69' coupe no start situation, need help please

[Blinkrazy 10]

Hey guys, I've been around for awile and I've learned quite a lot from y'all. It's really been great to be able to rely on the tips and info on the site and my 3+ year resto has benefited a great deal.

 

With that said, I've been fighting electrical demons in the coupe since day 1 and it's gotten to the point where almost everything has been replaced aside from the oem dash harness and the ignition switch. I'm running a msd6al and corresponding dizzy. Aside from that it's the various auto zone solenoid, starter, battery, coil etc...

 

Well my starter used to stick sometimes when it would fire up and I'd have to smack the solenoid for it to stop..... Never figured out what actually caused that, but new solenoids helped, 10+:surrender:

 

Now, it will not fire at all, the starter isn't even spinning and the power is instantly drained when I turn the key to the start position and it pops once at the battery terminal.

 

I've checked the wiring diagram multiple times and everything seems to check out, the battery and starter checked out, the solenoid and volt regulator are new, and I have several coils I can swap out to check

 

At this point I'm about to throw in the towel and grab a painless kit:helpsmilie:

 

What can y'all come up with for me to try, she got new exhaust recently and I really want to be able to cruise her around and I'm to the last of my patience.

 

Sorry for the long post I tried to include all the info I could, ready set go!

[dzahm 10]

WHen you try to start it "pops" at the battery? That sounds like a bad connection. Got a voltmeter? Check volts at the battery, then check on the battery cable taking care not to touch the battery terminal, now repeat at the solenoid, (if good so far- take a screw driver and jump out the solenoid) this should eliminate a bad solenoid. If still nothing- continue out to the starter, and check the gounds as well. If that ain't it post back

[Blinkrazy 10]

Volts at the batt and solenoid are 12.6~ when I tried to jump the solenoid last, it sparked but nothing happened, grounds- batt to engine mount, and another strap from the intake manifold to firewall, all other grounds in the engine bay have been redone and sanded in the last week.

 

After I try to crank it and it pops, all the power is drained and the inside light comes back on slowly but it won't let me try to crank it again till I take the battery - off and wait

[dsc2 10]

You may also have a short in the battery. Do you have a battery meter that allows you to put a load on the battery? If one or more of the cells boil, you have a short. This could be due to sitting a long time without a trickle charger being used.

You could also put a jumper to a known good battery and see if you have the same results.

[Blinkrazy 10]

I've switched the battery to my other car and it cranked and I had it tested just to make sure and they said it was fine.

[jeepcj7304 10]

Mine was doing this before and it was a bad ground. If the solenoid sparks when you jump it but doesnt fire the starter then it is most likely a ground, voltage, or starter. You are saying the voltage is good so check the others.

[dzahm 10]

Can you get someone to check volts when you try to start? If the volts drop- its a battery (if checking on the battery terminals) If not- start cleaning connections- I bet thats your issue,

[LoneWolf2U 136]

You turn the key to crank the eng and the batt level drops enough that the dome light goes out. This is a indicator of a direct shorting of the batt.

Best guess the starter is hung up.

[Blinkrazy 10]

Ok, I'll check all the grounds again, yet I just re did all of them to no avail over the weekend. Yes, the system shorts out every time I try to crank it. The starter was fine when I took it to autozone to check it and it is new but I did have a starter wire melt the end closest to the starter... What could have caused this besides the starter sticking?

 

Does anyone have a clue why I had to smack the solenoid to cut the starter off? Btw I could take to key out and the starter would still be stuck until I hit the solenoid... Is it crappy repro solenoids or signaling a more serious wiring problem?

 

Thanks for all the help, hopefully we can figure this out, oh it's a 351w if I hadn't mentioned that.

[LoneWolf2U 136]

Starter wire melt is from too much draw to make the starter work, bad bearings or internal problems.

New does not mean good, Did they check it underload?

Sticky sol is usually a poor ground at sol or heavy amp draw from the starter motor.

[Blinkrazy 10]

Yes, they checked it under load and the starter worked.

Could you explain how to much amp draw could be caused by internal problems?

And in case I've done something wrong with my solenoid ground, can someone spell out in simplistic terms where my grounds need to be to and from?

[LoneWolf2U 136]

I have gotten starters that were supposed to be rebuit and had an extreame amp draw. If the rear or nose bearings are bad the armature will bind and need more current to make it turn.

Possable bad winding on arm/coils.

 

Grounds are anywhere there is an electrical connection.

Batt to eng block, block to firewall, sol to apron, reg to apron ect.

[Blinkrazy 10]

Ok yea I have that grounding setup and they are all clean shiny metal and it's all tight.

I'll have to wait till later to get back out there, it's like a hurricane showed up out of nowhere, gotta love south east ga!

[Blinkrazy 10]

Could this be caused by my msd box going out, broken or touching wires in the harness, a incorrect wire placement, or an incorrect alt/reg or solenoid?

 

At this point all the grounds I can see are solid, but I'm running out of things to try,

For those of you who have gone to an aftermarket harness, what seems to be the most straight forward and adaptable kit? I have seen aaw and painless.

 

Let's keep brainstorming but I plan to pull the trigger on a harness in the next week so let me know what yalls experiences have been, thanks Jimmy

[etel64 10]

AAW is what I used and it was very very easy. All circuits are indiviual and no longer a crap load of feeds on one fuse. Was a huge relief because I once had issues like you. I have gone to a Pertronix coil & dizzy, motorsport starter, electric fans, 100A altn etc. I think I paid around $600 for the AAW becuase this was a complete resto mod and I didnt want any of those gobblins hanging around.

[Blinkrazy 10]

Thanks for the input, that's what I was leaning toward, will I adapt it to my cash cluster harness or does it have it's own section?

[Mike65 476]

There are a couple guys here who have used the AAW harness's & I plan on using it when I re-do my 69 Coupe.

[etel64 10]

Take a look on AAw site and find the schematics/wiring diagrams. it will show you every part. ie, dash connections, engine bay connections, dash connections, etc. It is a well thought out instruction manual and matches the harness that they build. Of course you have to have basic understanding of wiring. :thumbup1: