Intermittent power loss

[Paul Stubbs]

Ok, on my 67 Fury -
All was well until I attempted to start the car and I got a loud click and no starter action. Good battery, put on a new starter. Same story, loud click no starter spin. Then I noticed there was no power anywhere- lights, nothing. An hour later power was back and I tried to start. Same click and after that no power at all.
I had similar issue with a 79 Dodge truck and the problem was loose wiring at the ammeter. So, I pulled the dash bezel out on the Fury to check the wires to the ammeter. Tight.
Maybe the gauge is faulty? I can check for voltage to the gauge when/if power comes back on. Any thoughts?

 

[Boydsdodge]

Fusible link comes to mind. As well the connector inline from battery to relay. Just thoughts not fact.

 

[Paul Stubbs]

Fusible link comes to mind. As well the connector inline from battery to relay. Just thoughts not fact.

I thought if a fuseable link goes, it goes completely.

 

[Sixpactogo]

Dirty Battery post or loose connection would be the first thing I think of.

 

[CBODY67]

^^^^^ The battery might check "good", if the checking is done between the + and - posts only. What appear to be "clean" terminals can have a thin layer of gunk between the post and terminal. BTDT! So wire brush clean the posts AND terminal innards, then reattach. Check voltage from the + terminal end and various locations on the vehicle body and engine (for the ground location). Look for voltage variations, even if they are about .5 volts.

When checking the voltages, also check between where the ground cable attaches to the block against normal battery voltage. In one of my mysterious "comes and goes" electerical issues, it turned out to be a voltage loss within the ground cable. A cable that looked great and was OEM to the car. Yet a new ground cable fixed the issue! When some of the electrical issues were happening, there was about .25V loss within the cable. When the issues were not there, no voltage loss. The issues normally happened when the engine was warm or had been in use for a good bit, but no issues when the engine was cold or had cooled off.

Do NOT forget about the "big red wire" going into the bulkhead connector on the engine side and the similar "big red wire" coming out of the connector on the passenger compartment side of the connector. That feeds voltage to the ign switch and related circuits. BTDT, too.

Is it possible to determine WHERE the pop was coming from?

Please keep us posted on your progress,
CBODY67

 

[Paul Stubbs]

Thanks for all the replies! Will start checking connections at battery, the ground should be good as its a new cable. Battery is also new(er).

The loud click sound is probably at the starter. The sound of a weak battery. After that click, completely dead.

 

[halifaxhops]

Also check the wires on the alternator gauge.

 

[74Monaco CHP]

Look at the battery terminals plugs sometimes the wire get corroded under the plastic wire covering. We had a 73 Fury that was sold that suddenly would have no starts before it even got from the hotel. Once it was cut back and the corrosion was visible. Trimmed and the car was on its way to Texas. PS a bad coil will do the same I had that happen this yr.

 

[Paul Stubbs]

Thanks again to everyone who chimed in!
Turned out the simplest fix was the fix.
Positive battery wire was corroded at the clamp style terminal. I really need to replace the cable as it looks to be original, minus the factory battery terminal.