At a loss for ideas...

[Nut]

Ok folks..... I've got a dilemma. We start with one, simple, non-computerized 1983 Dodge D-150 pickup with the bullet proof 225 Slant Six. This is about as simple as a vehicle gets and it's all right there with easy access. Yesterday.... ran just fine. Wired in a new 2500lb capacity small winch to pull my motorcycles up the ramp. Much easier on my 61 year old bones and muscles. Winch worked great, started up truck and parked it getting ready for ANOTHER dang snowstorm. This morning.... lights came on, horn, radio.... everything including the winch worked but when I hit the ignition..... everything goes dead. Lights go completely out. Radio not only shuts off but the tuner memory disappears as though I had completely disconnected the battery!! Tried jumping it to no avail and could not even get the solenoid to click. Thanks to good (old) Mopar designers.... the starter and solenoid is up on the left side of the engine and I shorted the solenoid with a screwdriver and I have plenty of power but would not crank. When I put a VOM Meter on the battery and hit the ignition, the voltage steadily drops as though a drain/short. Turn back off and the voltage stabilizes around 12.5vdc with NO drain. So, we disconnected the winch completely from the battery and still nothing.

Any ideas out there I should try before I have to get the beast towed to my mechanic? All fuses are good. This cant be that hard.

thx................... nut ;help

 

[Antz81]

12.5v at battery, what about at the solenoid?

 

[Nut]

12.5v at battery, what about at the solenoid?

Same.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Ok, ah...."Nut", I'm a little confused by part of your OP. You said

(snip)the starter and solenoid is up on the left side of the engine and I shorted the solenoid with a screwdriver and I have plenty of power but would not crank.

What do you mean that you have "plenty of power" but the engine "...would not crank"? That would seem to me to mean you have no power.

When I put a VOM Meter on the battery and hit the ignition, the voltage steadily drops as though a drain/short. Turn back off and the voltage stabilizes around 12.5vdc with NO drain. So, we disconnected the winch completely from the battery and still nothing.

When you say "hit the ignition" do you mean you turned the ignition switch to "on" or "run" or you turned it to "start"?

Also, please, describe how you wired the winch.

 

[Mac]

Hey, Nut… That is a curious sounding problem. Hmm….

It's been a good few years since I worked on a Dodge (gotta love the slanted six!) so I don't know if Dodge was still using a ballast resister just upstream from the starter solenoid. In the 70s Dodges, it was mounted on the firewall and if it popped, the car acted just like what you're describing.

Mac

 

[Antz81]

Mac may be onto something. 1983 still had a ballast resistor.

If not assuming everything is normal until you try cranking it, it could be the starter (shorted or possibly seized). Even worse the engine itself seized.
But do think what mac says is definitely a good theory, and worth checking.

 

[Nut]

Ok, ah...."Nut", I'm a little confused by part of your OP. You said

What do you mean that you have "plenty of power" but the engine "...would not crank"? That would seem to me to mean you have no power.



When you say "hit the ignition" do you mean you turned the ignition switch to "on" or "run" or you turned it to "start"?

Also, please, describe how you wired the winch.

Hi Hib.... let me clarify. 1. the battery has a solid 12.5vdc and has no problem lighting up everything electrical in the truck including the winch with the switch on.
2. the winch has a control box for a remote (that was off and in the house) with the ground going to the frame and the power wire to a relay and then to the (+) terminal on the battery. 3. with the ignition switch to the (on) position everything comes on as it should and with a VOM on the battery there is no drain in the (ON) position. The voltage drops a little as it should when I turn on lights, brakes, ...etc. 4. its when I turn the switch to (start) that everything goes dead. 5. there is power at the starter solenoid as I crossed the terminals with a screwdriver and sparks everywhere, to me indicating I have full battery at the starter.

My mechanic is an old Mopar guy but since winter will not DIE in the mid Atlantic we got another 6-8 inches on snow last night and I'll have to wait and see if he comes in and see what he thinks too.

Thanks for your interest and help.

bob

 

[Z16#952]

Make sure your battery cables are clean and tight at the battery. Any corrosion there can cause a loss of voltage while cranking.

 

[gmjunkie]

Nut,You have a bad Ground or B+ connection,Clean Batt cables and check connections where you connected the winch~

 

[Nut]

Good old Mopar's. Talked to my mechanic this am and he said the old Dodge's need AMPS not volts to start the engine. Even though the battery was showing voltage and enough to power items that needed few amps to run; when a battery is essentially dead (of cranking power) the car will behave as I described. So, out went the old battery and replaced with a nice Duralast 750 cold cranking amp battery and she fired up just as sweet as can be. Now to be on the safe side I'm going to rewire a kill switch into the winch wiring + side since it really doesn't need to be powered up until I need it.

Thanks to everyone for your interest and suggestions. The ole beater is alive and kicking again


............ nut

 

[Antz81]

Can't believe none of us thought of this.