jman1014

I just replaced the battery cables and the solenoid on my 67 Coupe. Car started fine, but the parts were old. Now the car won't start. No juice at all. No lights, no clicking, no cranking, no nothing. Not sure what happened. Hoping someone can enlighten me as to what might be wrong. There is absolutely no power to the car. I thought it was the battery and got it charged and reconnected it. Still won't start. All other wires are old, but unsure if they are original. Like I said, thing started up before changing the battery cables and solenoid.

When I was working, I did have some sparks fly from the battery while the solenoid was connected. Could that that have fried something?

I also tried putting the old solenoid back on to see if it was a bum part. Still nothing.

68stanger

Make sure you have a ground cable attached to the body AND the engine, otherwise everything will be dead.

jman1014

I have the ground attached to the negative lead. Is that wrong? The old negative lead had the ground attached to the body and then it went inside the negative lead head. The head had a little extra bump on it where it went. It was on the car when I got it. Worked fine. I assumed that is what I would do with new ground when I got it.

Where would you attach the ground wire if not there?

Thanks for the response.

68stanger

Make sure where the cable meets the body is clean and corrosion free, if the car has no ground- no power. Did you hook up the power feed to the car on the battery side of the solenoid? If you have it hooked up to the starter side your car will be dead. The only cable on the starter side of the solenoid should be the starter cable.

Also make sure the engine block has a ground strap, it may be on the firewall, or some setups have a ground wire from the body terminal to the engine block. Since the engine is mounted on rubber engine mounts it is insulated from the body without the strap.

jman1014

I have just the starter hooked up to the one side. I hooked everything up the way it was with the old one.

The spot on the body for the ground is corrosion free. I may try moving it to a different spot just to see.

Should I hook the ground up to where the negative lead hooks up to the engine?

Also, looking back on it, does the black wire go on the S **** or the I **** of the solenoid? My car has a black and a lighter color (looks like red, but hard to tell). Not sure if that will effect it or not either. The electrical system was never my area of expertise on a car...which is quite clear I think.

jman1014

Went and tried moving the ground around this afternoon. Nothing. The car is completely dead. I can't get any lights or any sound out of the motor. I put a different battery in the car. The battery didn't have enough cold crank amps to start the car, but it was plenty close, enough where I should be able to get headlights or a radio. Absolutely nothing.

Any ideas at this point are welcome.

Any idea if a spark on the battery could short out the entire electrical system?

hiboostwoody

You might have fried the fusible link when you shorted it (sparks when the solenoid was connected) but I can't remember where the heck it is so you can check it.

jman1014

OK. Any idea on a price, as I have no idea how to fix something like that.

hiboostwoody

They are easy. It is basically just a link of wire that you would have to cut out and splice a new one in but I just can't remember where the heck it is on a 67. If you do find it, be sure to get an actually fusible link from the auto parts store. Don't try to just put in a regular piece of wire. It will work but you will have no protection if you short it out again. Sorta like wrapping a blown fuse with aluminum foil.

hiboostwoody

Oh, and you can probably get the right fusible link for uner $5 from a parts store.