planet_rob

Hello all. I got in my '65-289 this morning and when I turn the key on, no oil or ALT light. Wipers wont work either. Car will crank and run, interior lights work, but I don't want to drive all the way across town if the alternator isn't charging the battery. Oh, and the fuel and temp gauges are dead too. Just happened all of a sudden. Fuse? Wire? All worked fine last night when I came home and parked it. It's a daily driver, not a whole lot of restoration done.

Thanks in advance.........rob

paddy187

fuse first port of call the the most likely u will be changing if running, does speedo work? lights etc.

Grimm

Do your parking and headlights work? Sounds like a fuse. Were you up under your dash and possibly pulled some wires?

planet_rob

Hi and thanks. Speedo works, headlamps work. Not sure about the "green" dash lights to see speedo at night, as it's day now. Also out is the cig lighter, heater fan, horn. I wasn't under the dash during the near past. The reason I worry about driving across town to work (not that worried to miss work..haha) is I had a later model car a few years ago that lost an alternator. The car ran for a while using the battery for spark ( I am assuming) but when the battery got weak enough, the spark was too little to ignite fuel and I was stuck. I don't want to repeat that as I have to drive 30 minutes on interstate to work, and even though it was near 60 degrees this morning, it's now dipping below 30 with wind gusts around 40-50 mph mixed with rain/sleet. Not good working conditions, so I thought I would get some ideas here before I go outside and be miserable. I've found a pack of many different fuses I once bought for her so I will go out and just replace all of them since I'm going to have to crawl under the dash. I'm sure some of the fuses are way old. I can read what amps go where, so that should be doable....just really cold.

Oh, one thing I thought of....this car has sat in storage for the last 6-8 months. My other car lost a tranny, so I had to bring the stang out and drive her. Last night was the first time I've driven her with the lights, heater fan on high and wipers going at the same time. Maybe one or more fuses just had enough life left in them and decided to die. Thing is, when I pulled into the driveway last night all was well. I didn't start her this morning and then later notice things went out. Each time I begin to turn the key on any car I look at the dash to see that all the important lamps are indeed working. As soon as I turned the key, but before I turned enough to start cranking, I saw no lights. I sat there for a moment wondering what was up, then I went ahead and cranked to see if my battery was dead. Cranks and starts fine.

I'll post if replacing the fuses fixes it.

Thanks again all.

............rob

planet_rob

Well, all fuses changed under the driver's side dash. Are there others I don't know about? No changes. Is there a harness that has the wires together for the things I mentioned that don't work? Maybe if that exists, it's come dislodged or something. Any suggestions would help as this is my only transportation right now.

Thanks in advance...............rob

Grimm

The FAQ site has a decent wiring diagram of the 65. I would start by looking under the dash for loose wires.

planet_rob

Thanks Grimm. I've been looking for that FAQ site, but all I see where I went are FAQs about how to post/edit etc. Can you give me a link to where you are talking about? EDIT: Nevermind. I found it.

Thanks to all who have responded. I really appreciate the help.

............rob

planet_rob

Hi all. I STILL have not found the problem. I'm still looking for ideas, so if anyone has any, let 'em rip. I have to work on this outside, no garage, with wind and snow blasting me while I lay on the floor board trying to find the wiring problem, so any ideas would be much appreciated. One more thing that happened, I drove to lunch one day last week and when I came out and tried to start her, it was like the battery had been drained. It turned over a couple of times slowly, then click click. I waited and tried again, then a funny thing happened. When it turned over very slowly, I stopped trying to crank and took the key out. The engine kept on trying to crank over, then after a couple of turns quit. Very odd. The key was still out of the ignition. I went back after work and she fired up fine as if nothing had happened. But I did notice, now that it was dark, that the lights for the gauges was dim, and the headlights didn't glow brighter when I reved the engine, as was normal before all this happened.

Please help. I have to drive this car to work everyday and I need to find this!

Thanks in advance.........rob

Soaring

You are looking at the Main MF page FAQ. After you come onto the Classic section, look at the top and you will see the FAQ classic section. Scroll down about 3/4 of the way and you will see wiring diagrams. Here is one. click on the 65 section then click on the first one. That will be the dash wiring diagram. Look at the bottom and you will see a magnifying glass. Click on the (+) glass then click on the diagram. Keep doing that until the picture is blown up enough to where you can read it.
Try to get your car into a warm and dry place so you can work on it. Use a good flashlight and wiggle all the wires under there to find the one that has come loose. It's a PITA engough without having to fight the weather too.
http://www.midlife66.com/wiring/wiring.html

planet_rob

Thanks Soaring. I hope my frustration isn't showing too much in my posts. I guess having to rely on a car in mid-restoration for all my transportation makes having a vintage Mustang less fun and more a hassle. It shouldn't be that way. I'll just keep trying. The fix is just sitting there waiting for me to find.

There's so much information on this site and I appreciate all that's been contributed. I've also enjoyed seeing everyone's Mustangs.

Thanks again............rob