Electrical Woes!

[Guest Anonymous]

So I'm cruising home this afternoon after a grueling day at work and my car just quits on me. No electrical activity at all. I can't even turn on the hazard lights. After coasting to a stop, I pop the hood...all connections appear to be okay, fuses okay...but I get nothin' when I turn the key, no lights or gauges of any kind. Any thoughts on what else I should check?

Thanks in advance,

jms

'74 Verona (Murphy)

[Guest Anonymous]

See if you can jump start the car from another one. if you can, then your baatery is completelly drained. But it might not be your only problem. Take the battery to a local auto parts stor. Kragen here wil test them for free. If it passes theit test you might need to replace the alternator or the voltage regolator.

steve

[Guest Anonymous]

make sure your battery terminals are tight and clean. They can look tight and clean and may not be either. Pull 'em off, clean 'em, grease 'em with Vaseline and reinstall.

Complete, everything-dead-all-of-a-sudden is usually a bad battery cable or a sudden dead short inside the battery. If the latter happens, it can prevent the alternator from passing current thru the battery.

Hope you're not still on the roadside working from a laptop and cell phone!

Cheers

Mike

Nevada '69

Sahara '73

[Guest Anonymous]

Here's what happened: It seems the previous owner had jerry-rigged a brace for the battery and the brace had managed to come loose, allowing the battery to slip a little bit this way and that until the pos. terminal finally came in contact with the radiator, causing the battery to ground out and drain completely.

New battery + new brace welded in = back on the road again!

Thanks for your input! Check your batteries to make sure they're solidly in place!

Keep on rollin',

jms

'74 Verona (Murphy)