I have a 65 mustang and it is not starting. The battery is new but I can't get the lights to turn on..... no electrical power. If I put it to a jumper it will start and run, as long as my foot is on the gas. Anybody know why??? I am looking for a bad ground but can't find it.

 

Welcome to the board!

Well, I know nothing about the classic 'Stangs, but do check out the classics forums and sub-forums; they should be able to help you out:
https://mustangforums.com/forum/classic-mustangs-16/

 

good luck

 

BTW sweet car!

 

Does the battery have any power when you are not jumping it?..If so does it spark when you attach the battery cables?..You may have a bad short somewhere..If not you should have a good ground cable that bolts to the engine and then one from the engine to the firewall..Make sure the positive cable is getting a good connection on both ends..If you have a volt meter try and get a reading when it is running to see if it is charging or not.It should be putting out 13-14.5 volts..

 

The battery has power sometimes. It will spark a little when connecting. If I can get power out of it I can turn the key and get a clicking sound then all power is lost again.

 

Second that, it should read close to 13 even with the car off. Can you find the Month and Year sticker on your battery to see how old it is, if it is older than 5 years it is kaput. Also you can take it to AutoZone or some other local auto parts store to have it tested before you tear into further troubleshooting.

 

Clicking sound is the bendix popping in and out of the starter, that is a good sign.

Sounds like a weak, bad, or dirty connection. Remove the terminals, clean the posts with a wire brush, and preferably a spray can of battery cleaner, clean the terminal clamps, tighten them back up. Follow the fat cable to the starter, passenger side of engine and see if you can wiggle it, is it loose or is it tight. Do the same for the cables going to the starter relay on the passenger side inside fender, some call it a starter solenoid (I won't go there...)

What ever you do, post updates so we know what fixed it, this is a classic, hey my car won't start post, and we can all learn from it.

 

any progress on the car ?

 

not yet. i got home today and played with it. turned on the lights to see if they would work and got nothing. started wiggling all the wires to see if i could get a spark or flicker of anything without any luck. walked away for a bit and forgot i left the lights on, came back and they had power. wiggled it all again with no change.