Fried something

[Lunar-tic]

So I committed the ultimate welding foul, I was welding in some patch panels and forgot to disconnect the battery. Now she won't start with the key. I can jump it across the solenoid and it will start and run fine, but no joy with the key. I thought the ignition switch was bad, so I replaced that, but no fire still. I searched the forum and according to the experts the voltage regulator should be replaced next. Does that sound right?

 

[broncodriver99]

The voltage regulator won't effect starting. Have you checked your fuses? Do you have voltage to the ignition in the run position?

 

[JLBachs]

In park or neutral with that C4?

 

[suckerpunched]

In park or neutral with that C4?

and is there power to the switch? do the gauges, radio etc. power up when you turn the key?

 

[DirtDonk]

That right there.
Maybe the neutral safety switch is failing and just decided to go out coincidentally. Maybe you yanked the 4-wire connector there at the firewall while doing some work.
Maybe a wire got burned up.
Maybe you're not in park or neutral (as JL suggested).

Maybe maybe maybe... Fun finding out though!

Good luck. Should be simple.
Theoretically...

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

and is there power to the switch? do the gauges, radio etc. power up when you turn the key?

I would guess at least partially yes to that. If he can turn the key, jumper the starter relay and get it to run, then there is at least power going to the coil.
Doesn't mean that some other wires didn't get fried, but at least there's partial power available.

Paul

 

[Lunar-tic]

So I have power in the run and accessory positions, everything works, gauges, radio, etc. I have a newish Art Carr shifter with the built in neutral safety switch. I've tried it in park and neutral with no luck. Did I read there was a fusible link somewhere?

 

[DirtDonk]

Yes, but if it blows you get nothing anywhere. No power to any of the other accessories either.
It's down in the harness adjacent to the starter relay/solenoid integrated into the large Black wire on the battery side.

Follow the Red w/blue wire on the starter relay to see where it stops getting power. That wire should have 12v when the key is turned to START.
Maybe it's just loose?
Worth a jiggle and a squeeze certainly.;D

But that's where the fault is. If you can jump your starter, but the key won't do it, then something is faulty in that Blue w/red circuit.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Also, just to rule it out at this point, take the two wires on the shifter switch and jumper them together to complete the circuit. If it still won't start, then you know for certain that it's not the neutral safety switch itself.
But it can still be that wire.

The first place I'd check after that is wherever the splices were made from the factory wire into that Art Carr switch.
That would be the most likely culprit at this point.

Paul

 

[Lunar-tic]

Roger, I'll jump on that tomorrow. Thank you

 

[triplewilliams]

Thanks for the intel- didn't occur to me to disconnect the battery .

 

[Crush]

I had the same problem and my backup light/nss plug was disconnected. I also had another problem. After welding exhaust, mine would start but not run. As soon as the key returned to the run position it woukd die. Turned out my durasprk box went bad. Dont know if i fried it or not but still had to replace it

 

[DirtDonk]

Even though, in a perfect world you can fiddle with those firewall connectors with the battery connected, it's a gamble still.
Each one has at least one fully powered and heavy duty wire passing through it on '69/'70 Broncos. And you don't want one of those bad boys shorting out on anything while you're trying to fix something else.

Got pictures on my other computer of those very connectors with two nice round holes blown through them when something happened to one of those wires.
The circuits literally melted down the entire harness and it happened so quickly that the connector jackets themselves were still intact. Just big holes where the old wires used to be.
Wouldn't want that happening while holding that in my hand!!!

Paul

 

[Lunar-tic]

Ok, I've got no juice at all at the NSS. I'll start back tracking.

 

[Lunar-tic]

And the Cousin Eddie Award goes to Bill Jones. I had the Art Carr shifter unbolted from the floor so I could move it around to remove the DIY bedliner. In the process of moving it, one of the NSS wires worked out of the connector just enough to disconnect it. When I removed it from the shifter to test it, it worked, but when I reinstalled it, it didn't. So I commenced to unwrapping all of my wiring to trace the problem. It wasn't until I removed the NSS the second time that the wire fell completely out. Replaced the connector and all is functioning as it should. I did find a couple of bare wires that needed shrink tubing and determined that I had one of my turn signals reverse wired, so it wasn't completely for nothing. Thanks for the support gents, I appreciate it.