67 coupe not starting nor any power but has day old battery in it???

elliemach1 · Sep 4, 2011

hey guys so yesterday i installed a brand new battery at noon for my 67 mustang 302 fired right up at first, drove it the gas station got gas and fired up again no problem go my gfs house and parked it for a couple hours and came back from an errand to go home fired up and met some firends shut the car off then it would not start i had nothing not even a click. So we tried jumping it it started up then dies right after i took the jumpers off. Then we tried to get it to run again and nothing, I called AAA and they came out started looking through the car all my connections were good with no corrosion, i cleaned them up before installing the new battery. We tried jumping the starter solenoid first no luck he had a battery tester on the car and it said it was putting out 12.7 volts which was odd. So he said lets try jumping it and we tried and tried it would do half cranks while he moved the jumpers around on the terminals (the connections are solid tight no corrosion) and it finally did a full crank then fired and then i held my foot on it for a min mintue to give it some revs to make sure it wont stall out and then lifted my fot off it stalled. second try we were really having trouble getting it to crank at all, scratching the ground cable to the power steering pump bracket and then it fired after at least 7 tries. Fires up and held throuttle a little longer then it idled on its own even after taking the jumpers off so i go to leave finally and put the car in reverse to back out of my spot and it died again.... I was so frustrated i called a wrecker to tow me home. Oh also my fuses are good!

I described this to eveything in order as best i could to explain what is going on. I have no headlights coming on today even after having the battery tender charger on the new battery on trickle charge and nothing still

Please help

IGN65 · Sep 4, 2011

When it is running do you get around 14 volts at the battery? If not you could have a bad alternator. Do you have electronic ignition?

Slobin3d · Sep 4, 2011

My first guess would be a Bad alt. the Diode may have gone bad, second would be a bad ground.

if you have no power to any accessories, then you aren't getting power to the fuse block. I would start tracing the Pos wire off the battery and looking for corrosion or broken cables. Have you tried a continuity tester on the battery cables and main Pos wires?

elliemach1 · Sep 4, 2011

Thanks for the replies guys i really appriciate it, Thats what the AAA guy said possibly the altenator, when he had a tester on the battery it was not testing the other systems like the tester was not working. All it said was 12.7, It has a points ignition system.
Today i dinked on it again and i found out if i pull on the ground wire to the battery one headlight comes on so i know its getting power now, so i tried jump starting it by jumping the starter solenoid since i took apart the key tumbler it needs to be replaced the inside was falling apart worn out so when i jumped the starter solenoid terminals it sparked which was good because i was not getting anything before and then the headlight would turn off after i jumped the starter solenoid, its weird, im going to take the altenator to get tested its free so why not lol and ill replace the starter solenoid with a new one i used a very old one off a 289 mustang motor out of a boat and get new cables and replace the tumbler with a new one or rebuild it if its possible.

ackjlo · Sep 6, 2011

Where is the battery grounded ? Make sure you have a good ground between the engine and chassis.

Slobin3d · Sep 6, 2011

I was reading in another thread, that you may be over drawing the Alternator if you've added many if any Accs. they aren't rated for high amps, you may want to look into a Higher Power alt if it needs replaced

Rmoore45 · Sep 6, 2011

Do you suddenly just lose all power? If you turn the key on does the gas gauge move? What I'm getting at is you have a good battery but sometimes you just lose all power, when you turn the key on nothing happens, no power anywhere. If this is the case, I would go under the dash and wiggle the black connector near the heater controls. This is where main power comes in without it, nothing works. I had the same problem, wiggled that connector and now everything is fine.

rnrjunkie · Sep 7, 2011

Rmoore45 said:
Do you suddenly just lose all power? If you turn the key on does the gas gauge move? What I'm getting at is you have a good battery but sometimes you just lose all power, when you turn the key on nothing happens, no power anywhere. If this is the case, I would go under the dash and wiggle the black connector near the heater controls. This is where main power comes in without it, nothing works. I had the same problem, wiggled that connector and now everything is fine.

Main dash power comes in on the driver's side behind the gauges. Wiggling any connector is certainly not a "fix" that I would trust to get me home in the dark after a car meet.

rnrjunkie · Sep 7, 2011

elliemach1 said:
hey guys so yesterday i installed a brand new battery at noon for my 67 mustang 302 fired right up at first, drove it the gas station got gas and fired up again no problem go my gfs house and parked it for a couple hours and came back from an errand to go home fired up and met some firends shut the car off then it would not start i had nothing not even a click. So we tried jumping it it started up then dies right after i took the jumpers off. Then we tried to get it to run again and nothing, I called AAA and they came out started looking through the car all my connections were good with no corrosion, i cleaned them up before installing the new battery. We tried jumping the starter solenoid first no luck he had a battery tester on the car and it said it was putting out 12.7 volts which was odd. So he said lets try jumping it and we tried and tried it would do half cranks while he moved the jumpers around on the terminals (the connections are solid tight no corrosion) and it finally did a full crank then fired and then i held my foot on it for a min mintue to give it some revs to make sure it wont stall out and then lifted my fot off it stalled. second try we were really having trouble getting it to crank at all, scratching the ground cable to the power steering pump bracket and then it fired after at least 7 tries. Fires up and held throuttle a little longer then it idled on its own even after taking the jumpers off so i go to leave finally and put the car in reverse to back out of my spot and it died again.... I was so frustrated i called a wrecker to tow me home. Oh also my fuses are good!

I described this to eveything in order as best i could to explain what is going on. I have no headlights coming on today even after having the battery tender charger on the new battery on trickle charge and nothing still

Please help

Get yourself a multimeter, and measure it yourself. When my alternator wasn't charging I had the following voltage directly at the battery:

12.32V full battery everything off
~10.5V @ start
12.09V @ idle
12.11V @ 2k rpm
12.06V @ 2k rpm w/ parking lights
11.95V @ 2k rpm w/ headlights

When the charging system is working you should have around 14.x V while running at 2K RPM. In my case it was a break in the wiring between the alternator and the voltage regulator. If you are getting the alternator tested, then take the voltage regulator with you for testing. It's a lil box located on the inside of the driver's side radiator support.

elliemach1 · Sep 7, 2011

Thanks guys for all your input, i beleive you all are on to somthing about the stangs electrical problem, I will try all your guys advice to see if anything happens more than what i got it to do which is get a headlight to turn on by switching a ground cable. I have the battery ground going into the cylinder head on the passenger side bank of cylinders.
Where would the ground be for the chassis for the 67's? that could be it
The funny thing is when it was runing the amp gauge said it was charging but not like the needle on the gauge was pegged like it was over charging but the gauge could be wrong.

ackjlo · Sep 8, 2011

I think the stock setup was just a braided strap from the intake or rocker cover bolt to the firewall. I would use regular battery cable (I used 01 welding cable on all my battery connections) from wherever convenient on the motor to somewhere on the chassis. I have mine from a starter bolt to one of the idler arm bracket bolts.

StangDreamin' · Sep 12, 2011

Just a dumb "old guy" question; but while you were cleaning the outside of the connectors; did you by chance make a little <snip> and check for any white crusty stuff* all over the copper strands right where they enter into the battery clamps? Corrosion REALLY likes to build up in there; and those shiny cable clamps can't seem to pull a lot of electrons off the cable and put them in the battery through that stuff.
And the shiny outer jacket does an excellent job of covering up the problem.

BTDT; and the corrosive crust burnt holes in the tee-shirt.

EDIT:* "White crusty stuff" is a highly technical term used by DC electricians to accurately describe "white crusty stuff" on power conductors.

67 coupe not starting nor any power but has day old battery in it???

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