The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay I visited my 54 yesterday.

I stopped on the way home to see if there was any progress on finding the reason I lost power to most of the functions, turn signals, radio, and horn but not headlights. He said because of the number of wires under there he could not determine what the problem was. He has a call into a friend to see if he can make a suggestion as to where to go. It runs and drives after JDL ran a bypass wire to a switch to shut the power off. Any suggestions? PLEASE.

Ron, are you still running the stock amp meter?

Where was the jumper wire inserted? Assuming it was from the battery to the coil it definately indicates that the problem is in the wiring that provides power to the coil. Amp meter is a good place to start although if the headlights work I believe they are fed through the amp meter. My bet would be the ignition switch, he should be able to check for power to the switch and power to the coil coming out of the switch to isolate it.

If your mechanic says he can't find an electrical problem in a 54 because there are too many wires, you need a new mechanic...

Ron, is the wiring harness "stock" or aftermarket? If aftermarket we would need to have the wiring diagram/schematic. Thanks.

It is a custom fuse box and wiring harness. I think all from Ronfrancis. There are as many fuses in use as a newer truck. Jordan wired a jumper from the battery to the ignition switch. I can use the ignition to start it but it will not turn it off. There is a switch on the e-brake handle that kills the power to the ignition switch. The weird thing about it is it just died while I was running along at 70 mph, JUST Quit no sputtering just quit as if I turned it off. The one place in town that could have diagnosed it closed this year. I knew the owner's daughter from German class in high school, in 1961. BTW they owned a 1961 Jag XKE from new and was said to have 400000 miles on it, yes 40000.

You definitely need a different spark chaser if he can't figure out something as simple as stovebolt wiring!
Jerry

I consider JDl very competent and he chased the problem on the side of the road and he did get to run and drive to his place then back home. He just maybe needs a light bulb to show him the way. I may take it home for a while, his shop is full of daily drivers. Mine will still drive but I have no turn signals.

Custom wiring on a hot rod is really cool until it isn't. Especially if you are trying to have someone other than who installed it to troubleshoot it.

The shop where it was built closed after, retirement, but one of the guys who worked there is still around, I may see if he is available to check out, btw he is at another shop now.

You know a few things that may be helpful to identify the problem: bypassing the wiring to the ignition switch allows it to run; however, with the bypass in place the ignition switch does not disconnect the ignition to stop the engine; the e-brake switch kills power to the ignition; and the problem happened while driving.

The e-brake switch killing the ignition seems strange but unless the switch was somehow actuated while driving it seems unlikely to be the source of the problem.

The bypass to the ignition switch that allows the engine to run is promising but the fact that the switch does not shut off the engine indicates either the jumper bypassed the ignition switch (connected directly to the ignition) or there is a problem internal to the switch. Next step would be to confirm what the bypass is actually connected to on the ignition switch. If it is connected to the battery terminal look into a replacement ignition switch, if it connected to the ignition terminal, change it to the battery terminal to determine what changes.

There's a considerable amount of wires under there. Picture a wiring harness from a late 90s grand marquis stuffed up under the dash. The gist of the issue is he lost power to his ignition coil. If his fuse box was installed as labeled and my memory hasn't failed me in recent weeks, he lost power to coil, heater, turn signals somewhere before or inside the fuse box. I ran a hot wire to a toggle switch i mounted on the e brake handle to start/stop his engine to get him home. I don't envy the guy who is looking it over. Hope this clears up some things

What I can see of the fuse block.. If I am lucky.

Good Luck!! Custom work to any of these old trucks is risky.
In my experience, they do not like any new fancy gadgets.
They speak a different language.
If I was having troubles like that, I rip it all out and start over.
Wiring these trucks kept original is not hard.
Proof is, I`ve done it.