Help Debug my '78 Seville Ignition Problem!

[Gary Christensen CLC # 21112]

Hi All,

Although I wasn't driving at the time, my '78 Seville conked out mid-drive.  The driver told me that the Alternator dummy light was on, so my assumption was that the Alternator had quit and the battery finally ran out of charge resulting in no more spark.  He told me that he cranked it a few times before giving up, which confused me because I would have assumed that if there wasn't enough juice to keep the car running, there wouldn't be enough to crank it at all.

After the tow home, he said the car didn't crank at all.  The tow truck left my car in the middle of the driveway, so I wanted to at least get it running off of the battery in order to get it in the garage.  No luck with recharging the battery, so I bought a new one.

I opened the door, saw the interior lights -- as expected -- and gave it a crank.  One click and nothing.  Moreover, after that there wasn't any juice at all -- no interior light, no radio, nothing.

The "click" makes me think "starter", but I don't understand why there'd be no juice at all from the new battery.  If it's the starter, I understand why it won't turn over but why did I lose the interior lights, etc.?

As an aside, the fuel injection has been replaced by a good old fashioned carburetor, but I don't think that has anything to do with it.

Any thoughts?

Gary

[TJ Hopland]

I would be starting with grounds and battery cables, both ends.  You can troubleshoot grounds with a jumper cables.   Try connecting from the battery ground to the engine and or adding a ground between the engine and body. 

While you are looking at the positive cable at the starter have a look at the other wires down by the starter.  That is where the rest of the power feeds pick up the power.  What often happens is someone replaces a starter and doesn't take the time to re install shields and make sure the wires are properly routed so over time they can get damaged especially since they often get close to the exhaust.

I'm not sure where the body to engine ground is on that car but around the starter is a common location.

[79 Eldorado]

TJ,
It's not the same car as mine but the engine is the same and my block to body ground was the rear of the passenger side head to a bracket on the firewall. When I was doing my intake I noticed the end of the ground was crimped but not well enough to prevent the braided copper ground from coming completely out of the terminal.

Scott

[Gary Christensen CLC # 21112]

Thanks guys!  Your advice matches exactly what another mechanic friend told me.  He said that the battery cables themselves might need to be replaced, but I'll start at the starter connections.

Getting my hydraulic jack from the garage to the gravel courtyard where my car is stuck is going to be no fun.

Gary

[Burt6666]

There should be 2 positives wires at the battery post.They tend to corrode between the 2 causing exactly what you describe.