won't start, no power at all (battery is good)

[n_reckless]

Yesterday morning I took the car for a ride. It fired up without any issues. When I went home I turned it off but had to use my other parking lot so after a min. I wanted to start he car and nothing. No click from the solenoid, no headlights. We were unable to jump start the car. I checked the battery and it's ok. The grounds from the - post are ok too. Is there anything I can check at home without towing it to my mechanic?

Could the solenoid be wrong if it's no power at all? When the key is on position still no headlights, wipers. If the alternator would be bad the battery supposed to be discharged right?

 

[vintageman]

Had pretty much the same issue with a 69 Mach 1 a few years back, no power to anything after driving it home and parking it to change spark plugs. Turned out to be the yellow wire fusible link under/near the drivers side in the engine compartment. It had been poorly spliced together by the PO, and had simple just came apart. Maybe my arm caught it when changing the plugs on that side but honestly, it took me a few days of looking around and then a buddy asked what that disconnected wire was for. Re-spliced it and all was good. Good luck.

Tom

 

[Don C]

+1 on being the fusible link. On our cars it's connected to either the battery side of the starter solenoid or to the terminal block (on cars with factory gauges) near the voltage regulator.

 

[n_reckless]

+1 on being the fusible link. On our cars it's connected to either the battery side of the starter solenoid or to the terminal block (on cars with factory gauges) near the voltage regulator.

Yes it's on the battery side and the wire is going toward the headlights. Should I open the harness to see what's going on with it. Just search for burning or splices?

***Update*** The fusible link is looking good. Not burned or spliced.

I forgot something that I don't know if wort to mention or affect this issue. I'm using an electronic distributor and installed a relay. I hooked up the ignition from the relay to the I terminal of the solenoid so the original ignition wire is not in use.

If the solenoid is bad should I have accessories or headlights with the key is ON position since I'm not using the original ignition wire?

Or in this case when the ignition is hooked up to the solenoid is it possible that only the solenoid is bad?

 

[1sostatic]

I had much the same thing -- turned out to be real bad corrosion on negative terminal of battery -- even though everything read good across the battery itself - the terminal wasn't good enough to pass current.

 

[jpaz]

Check out the neutral safety switch. I have had the same thing with it being out of adjustment. I was always able to start the car by making sure that the shifter is pushed all the way forward. I would just pull it back and push forward into park and it would start. It finally got to far out of adjustment so I reset it and have never had a problem since. I must have not had it tight enough to begin with.

Hopefully it’s something this simple, good luck!

 

[n_reckless]

Check out the neutral safety switch. I have had the same thing with it being out of adjustment. I was always able to start the car by making sure that the shifter is pushed all the way forward. I would just pull it back and push forward into park and it would start. It finally got to far out of adjustment so I reset it and have never had a problem since. I must have not had it tight enough to begin with.

Hopefully it’s something this simple, good luck!

Thanks. If I'd a bad neutral safety switch the headlights, accessories etc. would still work right?

 

[Don C]

Yes, they would. Your problem is with the battery connectors, battery ground, or main power connections. Does your ground cable run to both the chassis (bottom screw on the voltage regulator) and engine block?

 

[n_reckless]

Yes, they would.  Your problem is with the battery connectors, battery ground, or main power connections. Does your ground cable run to both the chassis (bottom screw on the voltage regulator) and engine block?

 Yes. One from the battery but nothing on the regulator. If I want to make a ground where should I connect the another end? One to the regulator and one...?

If it would be a ground problem could it happen in just 30 sec./1 min? I mean I just went home stopped the car then after around a minute I couldn't restart it and no power at all, no lights etc. 

I tried after a couple of hours and I can hear a click from the solenoid. If I try again immediately nothing. If I have a click the fuel gauge goes up to show the current level in the ON position of the key but still no lights.  When I try again and no click I clearly have no power the fuel level won't go up.

 

[tony-muscle]

Do you by any chance have one of those quick battery disconnects? I had a similar random issue and it happened to be the quick disconnect that was dirty so sometimes it will lose contact.

Double clean every battery connection and ground from the battery, engine and chassis.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[OMS]

Yes, they would.  Your problem is with the battery connectors, battery ground, or main power connections. Does your ground cable run to both the chassis (bottom screw on the voltage regulator) and engine block?

 Yes. One from the battery but nothing on the regulator. If I want to make a ground where should I connect the another end? One to the regulator and one...?

If it would be a ground problem could it happen in just 30 sec./1 min? I mean I just went home stopped the car then after around a minute I couldn't restart it and no power at all, no lights etc. 

I tried after a couple of hours and I can hear a click from the solenoid. If I try again immediately nothing. If I have a click the fuel gauge goes up to show the current level in the ON position of the key but still no lights.  When I try again and no click I clearly have no power the fuel level won't go up.

You trying and getting a click after a couple of hours ... Have you tried another battery - it may be a plate is warping in that battery

 

[Don C]

Turn your headlights on and then measure battery voltage on the terminals, and if good there place the test probes on the battery connectors and measure the voltage there.

A battery can test good, when using a voltmeter, but when a load is placed on it the voltage will drop significantly if the battery has one or more bad cells or corroded connectors.

If the battery tests good at the connectors leave the negative test probe on the negative terminal, and with the headlights on test the positive cable at the solenoid connector. If still good there move the negative probe to the bare metal on the voltage regulator and the positive test probe on the solenoid connector. Keep moving the positive probe further away along the positive wiring until you no longer get a good voltage reading. That will identify the location of a bad connection.

Yes, the battery can go bad in a 30 minute drive and corroded connections and bad battery cables can fail during a drive.

Have you removed the battery cable connectors from the battery terminals and cleaned the battery posts and the inside of the connectors with a wire brush? Battery terminal brushes are made for this.

 

[n_reckless]

Turn your headlights on and then measure battery voltage on the terminals, and if good there place the test probes on the battery connectors and measure the voltage there.

A battery can test good, when using a voltmeter, but when a load is placed on it the voltage will drop significantly if the battery has one or more bad cells or corroded connectors.

If the battery tests good at the connectors leave the negative test probe on the negative terminal, and with the headlights on test the positive cable at the solenoid connector. If still good there move the negative probe to the bare metal on the voltage regulator and the positive test probe on the solenoid connector. Keep moving the positive probe further away along the positive wiring until you no longer get a good voltage reading. That will identify the location of a bad connection.

Yes, the battery can go bad in a 30 minute drive and corroded connections and bad battery cables can fail during a drive.

Have you removed the battery cable connectors from the battery terminals and cleaned the battery posts and the inside of the connectors with a wire brush? Battery terminal brushes are made for this.

I haven't cleaned it just replaced the negative post. When I took the battery to a local Autozone they tested and the voltage is good. BUT has a bad cell. Can it cause to whole no power issue? If yes what about the failed jump. starts? We couldn't jump it with another car, no lights etc with the jump. cable on.

 

[Don C]

You will need to replace the battery before you can troubleshoot further. A battery with a shorted cell may not respond to a jump.

Do you mean you replaced the negative battery cable? You cannot replace a battery post. Did you wire brush the battery post before putting the new cable on? Did you wire brush the inside of the cable connector? Even new one can have oxidation, or protective coatings from the factory

There's a good chance you have a combination of problems, bad cell, bad grounds, bad connection at the positive battery terminal, etc.

 

[n_reckless]

Sorry I replaced the terminal actually.

 

[Don C]

Just the terminal on the old negative cable? Then the negative cable connections to chassis and engine are probably dirty/corroded. The factory ground runs from the battery to the bottom screw on the voltage regulator and then to a bolt on the engine block.

 

[n_reckless]

Just the terminal on the old negative cable? Then the negative cable connections to chassis and engine are probably dirty/corroded. The factory ground runs from the battery to the bottom screw on the voltage regulator and then to a bolt on the engine block.

I cannot check it now but if I'm not mistaken I have two negative wire from the battery. One to the block and the another also to the block at the top under my coil.

 

[Hemikiller]

Just the terminal on the old negative cable? Then the negative cable connections to chassis and engine are probably dirty/corroded. The factory ground runs from the battery to the bottom screw on the voltage regulator and then to a bolt on the engine block.

I cannot check it now but if I'm not mistaken I have two negative wire from the battery. One to the block and the another also to the block at the top under my coil.

You need one that connects the battery (-) to the body of the vehicle itself. Ford only provided one of those, it was on the original battery Ground cable and gets screwed to the apron with the voltage regulator. Not Ford's best moment in electrical design. 

IMO, replace the battery and clean and check all battery cable connections. If you don't have a direct ground path from Battery to Chassis, add one. Anything you do before that is chasing your tail.

 

 

[n_reckless]

I already thought about upgrading the battery cables even before this issue. So I'd only need this cable set or should I add another extra ground cable to the chassis? If this set is enough the small clip with the red arrow goes under the voltage regulator and the end if the cable goes to the block replacing the existing old ground. Is it correct?