Need some electrical trouble shooting help...

[JK]

Okay, I've finally hooked up the last wire on the ole Merc. I took a deep breath, connected the battery, turned the key and promptly noticed no voltage at the voltmeter. I traced every wire, looked at all the fuses, double checked all the connections and I can't find any thing out of place. Is there something I overlooked? Where do I start checking? I took the positive battery cable off and put a voltmeter in between and read approx. 11V. What am I missing?

[choprods]

You have the Ignition wire hooked to Voltmeter, right? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Also is the guage harness grounded good?
how aboput the 50 amp main fuse?[painless wiring?]
Last but not least- is the "Power-In" lead from the hot cable on solenoid to fuse panel connected?

[Tall Paul]

I'm by no means an electrical guru but I have wired up a few cars and what not so I might have some info that could help??

What kind of wiring harness are you using, a reproduction one or the original?? Do you have a wiring diagram for it? If so then physically trace out all the wires and make sure they are where they are meant to be.

The electric circuit is pretty easy if you understand the basics of electricity. I would start chceking the voltage at all points along the harness back to the ignition barrel if you are that unsure it is nothing small.

1st, make sure all your connections are good and solid and metal to metal. Nothing like 50 years of road crap to screw up a good earth connection!

Remember voltage is a difference in potential and should be measured ACROSS two points and not inline eg. measuring from the positive side of the starter solenoid to the cars frame will give a 12v reading as you are effectively reading the battery +ve to the battery -ve. I would then measure all the points you can access back to the fuse panel, and back to the ignition barrel, checking that you have 12v everywhere you should.

Maybe turn the key on, and see if it actually switches the voltage accross? If not maybe ignition barrel is faulty?? You can check this in the car by seeing if it switches the voltage across the terminals on the back of the barrel, or, if you have the ignition barrel out, you can check continuity across the two terminals (my multimeter has an audible BEEP which indicates continuity..). You could check that when you turn the ignition from OFF to ON (not the START) that it switches 12v to all your other gauges, radio, electric wipers? whatever else is on the switched 12v side. If it does switch 12v to all this stuff but then when you switch to the START posiiton it doesnt start, maybe its your automatics neutral safety switch??

or, maybe you have connected the voltmeter gauge up incorrectly??

Hey, like I said, I am no expert, but maybe some of this crap I have just written might help! good luck:)
If you've got any more questions or info, then post it up.

Paul

[kyle paul]

so i might of read it wrong but is there power to anything or is it just to the volt meater?do you have a voltage reg?is your motor grounded.is there a wire from the batt. to the voltage reg?.sorry im jst guessing here i dont really no what else if anything has power

[JK]

Okay Paul, I'm using an E-Z Wire kit. I put one in my 53 Chevy last year. Turned the key, started no problem. I do have a wiring diagam. All the gauges are newer VDO's. I'm sure all the grounds are good. I have 12V at the Starter. The ignition switch is brand new. I question the starter push button though. I will check the ignition switch. Now that I think about it, it could be the switch. I'm really gonna go over that tomorrow. Thanks Paul.