Ok so there I was driving 3 blocks from my house when all of a sudden car shut off, dash went black and headlights went off. I put it in park and attempted to turn it over..... and nothing not even a sound. I opened the hood and observed the electric fans still running but I have it set up directly to the battery until the temp is down to 190. So I knew the battery was good. I checked fuses in the fuse box and none were blown. I observed two wires on the starter about 14 gauge that were completely melted and as soon as i touched them they sparked a bit then broke. Any help would be great because shes broke.....:(

WHAT VEHICLE? :confused:

Sounds like the fusible link blew

ooops sorry yes 72 chevelle 383

OK, in 72, the main fusible link is on the big starter post along with the positive battery cable.
It feeds all power to the big post on the horn relay on the firewall.

Check for 12 volt power there.

You can pick up a new fusible link from the auto parts store and splice it in using heat shrink tubing, IF that is the problem.

Ok if the fuseable link is blown then do I just replace the cable? Could you point me in a direction to find the part? Now just to clearify if this did blow.... that would take out ALL of the systems correct? Thanks for your help!

Not the battery cable, just the smaller feed wire.
should look something like this.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s228/deancall/Team/fuselink_starter.jpg

I cant check out the picture on these darn navy comps but yes the smaller feed wires are what I am talking about.

Not sure what the second one is but whatever it is, it won't hurt for it to have a fusible link in series also.

IF it is one of the smaller wires going to one of the starter's small posts, ("R" or "S") it doesn't really have to have a fuse link but like I said, it won't hurt anything either.

Actually no wire is really needed on the "R" terminal IF the old points type distributor is no longer being used.

You need to look for the short! The fuseable link melted because it's shorted to ground somewhere.
Dan

Yup. Better find the short before putting installing another fusible link. They don't blow for no reason.

Tom

Nothing quite like electrical problems to drive one &$#@ nuts!!! Hopefully it's something stupid and obvious!
Good Luck
Tom
64 SS

Just had this happen on my 67. Checked all the fuseable links and wiring around the front

Turns out it was the main connector at the firewall to the fusebox. Unhooked it, cleaned the connectors, bent the tabs a bit for a better connection and it was fixed.

Not sure how the 72 is, but that connection might also be a place to look

Yup. Better find the short before putting installing another fusible link. They don't blow for no reason.

Tom

Sometimes the reason is "Too close to the hot exhaust"

NMCI Strikes again!

Alrighty Update.....I started to undo the disgustingly $&(#&$#( up wireloom and found tons of extra cut wires and one thing led to another and im swimming in a rats nest of multicolored wires! I am an ET in the navy but this is a catastrophe! So my plan is to rip out the old and install a brand spanking new wire harness..... Any ideas for a good one? I was looking at the "painless" ones on summit opposed to the "factory" style ones.

make sure your headers arent causing the wires to melt happened to me once and i lost total power

Alrighty Update.....I started to undo the disgustingly $&(#&$#( up wireloom and found tons of extra cut wires and one thing led to another and im swimming in a rats nest of multicolored wires! I am an ET in the navy but this is a catastrophe! So my plan is to rip out the old and install a brand spanking new wire harness..... Any ideas for a good one? I was looking at the "painless" ones on summit opposed to the "factory" style ones.
I haven't personally tried any of them myself but I have read where people posted that Painless is far from "painless"
(However, maybe those testimonials should be taken with a grain of salt, considering a lot of people just don't understand electrical basics.)

I *think* I would probably talk to American Autowire IF I couldn't make my own.

Last year I bought the small harness for the A/C on my 67 from http://www.lectriclimited.com/. It was made well and matched the original exactly.

Another place to look for you....

I just recently rewired my 66 with the American Autowire update kit. Good quality, I was very happy with the product.

I got the painless wiring harnes Part# 20102 Muscle Car Harness. Should be a relative breeze.... but as always with this sort of things something will go wrong but shouldnt be too bad. I will take a ton of pictures of the project.

NMCI Strikes again!

What does that mean? :confused::confused:

NMCI is short for Navy marine corps internet. They just block alot of things

NMCI is short for Navy marine corps internet. They just block alot of things
Thanks :beers:

Take another look at your set up. Everything was working fine before, have you changed/installed anything lately?

I had the exact same thing happen to me in a cutlass. It ended up being my ground. I had a good ground to the engine, but not to the body. I rewired my ground from the battery to the engine and body and it cured everything.

Take another look at your set up. Everything was working fine before, have you changed/installed anything lately?

I had the exact same thing happen to me in a cutlass. It ended up being my ground. I had a good ground to the engine, but not to the body. I rewired my ground from the battery to the engine and body and it cured everything.

Body does need a good ground for sure but he said "I observed two wires on the starter about 14 gauge that were completely melted and as soon as i touched them they sparked a bit then broke." so I'm betting that is the problem.
It's not uncommon for the wires at the starter to become deteriorated from all the oil and heat over the years.

just replace that wire on pops camper, he got in a hurry crossed the pos and neg cable went to start and nothing but smoke... replaced with 10 gag. everthing seems to be working good still. might try that first before a complete rewire. save some time, I have also heard paineless can be painfull but never used one so I can not say either way. Best of luck James.

What does that mean? :confused::confused:


HAHA NMCI... They have not blocked me from the site yet. However, now we are not allowed on ebay, and several other popular sites. I wish we had Legacy back, it was so much more user friendly. The government and their contracts... :noway: