DodgeCoronet.com

So the fun with my electrical continues.

So today I went out to start the net and it wouldn't turn over. No power at all. So I took the battery out and brought it to orielys to test. Battery passed fine and was at 90% when he threw it on. Threw on the right amperage fuses. After throwing the battery back on it still wouldn't start, and the dome/tail light went out. Played with the positive terminal and finally got it to start. Dome/tail light still not coming on. Radio had power and cig lighter had power.

So I drove over to orielys to buy some electrical cleaner and wire brush. Come back out and the car again wont start. Dome/tail light still out. Playing with the wire wouldn't let it start. Cleaned the terminals and still no go. No power at all to the car. Sprayed some corrosion spray on everything and still nothing. So we started to think it might be the ignition relay switch. So I took it off and threw the new one on right there. Still nothing. Occasionally the head lights would come on but then quickly go off, dome light still not coming on. So at this point I take the battery back in to test and its good. At 80%. Guy comes around to try and jump me off because we started to think maybe the battery is bad.

While hes pulling around I have the headlights on and pull on the positive battery cable. (It runs down to the starter) and the head lights come on. Push it opposite way and they go off. AHHA!! This cable must be the issue. So I have him pull it tight and sure enough the car starts up. However the dome light still wont come on. At this point ive been there 4 hours and just want to get the car home. (At this point im thinking this cable must be bad and will replace in the morning.)

So when I get home I notice my dome/tail lights still aren't working. So I pull the fuse for tail/dome and put it back in and walla, the dome light comes back on and tail lights start working. While im down there I go ahead and spray some corrosion spray on the end of the cable bolted to the starter. Drive to the store and then back home. Get out and now when I pull this cable nothing happens. The car continues to run lights stay on etc etc.

So now I am absolutely stumped The car is now not shutting off when tugging this cable. Is it possible spraying the corrosion spray on the end at the starter fixed the problem? Seems weird that that alone would fix it?

Any time the dome light/tail lights go out and wont come back on all I have to do is pull the fuse and put it back in and these lights work again? Same fuse, doesn't blow, but something is tripped and wont reset until i pop the fuse and put it back in. The horn is now not working but I would be willing to bet if i pop the fuse for the horn and put it back in the horn will work again.

Im so confused now and have no idea what could be going on. Any one have any ideas?

Pull all the wires going into firewall off and clean and inspect them. Do this one at a time,disconnect battery while doing this. If the terminal ends are bad,replace,check the spades on the junction box when you are disconnecting the wires to makes sure they are good.You may want to also get underneath the dash and check the wires coming from junction box into car. Check for bad wires and loose connection,again 1 wire at a time.Good luck and I also hate electrical issues

i agree with honcho sound like you have more of a connection problem.i have been thru my probs with wiring.last week i went thru the harness block on the firewall when i bypassed the ammeter and was suprised at how loose some connections were.take a wire brush and use your spray to clean out the female side.also a good idea to use needle nose pliers to pull on each male end to make sure they are seated well.good luck

I hate elecrical S***!! I'm in aw of people that can figure it out!!

Ok, I got it figured out. With the exception of the driver side brake light and horn, and im going to replace the bulb here in an hour.

So I took the cable off that running from battery to starter and the wires running from ignition relay switch to starter. It was all one piece in a harness. Some how the wires had become damaged up above the metal eye hooks. Im assuming what was happening is these were touching each other and causing a short in the system. So I have replaced this and everything is working properly with the exception of the back brake light and horn

Car is running better now as well. More power.

I will report back here later on this. Any ideas what could be causing the horn not to work? I have to assume there is something that could have burnt out with the short in the wiring?

The horn itself is toast or the horn relay switch is burnt out. Also, check to see if the horn switch inside the steering column is making contact. Sometimes that wire in there gets cracked and shorts out or comes off the connection.

Yea racer brown,electrical problems suck.I agree with you totally,people who can figure that crap out,I will buy them lunch and a . All my electrical issues usually come down to a grounding problem,some electrical geek told me that about 95% of electrical problems come from a grounding problem.

The horn was working before all the electrical stuff started. So my best bet is the relay switch then right?
And the driver side brake light? I know its not the self grounding plug because the tail light is working. I went and put a new bulb in tonight and still not working. The guy at orielys suggested I get a light tester to see if the wire that delivers power to it is getting power to the plug.

Any other ideas? Still havent had a chance to clean the fuse box yet. But if both tail lights and the brake light on passenger side is getting power it can't be the fuse box right?

After fixing the battery cable today the car is running great. More power from the engine. All of the lights interior lights are now working and they are about double the brightness they were.


As for fixing the battery cable earlier. The car is running great. Has more power behind the engine and al of thr

So I think we have narrowed a few things down.

Believe the brake light issues have to do with switch under the dash being bad.

I think the issue with the dash lights are because the terminals on the fusebox need to be cleaned. The fuse for these keeps blowing. Could that be caused by the terminals being dirty?

Now a seperate weird issue. With the key out of the ignition. Pressing the brakes makes the radio come on? No clue on this one.

Would have done it today but spent the better part of it changing out a wheel cylendar. Also discovered the tire rods are shot.

Sixty bucks for a tire rod? That's rediculous!