'67 Eldorado Quit. Advice please

[Steve W]

Back in Sept 2009, I made a post about what happened to my 68 Coupe deVille.
I had only just recently purchased the car. I was coming home from the Friday night Bob's Big Boy cruise-in when my car suddenly died just like yours, with one exception: it was on fire!

When the car died, so did the engine, power steering, power brakes, lights, everything! I was able to muscle it over to the curb without incident and coast to a stop. I could already smell the smoke and knew it was electrical in nature (nothing else smells quite like old-car insulation burning!) Popped open the hood, and down by the starter there was fire.

Luckily I ALWAYS have a fire extinguisher in any car I ever drive. New, used, classic, doesn't matter. I was able to put out the fire in about 3 seconds.

At the time, I had AAA tow it to a repair facility and the mechanic there fixed it the next day. The wiring near the starter had come loose from a broken zip tie the previous owner's mechanic had professionally installed (!) and the wires hit the hot exhaust manifold and really made a mess. The mechanic said I was lucky I got the fire out so fast and it only created minimal damage!

So, the moral of the story is...ALWAYS have a fully-charged fire extinguisher in the car where you can grab it immediately...like on the floor of the back seat.

You are getting TONS of great info here on how to diagnose and fix your issue, as did I when I posted my story, and anything I would say would just be repetitious. 

Good luck with your Cadillac!

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I had a similar issue with my '72 Eldo.   I was mid-drive to the North of the State, and after pulling in to a stop for refreshments, I went to start the car, and smoke came out from under the hood.

I immediately popped the hood, and reefed onto the Battery Negative clamp which came off the post, and looked straight down to the Starter area.

Turns out that the Chassis loom had become frayed at the wiring bracket that kept it clear of the Exhaust, and shorted out.   The Fusible Link in the Chassis Loom had blown, resulting in no power to continue the burning.   After it cooled down, the Exhaust, that is, a quick twist of the two ends of said fusible link, some electrical tape and a cable tie had me back on the road.  (Second picture)

When I returned home, I rebuilt the wiring section, and presses the old bracket back into service, but this time, increased the protection.

I now recommend a quick release Battery Isolator in case it ever happens again.   May not pass judging, but there should be allowances for things like these important items.

Bruce.  

[cadillacmike68]

You either have bad battery cables (they might look fine but are corroded internally) or a problem with the wires going to the starter.

With NO headlights, etc, I would suspect the battery cables first.

I have had this happen with my 1968 DVC a few times, a new pair of battery cables and / or starter wiring corrections have helped it.

[Lexi]

So, the moral of the story is...ALWAYS have a fully-charged fire extinguisher in the car where you can grab it immediately...like on the floor of the back seat.

Yep! I once had a '56 Coupe de Ville go up in flames while driving. This horror story only ended after I spent all summer re-wiring the car and replacing damaged parts. Always, always travel with a fully charged fire extinguisher. Clay/Lexi