No Juice. Fusible Link?

[MKD]

My utterly stock '68, 289 appears to have absolutely no electrical power. No lights. No start. It has a brand new battery and cables. I've checked the connection to the starter (physically only, not electrically). I get 12 point something volts at the battery terminals and between the engine and the post on the starter solenoid. I first thought my old style voltage regulator might have been fried so I replaced it with the newer, flatter, electronic voltage regulator.

Some of you have been kind enough to respond to my previous posts about this and have mentioned a fusible link. I really don't know what I'm looking for. Is it already bound up somewhere in the wiring harness? What does it look like?

Are there other components which keep the juice from flowing? This Bronco was starting and running fine these past six years. Started right up every time. Went to start it one evening, it cranked, fired, ran a few seconds, died. Began to crank again, it turned over a couple of times, then...nothing!

I hate to have it towed to a shop in town only to kick myself when it turns out to be something I could have easily fixed. %)

 

[braxton357]

Tighten the battery terminals down even more, hammer on them a bit, tighten again. Then try.

 

[john74]

make sure your ground cables are tight and are getting good connection.

 

[70_Steve]

The fuse link is a piece of wire. Bone stock, it should be the piece of wire that attached to the starter solenoid, along with the positive battery cable. I don't remember exactly what the fuse link looks like because my Bronco had the fuse link replaced with a circuit breaker, but I seem to remember there was a connector of some type on the other end. You can tell if the fuse link is bad by trying to bend the wire. If you find a place where it feels like the wire is broken inside the insulation, then the fuse link is blown.

Here's a link to a wiring diagram. Notice the fuse link just below the "starting motor relay". http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~i6735189/68-71ign.gif

 

[braxton357]

There are two fusable links, one coming from the alt that wouldn't cause this problem and one coming from the hot side of the starter solenoid. Most of the time this one has already been replaced by a past owner though. You can test it by feeling around, the fused part looks like a wire with shrink wrap, or you can turn the key on and see if you have power to the fuse box. First try tightening all connections.

 

[MKD]

I hate to have it towed to a shop in town only to kick myself when it turns out to be something I could have easily fixed. %)

Well the road finally dried enough to allow the tow truck to take the Bronco into Albuquerque to the shop. Here is the mostly correct transcription of the phone conversation later that day:

Mechanic: Sir, uh, how long have you had that battery?

Me: Well, let's see. I bought it new and installed it about a month ago.

Mechanic: Man, that battery is DEAD!

Me: DEAD!? How can that be. It's brand new...!

Mechanic: That battery is really, really DEAD, man! I tried jumping it and it couldn't even be jumped. I took it out and installed another new one and it started up just fine. I've been checking the alternator output and testing drainage -- no problems. It's just fine.

Me: I can't believe that battery is really, really DEAD, man!.....I'll be right down to pick it up.

Moral of the story: Don't trust that just because the battery is putting out 12 point something volts, that there're enough cranking amps to do anything.

There must be a minimum amperage required to make it through the regulator or something.

Anyway, thanks for all your suggestions. That "new" battery is going back for a refund. ;D