make it a nice reliable driver as I have done before and am doing now! Love my 65 Formula S and it drives great, 318 front disc brakes, dual exhaust, 14 inch rally wheels, just needs paint and electric redo! Mopar or nocar!!

65 Cudalover!
 
You should never drive on a dead battery. It puts a full field on the alternator and runs it at max. charge rate.
 
Aftermarket lights on warning buzzer isn't expensive. Some can be installed in 5 minutes or less.
 
Its cool alot of good theorys came up here, and i condsidered all of them. I was dead set on the fusible link, i even bought a new one. However, the actual failure (this time) was not listed in this post. As i mentioned the last "lost of power" was wiht the failed/burned out ammeter. when i repaired that i installed a single stud post http://images1.mcmaster.com/Contents/gfx/large/9365t5p1-d01bl.png?ver=14888902
stacked the three wires on it and dah-duh ammeter by-passed. it worked and i would have gotten away with it, but one of the ring lug for the supply power wire developed some invisible barrier that magically impeded the flow of electrons to the other two lugs. cut them off, cripped on new ones. interesting
 
I agree, typical problems and not just Mopars. Better to bypass the ammeter within the engine bay, otherwise you can still melt the bulkhead connector. I rewired the whole underhood in my two A's, using a relay box from a Jeep. However, that is a lot of work and I may never do that in my C body. Modern cars can be worse, with miles of wiring. I have had to repair the underhood harness in my 2002 T&C twice, mostly from heat around the exhaust x-over pipe. To not get stranded, look at Battery Brain, which I have in most my cars now and have saved me several times.
 
brkooduh66 said:
Its cool alot of good theorys came up here, and i condsidered all of them. I was dead set on the fusible link, i even bought a new one. However, the actual failure (this time) was not listed in this post. As i mentioned the last "lost of power" was wiht the failed/burned out ammeter. when i repaired that i installed a single stud post http://images1.mcmaster.com/Contents/gfx/large/9365t5p1-d01bl.png?ver=14888902
stacked the three wires on it and dah-duh ammeter by-passed. it worked and i would have gotten away with it, but one of the ring lug for the supply power wire developed some invisible barrier that magically impeded the flow of electrons to the other two lugs. cut them off, cripped on new ones. interesting
Click to expand...

Actually it WAS mentioned.

Here read this article on the hows and whys of what happens with these:

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml

For those of us who've finally decided to convert to voltmeters, a good thread here, read through all three pages, as it covers different styles of clusters

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=119480&highlight=ammeter+conversion

And some of us have gone to fuse/ relay boxes under the hood. Mine is out of an old Voyager, and has relays and fuses for hi/ lo beam, pump, EFI, ignition, security, and left over spots..It's mounted on the left fender apron. There are manufactured new ones from people like Bussmann

image.php
 
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