Just finished rewire, no power to anything.

I just finished rewiring my 63 Rambler Ambassador, used an ez2wire kit. Finished it up, checked the connections, circuit tested, etc. The battery is reading a little over 12 volts on the multimeter. Nothing is working. No lights, no horn, no starter, no heater, no fuel pump, absolutely nothing. It's as if there's no battery in the car at all.

I don't even know where to start looking. I used the stock wiring diagram, and made damn sure each wire was going to the right place as I went. I'm completely stumped. Anyone know what could be going on? I have hours upon hours upon hours into this and don't know what I could have messed up.

 

Did you check your grounds?

 

Your 10 ga RED ]Bat-PLUS][power in] wire from the solenoid/Alternator/ to the fuse panel is not connected.....Also this needs a fusible link in this wire...

 

Check GROUNDS.

 

12 v from Bat + to the frame or engine block? Any fuseable links that maybe got smoked when you installed the battery?

 

I ran the power from the alternator to the second connection on the battery cables (my battery cables had build in fusible link with a second connection built in), which goes to the solenoid.

Here's a quick diagram:

 

Is the grey wire off the alternator a ground? I thought the alternator grounded through the casing, and the only thing I could find online for the grey was it was for the GEN idiot light.

This is my first rewire, on my first project car, and most of the stuff I know about car electronics I've learned as I went through it, so sorry if these questions are a little obvious.

 

Use your voltmeter to determine where you have power, starting at the battery.
If you have power at the battery as you say, then see if you have power at the fuse box and/or the ignition switch............and check your grounds like others have said.

The online wiring diagram for the EZ2wire shows a fusible link in the 10ga red wire. Is it blown?

 

You'll probably get better help from EZWire directly. They know their system better than anyone. They can tell you exactly where to put your test light or meter for testing.

 

Your blue wire hooking the IGN spot of your switch should not go to the starter solenoid. The IGN spot on the solenoid would have run back to the coil side of the ballast resistor to bypass it during starting.

 

Looking at your diagram the Ign wire from the switch should be going to the coil rather than the solenoid.
Check the connector you have the (yellow in the drawing) line running from the fuse block to the ign switch .

You should have a wire going to the ign switch that is "hot" all the time and one running from the switch to the "switched" circuits on the fuse block.
In other words your red wire should continue on from the fuse block to the BATT pin on the ign switch.

 

Could you take some pictures of your car? Like the wiring at the starter relay....etc.

 

The gray wire looks like it would go to the light on the dash to let you know when it is not charging. It also "excites" the alternator to make it charge.

 

What does the starter solenoid/relay look like? Is it part of the starter, or separate, mounted on the inner fender?

If it's a separate one, did you make sure to connect the wire that feeds power to the fusebox to the same side as the battery cable? or did you connect it to the starter cable side?

That's the only thing I can think of that would give the symptoms you're describing.

 

The starter solenoid bolts onto the starter. I found the small screw that goes onto the tab on top of the solenoid, the 4th bolt with no wires that go to it, I'm not sure exactly what that is called. I will go tomorrow and attach that piece, might be making a bad connection if the tabs are just touching and not screwed. Not looking forward to that, replaced the starter solenoid yesterday and it was a huge pain to get all the screws to line up, as it sits on the starter right next to the engine and there's barely any space to move.

I also remembered I forgot to sand the paint off where the ground wire for the fuse box was attached. Did that, and then just the brake lights worked. They only worked for a bit and stopped again. Something is grounding bad somewhere. Should I run a ground wire off the lights in addition to the ground through the casing? How would I go about this? I'm thinking this is a grounding issue though.

I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow if it still is a being a problem.

 

I have the IGN wire from the switch running to the ballast resistor on one side, and on the other side it splits with one wire to the coil and one to the solenoid. It's how the diagram with the kit showed it to be done.

 

Click here: Staying Grounded: A No-Nonsense Method of Eliminating Hot Rod Wiring Problems

 

If the tab you are talking about is copper and comes up through the case on the top of the starter, it has to be bolted directly to the bottom hole on the front of the solenoid, if it comes through right at the solenoid you have a regular starter. I it comes through about an inch out in front of the solenoid it need a spacer and a longer screw. If it is the latter it is a shunt coil starter and has more cranking amps than the regular starter.
I am a little confused about your reference to the 4th bolt with no wires, if it is at the bottom center of the solenoid right on top of the starter that is where you bolt the copper tab, and there are no wires that run to it. I hope I have not misunderstood you.

 

What He said ^^ or at least start with a test light at the Battery and follow your circuit through again following your EZwire drawing.

Good Luck.

 

I hate wiring. When Freddy Kilowatt is running amoke there can be no happiness.

 

I'm still waiting for some pictures....

 

First thing is check the battery terminal ends the 2 bolt kind need to be clean.
All power starts from bat to selinode on starter or fire wall.pos to selinode and power wire from fuse block to big cable at selinode.

 

SOUNDS LIKE ...................I've been workin' on IT !!!!!

 

What does the Battery ground to? The engine or the frame? I installed a Rebel Wire 9 + 3 harness on my car. There was no power to anything. The battery was only grounded to the engine. I removed the battery ground cable (-) on the engine and bolted it to the frame and got power to everything. As an extra measure, ran a braided copper strap from the frame to the engine to make sure everything was getting grounded. Everything works fine. I should mention the body is fiberglass but I don't feel that made a difference in this case. If the battery is not grounded to the frame, give it a try and ground the batt to the frame, it may make a difference.

 

I checked the grounds and everything looked good. Replaced both battery cables with new ones. Used a circuit tester and figured out that the fuse box is in 3 pieces, each a row of 4 fuses that slide together, and the power in from the battery is only going to one. There is a jumper cable between the two others, but not one from the row with the battery input. I emailed the harness company and they said I have to do a wire to the ACC input on the key. Do I do this from the row with the battery input or from an empty space on another row (where the power will be connected through the ignition switch).


In this picture, the battery input is the red one, I stuck some tape on it for the picture. I did a wire to the ACC on the key from the middle row and still nothing, so I think it has to come from the row with the battery power. But couldn't I just run a small jumper wire between the battery row and the other two to bring power to them? I'm just not sure where the ACC on the key goes to the fuse box. But I think this is the problem, that power is only going to 1/3 of the fuse box, explains the brakes working but nothing else, as the brake fuse is on the row with the battery input.

 

I used one of their kits a few years ago and the +12V unswitched and +12V switched feeds to the fuse block were reversed. The two wires were installed in the wrong places at the factory. I had used a meter to "ring out" the entire harness before starting so I caught the error and made the proper change. I suppose it will confuse someone someday, though!

 

The harness company should be able to answer your questions.

 

I've been emailing him and frankly am still completely confused. He said that the yellow wire from the fuse box goes to the ACC when it is clearly labeled to the BAT terminal in the directions. Then said the directions have a typo, but didn't tell me what it was or what the correction was? He then sent me another diagram that had a rough diagram of a ignition switch with 4 wires going to a square labeled fuse box. I am still very confused.

Basically all I am trying to find out is where the hell in the fuse box does the wire from the ACC switch go? And why the hell wouldn't they have included it in the kit. The directions they have for the kit just show a wire with a squiggly end of it going to nothing from the ACC terminal.

 

Time to invest in a VOM meter dude!

 

EZWire kits and gauges used to be made in Bunnell, Fl just north of Daytona. Originally two brothers. One is It's-A-Snap other EZWire. Dad designed boat guages and wiring first, then brothers went into separate auto wire businesses.
Been to their office for parts. Used many kits on Fords and Chevys of all kinds. Never any trouble and the directions were simple.
We always did part of the harness, like the front lights, then check before going to another section. As I wrote, never a problem.
Heard rumors they are now made out of the Country. Maybe if so they are made cheaper and not the same.
Try disconnecting a few things and tracing a few sections at a time, starting from battery and starter circuits.
The only difficult parts for me were the flashers.