I got a 69 cutlass S covert. Ok so we were driving home at midnight on a dark and dreary backroad and wouldnt you know it. The car just shut down not to start again.... the only things that work now are.. horn, interior consile light, truck lid light and the electrical fuel pump. No head lights no cranking over nothingelse at all. Any ideas that i havent thought of or tried.

Thank Dan

 

What have you tried?

I’m no pro, but sounds like something big stopped working. Maybe start at the battery checking for at least 12-14 volts. Then move up the starter circuit: junction block, keyswitch, alternator, distributor and on. Use a test light to figure out where the current stops when it should be there.

chris

 

Basic troubleshooting 101...is the thing plugged in...ie do you have power? Do you have a volt/ohm meter? If not get one as we cant talk you through anything without basic data.
A 50-year-old vehicle needs all of its electrical connections cleaned, the positives and negatives and any other connection you can get your hands on. If the battery cables are original chances are they are at or near their expiration date.

Dont throw parts at a problem. Find the problem starting with the simple working towards the complex.

Do you have 12 volts on the battery? Yes? Load test it to see if it has enough cranking amps.
Do you have good connections on both ends of both battery cables?
Do you have 12 volts at the starter?

Lets start here and we'll go from there.

 

A bad or loose connection where the wire harness plugs into the back of the fuse box will do just that. That is where the wires seem to go from under the hood through the firewall on the driver side, near, or under, the brake booster.

 

Get a factory service manual, not a reprint. It will have a wiring diagram that’s printed in color, the reprints are black and white. Sounds like you lost power to everything that is on a switched hot ( stuff that is supplied power only when the key is on). Like someone mentioned, wiggle the bulkhead connector, near the brake booster. Sometimes those terminals get corroded. If everything works again, remove the connector, clean and inspecte all the terminals, apply some dielectric grease, and reassemble. If that doesn’t help, turn the key on, check for power on all the fuses (both sides of the glass fuse). Still nothing? Check the fusible links, they are on the horn relay on the drives fender. Once you study the wiring diagram you can plan your diagnostics.

 

Found it a broken feed wire to the fuse block. All good started right up

 

Great news. Take a moment to appreciate how mechanical these cars are.

The wire almost told you it was broken. You just had to look.

No software bugs, no firmware updates, just good repairable analog parts.

One of the reasons I like keeping these things.

chris