Help! No lights, no clock, no radio - nothing

[USNA1969]

My '72 BB quit while I was driving down the street yesterday. My voltmeter shows 12.35 V across the battery terminals. Other than that, there is no indication of battery life at all including no click from the starter solenoid, no clock, no radio, and no interior lights. I don't see any blown fuses.

I cleaned the battery terminals and the negative battery cable connection at the frame then checked for continuity between the negative battery terminal and the engine. I tried to check continuity between the battery and the starter, but I can't see where the battery cable attaches to the starter.

Any ideas?

Forgot to add that I smelled electrical fire in the car when the engine quit. Not an actual fire, just the smell like I fried something.

 

[68 4 spd]

Battery cable is on solenoid lagest cable there. If you had an electrical smell than nothing sounds like a fuse link let go.Really no big deal on those cars.Start by checking with a voltmeter from positive battery terminal to frame chassis ground see if there is voltage,if it is than check from positive post o starter to frame. Power there will prove that out then inspect wires behind that run up to top some go bad in the tube. You will probably find a fuse link bad. Let us know.

 

[SVO]

Fusible Link

Sounds as if you may have blown a fusible link. A fusible link is a inline fuse built into the wiring harness. There are two - 12 gauge wires that come off of the starter solenoid that powers the rest of the car. Those two 12 gauge wires will each have a 14 gauge fusible link. To get to the starter solenoid requires getting up under the car, and access to it is going to be limited by the exhaust manifold and heat riser valve. There also should be a chrome heat shield between the starter solenoid and the exhaust manifold that will need to be removed. The fusible links can be found by looking for a short large diameter section of the wiring. To repair, you will need to cut out the blown link and splice in a new link. New fusible links should be available at any auto parts house. Before replacing the link, you will need to figure out what caused the link to fail.

 

[USNA1969]

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure I can even get to the electrical connections at the solenoid, but I'll give it a go this weekend. I'm thinking it might be easier to remove the starter first.

 

[USNA1969]

Still Nothing

I have continuity on the red wire coming at the horn relay. The purple wire branches off into a purple-white wire that connects somehow to the ignition switch and then circles back to the clutch safety switch. I don't understand what the wiring diagram is telling me with that. In any event, the solid purple wire has good continuity at the clutch safety switch, but the purple-white does not. According to the wiring diagram, there is no fusible link in the purple-white lead going into the clutch switch.

What is that telling me? If it's a bad switch, how do I test it?

Thanks for any help.

 

[SVO]

The clutch safety switch is just a on-off type switch, similar to the brake light switch. You can use a voltmeter to check the continuity across the switch or jumper around the switch to see if the car will crank.