Electrical problem?

[Huck]

Hello, I am working on an all stock '64 Chevy short bed step side. It has been my daily driver, then it gets worked on weekends. Until I had a weird problem. I was not starting well, and ended up needing a jump a few times. I was busy and didn't have time to work on it, so it sat for a month. When I went to restart it (with new battery and alternator) it wouldn't run for more than a few seconds. It seemed like the same amount of time as the gas I poured in the carb. So, I replaced the fuel pump, cleaned the filters, and checked the tank. All ok. But then, a 2nd problem.
My Starter went dead. I bridged the starter siloniod (after I put a new one in) and it would turn over, but not at the switch? I checked the switch and the light said it was good. So then I went wire by wire looking anything wrong. Nothing. But when I hooked it all back up the switch worked... ...Once. Now I'm right back to wear I started.
Any ideas? I hate the idea of tearing out the wiring again, and not knowing that it will do anything.

 

[Craig]

I would replace the switch first.The switch may have a bad contact in there that doesn't allow a load to go thru.Try a switch first before replacing the whole harness.
Craig Hager
[email protected]

 

[Bowtie]

Before you start replacing parts aka shotgun trouble shooting try this. Next time it starts acting up, remove the connector off the back of the switch, you will have to check for the power wire, take this wire and jump it to the acc wire, then take another jumper and jump from the batt wire to the starter wire till it fires up (it might give some minor sparks on inital contact dont worry). If the starter engages, remove the wire from the Batt to the starter wire after it starts. If the starter does not bump at all, hook a multi meter up to the wire on the solonoid, do the same thing and have someone see if you read voltage you should have a full 12 vdc. This will test if is the switch. The wire could be shorted to something such as a header (personal experience)or a bad connector at the quick disconnect on the fire wall and be intermittent.

Let me know how it works.

p.s. this is also known as hotwiring (dont tell john law)

 

[ROY]

I JUST HAD A SIMULAR PROBLEM WITH MY 64 FLEET SIDE. MY TRUCK STARTED NOT STARTING AT TIMES AND THEN STARTING NORMALLY ,I TRACED THE WIRIND AND FOUND NOTHING ,I CHANGED THE IGNICION, STARTER AND COIL. IT STARTED SO I PUT THE OLD COIL BACK ON THAT LEAVES ME WITH THE STARTER OR IGNITION SWITCH. ALSO MY HADLGHT STARTED FLICKERING ;ONCE IT JUST DIED COMIMG OFF THE FREEWAY LIGHTS AND ALL. WELL I DONT THINK THIS INFO WILL HELP BUT I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD HURT TO TRY. MY TRUCK HAS A 348/400 COMBO

 

[Bowtie]

One common problem on these trucks is when they get old they have intermittent electrical problems which are usally fixed by trying this. There are 2 or 3 wiring harnesses under the hood, one for charging, one for lighting and one for starting/engine. The end on the firewall is plastic and tends to get dirt and corrosin on the connectors. Get a can of contact cleaner and a wire brush, liberally spray and clean the contacts on both sides and this will fix 90% of the electrical problems except for when something is modified then you can usally find a broke wire somewhere. Also the wires tend to get brittle but should be in good order if they have been unmolested over the years, You can try ohms checking the wires and see if there is high resistance in one of the wires, also try flexing the harness with the meter connected up and check for fluxuations.

Let us know what you find

 

[Huckleberry]

Well, I'm not much better than last time I posted, but, I have been only half working on the wiring. I have put in new switch, starter, alt., battery, and ran a "hot wire" switch inside the cab right off the starter/battery. So, I have to turn the key and then pull my switch. Also, when I turn on more than 1 electoral item (i.e.. lights, wipers, ect.) it shuts my CD player off. This was not a problem until a few months ago, and then it all started at the same time (when my battery/alt went out).
Soon I guess I'll pull the wiring and put in a new harness, but I just bought a ton of other stuff for the truck and am tapped.
Thanks for the advice, I'll repost if I get it figured out.
[email protected]