67 GS 400 has NO electric

**Shakadula** · 06-01-2010, 09:03 AM

Battery is good, new solanoid, voltage regulator, good battery ground and the car has no fusible links (thanks prior owner). My ALT was bad so I put a new one on but that didn't help. No lights, no horn, no radio, ignition does nothing and no indicator lights. The electrical system is dead except for the battery and started solanoid.
I added a power amp and subwoofer and after I ran it for about 2 hours, and my last stop of the day my car would not start. Not even a click on the starter. I'm not good with electric and someone told me to jump a wire from the battery to the red wire at the voltage regulator. I think that was a bad idea but the headlights came on and I had voltage and the car turned over for a second and then I stopped because I didn't want it to start.

After that I made the battery connection to the red voltage reg more permanent and now now nothing works.

Unraveled the engine wiring harness and can't locate the issue. I feel like I burned out a ground but I don't know what else to do. I ordered a new wiring harness just because of the condition of the old one but I have a feeling that won't solve the problem.

Not great at voltmeters as the only thing I can use it for is battery voltage which is good.

When I jumped the power could I have caused myself more damage? HELP!

**bob k. mando** · 06-01-2010, 01:47 PM

electrical work is conceptually very simple. you must ALWAYS have a good conductive path from the positive side of your power supply to the mechanism doing work ( lights, starter, ignition, etc ) and then back to the negative terminal.

the issue with automotive wiring is the shear number of wires involved and the difficulty in getting to them.

No lights, no horn, no radio, ignition does nothing and no indicator lights. The electrical system is dead except for the battery and started solanoid.

this, for instance. do you mean to say that none of this stuff works when the battery is charged up?

then you have an issue with the conductors some place OR the ignition switch in the steering column is shot.

you should be able to run everything in the car off of just the 12v battery. the alt working and the engine running have nothing to do with it ... beyond the obvious fact that you'll kill the battery if you try to run it for a long time without the alternator charging it.

I added a power amp and subwoofer and after I ran it for about 2 hours, and my last stop of the day my car would not start. Not even a click on the starter.

take this; it sounds like you messed up the charging connection from the alternator to the battery ... or the new alt is no good.

you can run a car for some time with the alternator not working at all, and as the battery runs down your lights ( if you've got them on ) will get dimmer. if you don't have lights on, you can run the battery completely dead and not notice the problem until you try to restart the car.

running the starter is the THE most current intensive draw your battery has to deal with. once the engine is turning, the ign circuit is comparably a very small draw.

**Shakadula** · 06-01-2010, 06:32 PM

No lights, no horn, no radio, ignition does nothing and no indicator lights. The electrical system is dead except for the battery and started solanoid.

this, for instance. do you mean to say that none of this stuff works when the battery is charged up?
lights, no horn, no radio, ignition does nothing and no indicator lights. The electrical system is dead except for the battery and started solanoid.

this, for instance. do you mean to say that none of this stuff works when the battery is charged up?

Yes that is what I am saying. I think the new ALT is good but even if it is bad I should still have lights etc......

When I jumped the power from the battery to the red wire on the voltage reg, the ignition worked.

Thanks for the reply. I need to determine if I have a signal fronm the ignition to the solanoid. Any suggestions on how to determine that?

Thanks again. Needless to say I am a novice.

**Shakadula** · 06-01-2010, 06:47 PM

does anyone know the sequence of the path of the power. turn on the key , what should be hot, key position to start, what is hot, key back to run, what is hot.....etc........

**bob k. mando** · 06-02-2010, 03:18 AM

I need to determine if I have a signal fronm the ignition to the solanoid. Any suggestions on how to determine that?that's what the Ohm meter function ( resistance test ) on a multimeter is for, assuming the power is off. or, you can try chasing this with 12v applied to the circuit and use a 12v automotive test light. you should be able to find one at most auto parts stores:

the handle of the probe contains the light that will turn on if you complete a 12v circuit.

Thanks again. Needless to say I am a novice.it would be REALLY helpful if you could find someone local to give you some pointers. not that we're not willing to help, but being constrained by what you ( a self acknowledged novice ) even know to tell us can make a simple problem much more difficult than it needs to be.

turn on the key , what should be hot, key position to start, what is hot, key back to run, what is hot.....etc........

i think the "start position" normally turns off power to everything EXCEPT the starter and ignition system.

when you roll back to "run", the starter solenoid will de-energize and the rest of the car ( dash, headlights, stereo, etc ) will all get 12v. Ign gets 12v in both the "Start" and "Run" positions and gets turned off in Acc.

**Bob** · 06-02-2010, 07:45 AM

You can be one of the first persons to use the 1967 Buick Chassis Manual just added to the Library:

http://www.teambuick.com/reference/library/67_chassis/

**Shakadula** · 06-02-2010, 07:59 AM

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

**Shakadula** · 08-05-2010, 12:20 PM

Okay I found it. The wiring harness in the manual did not match the one in the car. I replaced the engine harness and everything works now. One little problem if the connection to the fuse block doesn't fit so for now I have it taped until I can figure something else out.

Thanks for your help everyone. Now to get the car inspected and back on the road!

**Shakadula** · 08-16-2010, 10:54 AM

Can someone tell me how to test an external voltage regulator? Got my car running with most everything working except for the windshield wipers.

Now the GEBN light is on and I know alternator is generating current but it is not charging the battery. When I pull the RED lead off the ALT, the car still runs and I have current of 12+ volts on the RED lead. Also have 12+ volts of current out of the ALT where the RED lead attaches.

I think I should have current at the white lead on the ALT but nothing. The manual say I should have current.

Anyway, I installed a new wiring harness in the engine compartment and everything started working except for the wipers and vharging system. Oh, BTW, when I rev the engin the GEN light gets very bright. I suppose that makes sense since I am placing more of a demand on the battery.

Also, I failed to mention in my prior post that I installed a subwoofer and 1000W amp 2 hours before my car died. Of course I was driving it for 2 hours "testing" the thump when it died the first time. After reading some articles I realized I must have fried something due to this stupidity.

Any help on the regulator or other tidbits will be appreciated.