59 Electrical System question

[Keith C.]

59 FI. Great #2 car, always starts and runs fabulous. Started it a week ago, it was raining so I did not leave the garage. As I moved the car a few feet back in I stalled it. (ik, go ahead and laugh)... Anyway, it would not restart. Everything was dead. Battery reads 13V. NO headlights, no dash or gauges, nothing at all. Not sure what happened??? Any guidance appreciated.
Keith

[Dan D.]

Re: 59 Electrical System question

Check the battery posts Keith. May or may not be the problem, but I don't see it as anything serious.

-Dan-

[Keith C.]

Re: 59 Electrical System question

Thank you. I did that. Checked the voltage on the cables after they left the terminal post. Same reading. I thought with no power at all it must be a complete disconnect from the power source. mystery to me.

[Richard M.]

Re: 59 Electrical System question

Is ALL power off? Does Horn, Lighter, etc work? If not and the Amp meter has no movement at all and your battery cables are solid at the battery(with a good "Cutoff" switch if equipped) and the battery know good and is adequately charged....

... then chances are something happened to the following areas. Note this list is from power source onward.

1- Battery cable loose at the Starter solenoid.

2- Battery Ground Braided cable loose at the bell Housing bolt.

3- Heavy Gauge Black wire attached at Starter solenoid open/loose.
3a- If a Fusible Link was installed here it could be blown, cause unknown.

4- Other end of above Black wire open/loose at Amp meter.
4a- If a Fuse has been installed at this junction it could be blown, cause unknown.

5- Heavy Gauge Red wire from Amp meter output to Ignition switch BAT terminal open/loose. This is part of the 3 terminal plug on back of Ignition switch.

Rich

[Edward J.]

Re: 59 Electrical System question

Kieth, to add to the other posts, the starter draws a lot of amp.s on start up and dirty battery cables can cause the problem. Even though a meter may show correct voltage, under a load it can go open at a cable(s). Another thought is if you have a battery disconnect, the type that have the thumb wheel they also go bad.