75 Sport Dead In The Water

[carterb]

HEY GUYS,

i'm A NEW EB OWNER, W/ A 75 SPORT. PROB. IS SHE IS SITTING DEAD IN MY GARAGE. IM HOPING FOR SOME GOOD ADVISE.
I HAVE NO JUICE TO THE VEHICLE AT ALL! NO LIGHTS, NO IGNITION, NOTHING! WHEN I PARKED IT IT WAS RUNNING GREAT.

I HAVE REPLACED 3 OF THE GLASS FUSES IN THE STOCK PANEL, TESTED THE BATTERRY, CHECKED THE SOLONOID, CHECKED ALL THE CONNECTIONS I CAN THINK OF AND STILL NOTHING!!

CAN ANYONE GIVE A DIRECTION TO GO IN NEXT

P.S IF THE IGNITION WAS BAD WOULDN'T I STILL HAVE LIGHTS?

THANKS IN ADVANCE

 

[Tito]

How are your battery cables? I had an issue of no power at all, ended up being bad cables and bad ground (grease and rust!!!)

 

[70_Steve]

There is/was (may still be) a fuse link right off the starter solenoid. If that goes, you have no power to anything.

On the BAT+ terminal of the solenoid there should be two wires. One is the positive battery cable, the other is the fuse link, if it's still there. If the fuse link is still there, if it popped, you can bend the fuse link, and feel for the break. My fuse link was replaced a long time ago with a circuit breaker. You can get a circuit breaker in most auto parts stores.

 

[carterb]

Have Assumed The Cables Are Good But I Suppose That Could Be It.
Did Not Know About The Fuse Right Of The Solenoid. I Will Check 4 It When I Get Home.

Are There Any Other Fuses In The Vehicle, Besides The 5 In The Glove Box And The One Of The Solenoid????

 

[Skiddy]

Thats the only ones I know of being stock.

 

[carterb]

Does Anyone Know If A Bad Ignition Switch Cause This?

 

[302fix]

Does Anyone Know If A Bad Ignition Switch Cause This?

You'd still have lights if it was a bad ignition switch.

I'ts got to be in the cables or a bad battery. Check them first and the grounds.

 

[carterb]

Had The Battery Tested It Was Good.

And There Was Juice On The Solenoid When I Jumped It
Could Be A Bad Ground Though.

 

[302fix]

Could Be A Bad Ground Though.

Check those cables, clean them up and it sounds like you'll be back in business.

You can do a search and find all the people who make their own battery cables out of welding wire.

 

[clarrance]

Check the connector behind your amp gauge. its the black wire that runs through the loop on the amp gauge if the connection is bad you will have nothing. Mine had a broken wire inside the connection everything looked good and tight but no go.

 

[KRAWLER]

I had the same problem, bad fusable link at solenoid. I took them all out after that.

 

[carterb]

i found what i assume is a fuse at the solenoid last night. it was mounted to the inner fender well next to the solenoid. its encased in a small metal box about the size of a match box, and had three wires attached to it. the wires appear to go directly into the glove box where the fuse panel is. i plan on trying to replace this tonight.

70 steve, is this the fuse you were speaking of ?

clarrance, mine has an after market amp gauge the previous owner installed i was planning on replacing it with a stock gauge maybe thats why he replaced it?

 

[mike732]

That little box you mentioned sounds like the horn relay, check into that before replacing. The Fusable link does not have three wires...

 

[Skiddy]

That little box you mentioned sounds like the horn relay, check into that before replacing. The Fusable link does not have three wires...

Yep that's what that is, the fusable link only has one wire in through it and out the other side. It's round about the size of your finger about 1-2" long.

 

[carterb]

Ok, I Cleaned All The Battery Cables And Terminals. Nothing Worked, Finally I Jumped This Relay Link Stright From The Solenoid To The Fuse Panel. It Worked! Fired Right Up, Had Lights The Whole 9 Yards.

So Now I Need A New Relay

Heres The Problem....this Relay, I Can Not Find It Anywhere, All The Parts Stores Are Saying They Dont Have It.

It's About The Size Of A Matchbox, Metal And Mounted To The Inner Fenderwell. There Are Three Wires Going Into A Rubber Boot That Attaches To The Three Prongs On The Relay.

Can You Guys Help?

 

[70_Steve]

So Now I Need A New Relay

Read the above posts. That relay is probably the horn relay. There is no relay supplying power to the fuse panel. Stock, there is a thing called a FUSE LINK, or fuseable link, that protects the wiring from a short (as any fuse is supposed to do). The fuse link looks like a short piece of wire with really thick insulation.

On the BAT+ side of the solenoid there should be two wires. One is the Positive battery cable, and the other is the wire that supplies power to the fuse panel. Typically, right off the solenoid is the Fuse Link. Start there, and trace down where the break is.

Here's a good wiring diagram of your 75. Battery is right in the middle of the diagram, starter solenoid is just to the right, and off the top of the solenoid, you'll see the wire designated FUSE LINK.
http://www.wsu.edu/~i6735189/75_77wd1.gif

 

[DirtDonk]

Describe the wire colors if you can. From what it sounds like (as the others were saying) the matchbox sized thingy is your horn relay and from what I can see, can't have any effect of power to the whole system.
It takes power from the battery, but does not normally have a way to interrupt any power delivery to the rest of the system.

If the previous owner(s) put something there on their own though, a picture would help. Otherwise we won't know what it is.

If what you're saying is that you used a jumper wire and hooked it from either the starter relay, or this other relay(?) to your inside fuse box, then what you did was bypass the fusible link that was described earlier.
That link is actually the end-connector (black plastic block with a ring terminal molded into it) of the large Black w/yellow stripe wire that's hooked to your starter relay/solenoid. This wire powers the whole Bronco, and if that link is bad then you don't get power anywhere, unless you push-started your Bronco and the alternator was powering things from the other end, that is.
As mentioned, if the link is "blown" then you won't get power to anything. If you bypassed this by taking power right from your horn relay (which has it's own power wire to the starter relay), or right from the battery cable side of the starter relay, then you pretty much confirmed that your fusible link is dead. Unless, like clarrance said, it's your connector at the ammeter.

Try to check that out before replacing the relay on the fender. And if it is indeed a horn relay, then you should be able to get a new one pretty easily. If you can't get an original Bronco style, then you should be able to use any one of several different types of standard relay to work in it's place.
Here's a link to PartsAmerica online, where there is a listing. You can probably get the part numbers to a local shop and get one quick. http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductList.aspx?parttype=409&ptset=A&searchfor=Horn+Relay

Fusible links are easy to replace as well.
Good luck. Hope it turns out to be this simple.

Paul

 

[carterb]

ok, after beating my head agianst the wall, and a bout with a nasty kidney stone this weekend, i got it running!

the fusable link had actually fallen off at some point because the wire was so deteriated. it had broke back into the wiring harness and was not noticable., untill i pulled off all the wiring wrap.

the confusion came because i had mistakenly confused the horn relay for the hot to the fuse panel (i know many of you were trying to tell me that).

Anyway thanks for all your advise, @ least i learned alot about my new bronco.

Thanks agian!

 

[Skiddy]

Glad you got it fixed