i put a new battery and new starter in my 79 chevy pickup. now my my gauegues on my instrument cluster wont come on my motor wont turn over. thte only thing i got is a dome light.i checked the fuse link in the ignition wire and its good i cchecked all the fuese and they were all good. please help asap
I think there is a separate red wire at the positive battery cable connection (at the battery). It didn't break or become disconnected by any chance did it? Did you clean the cable ends good? Cables on the correct posts? Just some things to check....
Leon Rowell
rednbluemarker wrote:
yes i replaced the battery the day before i changed the starter and my motor was turning over then the next day i changed the starter and now i cant get anything but a dome light
If you disconnected the battery cables to install the starter the small wire on the positive cable still could have broken off or become disconnected or maybe it's not making good contact.
There may also be a small wire with a large end that fits on the same post on the starter that the battery cable fastens to. It sounds like there is a wire that isn't connected somewhere.
Leon Rowell
rednbluemarker wrote:
yeah i know what wire you are talking about . there is a fuse link in it, i got a test light and checked on each side of it and there both hot. so the sarter is geting power and htere is power comin out of it and i followed the wire along the fire wall and it comes in at the fuse bow i am getting power up until the fuse box but there isnow power comin out of the fuse box except the dome light wire sounds like its someing in the fuse box but what would make all the wires have no juice. thnks for all the input so far ist starteing to make me think about the things i have done to try to get it fixed. please respond
What happens to the dome light when you try to start the truck (turn the key)? If it goes out, you have a short between the bat and the starter, or the battery isn't any good , maybe broken post inside the new battery, perhaps dropped by someone at the store? Has it ever started with this battery? swap it out or jump and see what happens, could be the ignition switch too. Good Luck Danno
i replaced the battery the day before i replaced the starter and it was turning over but the starter was bot letting it start so i got a new one and the old one had half the gear broke so i know it needed one. but like i said i put the battery in the dayy before and it was turning over o i know it was good plus if it wasent i wouldnt have a dome light. doubt theres a short between the bat and starter cuase i looked the wire over good. thanks for th ideas guys keep sending
On my 80 Chevy C10, I had almost the same problem when I replaced the starter except even the dome light wouldn't work. Turned out that the big cable running from the positive terminal of the battery to the starter solenoid was loose (I thought it was tight but it wasn't). Tightened it at the solenoid and everything was joy once again.
rednbluemarker wrote: >>> Sounds sarcastic, but here goes, I doubt you did anything wrong, problem sounds like new starter has bad solenoid.
Remove starter, hook up jumper cables to big terminal, and ground NEG to starter housing. Use a jumper, or screwdriver, and short to " inner " S terminal. Hold starter with foot, it will jump when energized. Starter jumps, = OK no jump = no good
yeah i know the wire you talking about i guess i can double check and make sure. thanks
hey i just want to tell you i took it out and tryed it like you said and it sparked and kicked tell you the truth it scared the bejesus out of me but it does work so now im gonna hook it back up but before i do im goin to look for any shorts under there ty for advice.... anymore?
Yes you could have a dome light with a bad pole internal to the battery, it only takes about 200 milliamps to turn on that dome light, could do that with a potato and a couple nails almost. As long as you are certain you or anyone else didn't break the pole internally, on your "new" battery, then move on. Does the dome light or better yet - your headlights, extinguish when you try to crank the starter? If it does, you either are loading the battery with a short, or the battery is failing through a bad connecton internal or external. no questions about that. If the dome light stays lit, you are not completing the starting circuit. You got to start somewhere. key switch, no ground, bad wires, or bad connection. and by the way, the "resistive wire " doesn't play any part in the cranking circuit. just the primary ignition circuit. You can cut it and it will still crank over, just not start. Just because its new doesn't mean its good either. I had to chase down a problem I had with a brand new chrome coil that left me driving 30 MPH tops for over 50 miles last year.
give us some more symptoms too, you don't call your doctor and say I'm sick, but I been drinking OJ and taking aspirin, what's wrong?
Does it click when you turn the key? Can you take the starter out and hot jump it to see if it turns over? Resistance reading between the little terminals on the solenoid and motor ground? You do have a ground between the motor and the battery? is there 12V at the big cable both ends to ground?
Danno
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