More Electrical Gremlins

Turned the key on - nothing.

No problem...must be a fuse. I'll get it tomorrow. After all I did just replace the points in the distributor with a pointless module and used the remote start button to get her fired up for a test afterward, and hooked up the timing light...must have touched something I shouldn't have with one of the clips.

Next day I turned on the key again and the dash lit up. Hmmm, that's funny. Tried the key in the 'start' position and deadsville - the dash went out again. Off, then on and the dash lights up. Try the running lights and the dash goes dead. Switch to the other battery - same results. Try 'both' batteries - same results -- the dash would light up, but with any load would blink out. Verified that both batteries were full up from the on board charger - they were.

Jumped a fuse panel hot, to the key 'on' - same lights out results - not the ignition switch then.

Snugged all connections - on the 1, 2, both switch, both batteries, starter and all grounds. Still same results - lights out under any load.

So I run a jumper directly from the battery to the key switch and the start circuit lights up the mill. The dash and all the other circuits are functional. Damn, the wire feeding the switch must be bad and it will be a bear to trace...but why didn't the fuse panel hot make things work?

Put a VOM on the fuse block and get 12 vdc. Put the ignition to the on position and got 12 vdc. Turn on the running lights - deadsville - voltage drops out. So the fuse panel feed drops out with everything else.

Starting power, dash power, and fuse panel power all go back to the motor thru the main harness. Examine and clean all connectors of the main harness - no help.

Where does this main harness connect to the battery - ahah via the starter bus. The current goes from the battery to the starter and then to all on board circuits.

After checking all the wiring from the battery to the starter to the harness and finding everything good, I unplugged all the harness connections again, cleaned them and put them back together. Still no help.

What's left to check? Running out of ideas, I put a jumper cable from the battery directly to the starter solonoid, which is the connection to the main bus for the harness. Now the ignition switch made everything work! The problem was now isolated to the feed cable from the main battery switch to the starter.

I decided to replace both battery cables to the battery switch as well as the feed to the starter...figured I'd need about 30 feet of battery cable for the three runs. Checked the price of battery cables and even 6 or 8 gauge was a couple dollars a foot. Welding cable was even more. I settled on 4 gauge even though I 'd preferred something bigger but the per foot price made me explore different sources.

Then I discovered jumper cables. One auto store had a 20 foot pair of 2 gauge for $50. I cut the clamps off and soldered #2 3/8" copper fittings on the battery switch ends as well as the starter end of the feed. I have a crimper for this size and even though I know the crimp is preferred, I still did the solder...heat the fitting, fill it with solder, get it good and hot and stuff the bare #2 cable into the fitting of liquid solder...just seemed like the right thing to do.

So Big Duck is back in business!