Just got caught in major rain, no power after I turned car off

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BuckeyeAlex

BuckeyeAlex

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Hey guys, I'm hoping for a brainstorming session with you all while I cool down. This may be a little windy, but I'm down in the dumps and venting. Haha

My 2 yr old son had an appointment with a photographer this evening, and he insisted on taking "daddy's orange car". Weather was cloudy, but I figured it wouldn't amount to anything that couldn't be solved with a basic cleaning when we got home. Wrong. His pics went fine, we start heading home and it's a downpour. I'm talking water standing on the road, creep down the road type of rain. I make it back to the house and decided to shut it off in the driveway so my wife and son can go in the house and I'd get his car seat out. Went back out to pull it into the garage, and there's absolutely nothing. The battery is new, but just to rule it out, I hooked a fully charged jump box up to it and there was still no power at all. It was still raining hard, so I came inside for a few minutes, then went back out and checked the fuse box under the dash and all fuses were fine. Dejected, I now sit on the couch. I always keep it in the garage and spotless, now it's stranded outside until I get this figured out. The battery is relocated to the trunk, so my next plan will be to look for a fuse in the cable.

Any other ideas? This is so depressing, my trip to the Nats Saturday really sparked my passion again, now this.
 
The battery connections could be loose, clean and tighten them. The ground cable is next on the list to check. Clean and retighten that. Take a volt meter and check the voltage from the hot (+) on the battery to the frame/engine, it should read 13.8 on a full charge. If you get nothing check across the battery terminals with the volt meter, again it should be 12.8 to 13.8 volts. If there is no voltage , you're battery is dead, shot, kaput. One more test, with the head lights on go from the negative battery post to the engine block. That should read zero voltage. If you read anything you have a bad ground at the battery. I see you have the battery in the trunk, just go from the (-) post to the car frame. I ran across a car at a friends shop that was dead, battery was perfect. The owner detailed the engine compartment, even painted the battery posts gray. Gray paint will not conduct! The other weak point is the fusible link, look for a weak/bad connection at either end of that 14 gauge link at the bulk head connector. Good luck!!
 
I don't have a test light, but can get access to one if I don't find any obvious issues. I do know for sure that the battery terminals are clean and tight, me the battery itself is not the issue. I bought it new on Friday, and neither a fully charged jump box or jumper cables connected to my running Jeep would even get the dome light on. The rain let up a little bit ago, so I went out and tried to trace the positive battery cable, but it's too dark. Hopefully I can check it over again tomorrow before work with some sunlight and a clear head.
 
What exactly is "daddy's orange car"?

I'd try re-seating the bulk head connector and check the fusible.
 
Sorry, thought it appeared in my signature, it's a '69 Dart. The issue I will be running into, is it is fairly modified from what it was stock (Magnum swap, battery relocated, etc), so any factory wiring diagram may not apply to mine. I believe the first thing I'll check for it a fuse in the battery cable, then the bulkhead. I've never had any electrical issues with the car, so I don't believe it has been caused by poor work or just a random coincedence, I definitely think the rain water shorted something out. The confusing part for me is what happened when I shut the car off to cause the issue. I wish I had paid attention to whether the dome light came on after I turned the car off, but it was still light enough outside that I didn't notice.
 
BuckeyeAlex said:
Sorry, thought it appeared in my signature, it's a '69 Dart. The issue I will be running into, is it is fairly modified from what it was stock (Magnum swap, battery relocated, etc), so any factory wiring diagram may not apply to mine. I believe the first thing I'll check for it a fuse in the battery cable, then the bulkhead. I've never had any electrical issues with the car, so I don't believe it has been caused by poor work or just a random coincedence, I definitely think the rain water shorted something out. The confusing part for me is what happened when I shut the car off to cause the issue. I wish I had paid attention to whether the dome light came on after I turned the car off, but it was still light enough outside that I didn't notice.
Click to expand...
I don't think you shorted anything out, you have a open circuit. Probably the fusible link or battery lead. Check for voltage at your starter relay. A short circuit would be draining the battery and raising a hell of a lot of smoke and flames.
 
Bulkhead connection is where all the wires go through the firewall. Right before it is a male/female connector for service disconnect that will disable everything in the cabin.
There is or should be a fusible link there too. Enough water will short circuits.
 
I was able to look it over for about 10 minutes before work. The good news is, I found what I hope is the only issue. A blown fusible link at the bulkhead connector.



Now, the bad news. As you can see, it melted at the bulkhead connector. I grabbed some needle nosed pliers and pulled, and ended up with this.



Hmmm. Crap. So I take a small flathead screwdriver and try to loosen up any melted plastic or whatever that might be holding that connector in, and give it another pull with the pliers.



Son of a... Well, time to leave for work. Any tips on what I should do next? I'm going to pick up a fusible link at the parts store, but I'm not sure how to get that connector separated without completely jacking up the already melted bulkhead connector.
 
found this on ebay.[ame="http://www.ebay.com/itm/16-pcs-Mopar-wiring-bulkhead-connectors-A-B-C-E-Body-Charger-Cuda-Challenger-/130810572125?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3ADodge%7CModel%3ADart&hash=item1e74eaed5d&vxp=mtr"]16 Pcs Mopar Wiring Bulkhead Connectors A B C E Body Charger Cuda Challenger | eBay[/ame]
haven't found a shell. you may have to go rob one at a salvage yard. it won't be bad to make.
 
at first I had a huge laugh at you post title and thought well that's correct it does happen when you turn the ignition off.

look down it the large plastic piece in the bottom pic and you will see those peskey little points on the spades in the e-bay link sticking into it. get something the fits it there and pry them to the side and pull it out.
 
i'm pretty sure like i posted that your wiper motor is what burnt you.

2 recommendations:
1. do the mad electrical bulkhead / drill mod on his website. you can probably get new/used connectors to replace your melted one... someone here might have a source for the connectors
2. rebuilt wiper motors are relatively cheap/ it could just be the connectors to the wiper motor but i'm guessing it's the motor itself has a short inside
 
Thanks for the tips guys.

moparlover, the wipers weren't on. (Yes, stuck in a downpour with no wipers, thank God for Rain-X). The linkage is all connected and whatnot, but they haven't worked since I bought the car about a year and a half ago, and I haven't bothered troubleshooting it because it's typically not driven in the rain. Last night's fiasco certainly moved that up on the priority list.
 
The fusible link blowing like that would tend to indicate that there was something shorting the electrical system. Be careful when you reconnect things. IMO, your connectors are due for a full re-work; I would not be driving it around much like that.
 
I'm pretty sure the wiper motor would still have power going to it even though it wasn't turned on. There are several places besides the wiper motor where water can cause a short circuit. Water leaking in the cabin can cause shorts in fuse boxes, dimmer switches, and more.
I can't say the Madelectrical pages are the best way to address the problem. It's certainly not the only way. To bypass that point of failure without finding and correcting the root cause might lead to major heartache later on.
Good luck with it.
 
Right, I completely understand. Basically right now I'm going to order a new link from Classic Industries (cheapest I've found at $24.99), hopefully find some help to push it back into the garage, then look for any causes while I wait on the new link to arrive. My oil pan gasket is leaking slightly, so I had already planned to pull the motor to address that this fall, I'll probably trace more of the wiring at that point. This is the first issue I've ever had with the wiring, it all looks pretty well done to me. The car was restored about 7 yrs ago.
 
If I paid a kings ransom for a exact replacement fusible link it wouldn't be installed until everything else is done. A fusible link from your local part store is affordable and handy. You can toast a few of those before installing the eye candy correct one.
 
Funny you mention that, I just started to order it online and they want $9 to ship it! I'm going to look around some more. Honestly I'm not concerned with the looks of it, just the function. The car is modified anyway. I'll read up more on the Mad Electrician articles this evening and see what my alternatives are.
 
For troublshooting the short, you can get an inline fuse holder from a parts store and a 20-30A fuse or so and jumper that in temporarily to see if you still have a short, and to work on things non-running. That is the cheap, fast way to troubleshoot, IMO. BUT, don't leave the fuse and fuseholder in permanently; put in a fusible link when all is done.
 
Update on my issue. I finally got a chance to get out to the garage tonight and look the wiring over. I started with the battery, the only "issues" I found were the negative cable was a little corroded where it was bolted to the body, and the positive cable had no fuse in it anywhere, I'd feel better adding one. Next I moved onto the alternator wiring and unwrapped most of the harness (which thankfully looked to be done pretty well) all the way to the bulkhead connector, and the only possible issue I found was a nicely soldered connection near the alternator that only had electrical tape protecting it and there was a good bit of moisture trapped in there. I'm planning on cleaning that and putting some heat shrink over it before wrapping it again. Lastly, I moved on to the starter. I didn't notice any issues at all with the starter wiring, but while I was under the car, I saw some wiring laying on the header. I lifted them up, and sure enough the electrical tape and some of the rubber on one wire had melted, leaving the bare wire exposed. It's a plug that goes into the trans (TCI 727), and had 3 wires, here's a pic:



So here's my next question, the wire itself looks fine. It must've just fallen onto the header as I was driving home last, because the melted/bare wire was "clean". Would I be ok to just put some heat shrink over it then rewrap the 3 wires and secure them out of the way, or should I splice a new section of wire in there?

You guys have been a major help. I feel confident working on my own stuff, but I'm pretty green on this older stuff. I think the oldest car I've owned before this was a '93! Lol
 
I personally would rewrap it and secure it out of the way - if you splice new wire into the circuit, unless you chase the wire to both ends of the connector, you are adding 2 more places where it is more likely to fail.
 
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