69 Monaco wont start

[Carl Severa]

Good morning!

I've had a situation with my Monaco where I've had to jump start it either by using jumper cables and a vehicle that I can jump from or using small jump start battery boxes. Typically, the car starts with no problem. I've been starting the car like this for a long time.

I've had to start the car by these methods because the driver door is bent from an accident and the dome light button does not get pushed in to turn off power going to the dome light. Even though I have the bulb out it still seems to drain the battery. There may be other factors in play, but I don't know what they are if there are any.

I took the battery to a local service station yesterday and they charged it and it was determined that the battery was defective.

So, I took a good battery out of my Jeep and put in the Dodge and the car still fails to start. The Jeep battery is compatible with what the battery is for the dodge.

The only reaction from the car that I get when trying to start it is, sometimes, a single click and then nothing further. If I turn the key off and then back on to try starting the car a second time I typically get nothing.

I'm wondering if somehow in the recent attempts to start the car I damaged a component in the electrical system, which would include the Pertronix ignition component I installed a good while back? I guess that would be similar to my damaging what would have been points and condenser.

At this point, I'm going to have to have the car towed to the shop because I can't conduct any for the diagnostics. But, I'm curious to see if I may be needing to order and replace the current Pertronix s component and if there's a way that I can determine that.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Carl

 

[413]

Clean the battery posts and the cable ends with a wire brush tool made to for this. A fresh known good battery doing this tells me to start at the cables.

There could be other courtesy lamps on and draining the battery.

just disconnect the battery when the car sits and it won’t drain and destroy the battery.

 

[57fury440]

I agree with above. I would check the cables first. If it is not cranking I don't see how the Pertronix would have anything to do with it. You removed the bulb from the dome lamp. Did you put a trouble light between the battery cable and terminal to see if there is still a drain from that? If the car was hit, you may be dealing with a short in one of the wires that were damaged and are grounding.

 

[jimmyessbee]

As others have alluded to but I don't think anybody said explicitly...

Your electronic ignition system will not have an impact on whether or not the starter will crank. There's a period after that sentence. If it cranks and doesn't start, there's a chance. But since you are chasing battery issues, that seems unlikely.

As others have said... check your connections. There could be other battery drains. Sure. There could be grounding issues. Sure. But if you turn the key and it clicks but does nothing else AND the battery has more than 12 volts it is most certainly a connection issue. You need twelve volts to the starter relay. You need twelve volts to the starter. Your grounding cable needs to ground to the engine. It also needs to ground to the frame, but if all you are interested in running is a starter, you have a complete circuit if you go from the battery to the relay to the starter and then grounding back to the battery.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that @413 is correct and it's a battery cable issue. Make sure everything's clean and tight. I'm also going to add that perhaps that Jeep battery isn't as 'good' as you thought.

 

['66 Fury I]

I don't see where anyone had suggested removing and isolating the door switch. IIRC the switch is threaded into the door jamb and if it is removed, and the wire removed and taped over it may solve your problem. Auto batteries often fail if discharged too deeply or too often. Lindsay

 

[CBODY67]

I agree with post #5. Unscrew the door jamb switch, unplug it, and tape the wire that plugs into it. I don't recall if those cars had a map light, but on those that do, it is hooked into the door switch wiring, too. As is the headlight switch, which when turned all the way to brighten the dash lights, also turns on the dome light when turned past a detent. So make sure that light switch is not turning on the dome light.

Other than cleaning the battery cable ends and posts, also remove the bolt that holds the negative cable to ground and clean that cable end too.

Also, as a side issue, follow the "big red wire" from the ignition switch to the inside bulkhead connector. Make sure it is TIGHT to the terminal it plugs into in the fuse block. Then find where it goes into the bulkhead connector on the engine side of the cowl and inspect/disassemble/clean every connection in that circuit. That should ensure you get voltage to the ign switch.

Once you find the terminals in the bulkhead connector, you might check continuity on each side of it in that circuit, for good measure. Sometimes, just unplugging and re-pluggin-in the connectors can clean things off enough for a reasonably good connection afterward.

Possibly, if a diode in the alternator has failed, it would let voltage go backward and ground the battery, in addition to compromising the alternator's output.

I kind of suspect that whatever might have failed will be something relatively easy to fix, generally. Please keep us posted on how things go.

CBODY67

 

[Carl Severa]

As always, everyone's counsel is topnotch! And, much appreciated.

I must digest the replies and will update as warranted.

In the meantime, I watched an entertaining movie called Hot Rod 1979 on YouTube. Perhaps you might enjoy as well. It's free and

 

[Carl Severa]

Good morning!

I've had a situation with my Monaco where I've had to jump start it either by using jumper cables and a vehicle that I can jump from or using small jump start battery boxes. Typically, the car starts with no problem. I've been starting the car like this for a long time.

I've had to start the car by these methods because the driver door is bent from an accident and the dome light button does not get pushed in to turn off power going to the dome light. Even though I have the bulb out it still seems to drain the battery. There may be other factors in play, but I don't know what they are if there are any.

I took the battery to a local service station yesterday and they charged it and it was determined that the battery was defective.

So, I took a good battery out of my Jeep and put in the Dodge and the car still fails to start. The Jeep battery is compatible with what the battery is for the dodge.

The only reaction from the car that I get when trying to start it is, sometimes, a single click and then nothing further. If I turn the key off and then back on to try starting the car a second time I typically get nothing.

I'm wondering if somehow in the recent attempts to start the car I damaged a component in the electrical system, which would include the Pertronix ignition component I installed a good while back? I guess that would be similar to my damaging what would have been points and condenser.

At this point, I'm going to have to have the car towed to the shop because I can't conduct any for the diagnostics. But, I'm curious to see if I may be needing to order and replace the current Pertronix s component and if there's a way that I can determine that.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Carl

My Monaco is fixed and back on the road.

New battery and cables, plus new smaller red wire from positive battery post to wherever it goes.

I'm removing the positive cable off the battery when not using the car.

Thanks to all.
Carl

 

[57fury440]

When I used to drag race back in the sixties and seventies, I had a battery cut off switch. You could mount one somewhere by making a bracket for it, so you don't have to drill any holes. If you mount it under the hood near the battery cable it shouldn't be too hard. This will work as a temporary fix until you track down and fix the source of your problem. They also sell ones that attach to the battery terminals, but I was never happy how they worked. Good luck and don't give up, you'll get it.