73' duster wont start after dropping steering column

[CrazyBlaize]

Full nuclear mode. And, as Mattax pointed out, that's just what was going back to the battery.

so the last 2 things I have to check in the morning are;
1:fusible link integrity.
2:bulkhead integrity.
if I don't find the problem by then I think I'm gonna sell my kidneys and look for aftermarket wiring and/or making a super basic harness myself. i just wanna get the car started

 

[Mattax]

One problem here is that we have different goals.
You just want to start the car, I'm trying figure out what went wrong so it can be addressed and doesn't happen again.

the ampmeter pegged to the right.

And how could this happen?

This is a big clue. It tells you which way to look.

A. Power only comes from the alternator or the battery. Now we know it was coming from the alternator.

B. We know the engine kept running "drove to the next exit" hence the observation

that's just what was going back to the battery.

This narrows it down a lot. Only a few situations that can draw that much current through the ammeter toward the battery. (such as very high voltage, busted battery, short between battery and ammeter, stereo wired to battery that shorted, etc)
You observed smoke from location(s) you know, and had a stereo that got very hot that is wired to a location you know.

Fill in the rest of the story and I think you will know where to look.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

Sounds to me that you may not have your amp gauge hooked up if your dash is out. If you want to run the car or test circuits without the dash in you must fasten the two amp gauge wires together. Use a 1/4 20 bolt and nut. and fasten the red and black wire together. You can also do this to see if your amp gauge is bad for a quick test. You can start a car without the amp gauge but you must connect the red and black wires. All power passes through the amp gauge.

 

[67Dart273]

3:I was already quite adamant on making a pushbutton style ignition system, could routing new wire to something like that (and bypassing most of the factory in-cabin wiring) fix my issues?


Thanks again,
Blaize.

Forget this. You are contemplating reworking a ONE WIRE circuit in a system that can easily be made to work perfectly

"the path" for the starter function is ...........ignition switch..........out the switch connector (usually yellow)........through the bulkhead connector.......to one of the push on "flag" terminals on the starter relay.........through the relay coil.........out the remaining flag terminal......to the NSS wire........down the firewall, over the transmission...........to the neutral safety switch connector CENTER terminal..........to the NSS switch..........and the switch to GROUND when in park or neutral

This closes the contacts on the starter relay, which are the two largest terminals. The "big stud" is one contact and also acts as a major "battery" junction point. The load contact is the "square screw" terminal and it has one simple large wire that feeds down to and fires up the starter solenoid.

THIS SIMPLE CIRCUIT IS VERY VERY RELIABLE AND GIVES VERY VERY LITTLE TROUBLE It is incredibly easy to troubleshoot once you understand it.

 

[67Dart273]

Sounds to me that you may not have your amp gauge hooked up if your dash is out. If you want to run the car or test circuits without the dash in you must fasten the two amp gauge wires together. Use a 1/4 20 bolt and nut. and fasten the red and black wire together. You can also do this to see if your amp gauge is bad for a quick test. You can start a car without the amp gauge but you must connect the red and black wires. All power passes through the amp gauge.

READ THE ABOVE!!

 

[CrazyBlaize]

Sounds to me that you may not have your amp gauge hooked up if your dash is out. If you want to run the car or test circuits without the dash in you must fasten the two amp gauge wires together. Use a 1/4 20 bolt and nut. and fasten the red and black wire together. You can also do this to see if your amp gauge is bad for a quick test. You can start a car without the amp gauge but you must connect the red and black wires. All power passes through the amp gauge.

WORKED LIKE A CHARM! this does mean my amp gauge is shot unfortunately, could that in turn make my gauges stop working?

 

[67Dart273]

No the amp gauge is completely separate. The path for the gauges (I assume you don't have a Ralleye cluster) is......Power from the key "ignition run" circuit.........to the PC board on the cluster....to the instrument regulator........branches off to fuel and temp gauge......through the gauges.....back out to separate PC board pins......and off to the respective senders.......and to ground

If neither gauge works MAKE SURE the cluster is grounded. It originally grounds through the mounting bolts, which "is a poor deal." Wise to add a grounding pigtail at a common point (one of the PC board bolts, you can follow the traces) long enough to bolt to the dash frame or steering column support bracket

 

[CrazyBlaize]

hey guys! It's been a few days since I've been able to work on the duster, but I just wanted to really thank everyone for the help! i haven't been able to work on my gauges yet, but the car is running great still. when I get the chance to work on it again ill def know where to go. thanks again! -blaize