TRUCK DIED NO POWER ANYWHERE. HELP!

[Chevyboy_0]

When I had my 85 I had a similar problem, it turned out to be a problem with a melted wire going to the motor. My truck was running, I went into the house for 5 minutes and came back out and it was all dead and I finally located a melted wire. Apparently corrosion on the wires caused this.

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I installed a new wire and it melted, so I completely by passed this connector and the problem went away.

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That connector looks like the one on the Pass side fender well where the GP wires run to, a while back when i finished rebuilding my truck i accidentally burned up a wire leading to that connector. IIRC i lost power to most of the cab and the engine wouldnt turn over.

The wire in question was Red or Pink with a yellowish or a Reddish stripe but i cant remember.

Im heading to the Shop later today and i can check for you and I can call you if you want Sean, just let me know

 

[Hybrid455]

As far as pos. goes everything for the cab comes off the soleniod on the fender. if you jump that does it turn over? grounds from the cab to chassis i posted above. The battery ground wires, did you have them off when you pulled the motor?

X2 . If you didn't let the smoke out of the wires you don't have a short. If absolutely nothing is powering up you most probably have an open circuit in the main power supply from the right battery pos cable to the solenoid on the right fender. Might have come apart or might just be loose. Probably something silly that was overlooked on assembly. It's going to be n easy fix unless you try welding a punch to the battery again.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Got it running. I'll post more later.

 

[icanfixall]

This is great news Sean... Glad you have it fixed. Post when you can so we all will know how to fix this if it ever gets us....

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Ok well here's what I did. I was so upset about missing my interview with the engineering dept dean that I hadn't thought about hot wiring the thing. My mom brought some tools into school for me and just happened to bring all of my jumper wires with my multimeter so I quickly checked the link between the positive block and the solenoid on the fender and it checked out good, at that point the only thing I could do was hot wire it. Lucky for me I ran the FSS to as the activation switch for my fuel pump relay, so when I hot wire that it does both jobs and I'm good to go. I jumped the positive power from the solenoid over to the starter side and it cranked over and fired off! But here's the real puzzler, after I started cranking the motor over all of my lights turned on and I had normal power back. It's worked every time since then too.
I also had another issue with the truck today where I thought it was gelling up, but I figured when it was still doing it at 35 degrees this afternoon it was no gelling problem. So I checked my fuel pressure gauge on the regulator and guess what, just barely 3psi fuel pressure. That's barely enough to run one of these motors much less make one accelerate. So I'd guess I've got a plugged screen on my holley pump.

 

[BIG DAVE]

Ok well here's what I did. I was so upset about missing my interview with the engineering dept dean that I hadn't thought about hot wiring the thing. My mom brought some tools into school for me and just happened to bring all of my jumper wires with my multimeter so I quickly checked the link between the positive block and the solenoid on the fender and it checked out good, at that point the only thing I could do was hot wire it. Lucky for me I ran the FSS to as the activation switch for my fuel pump relay, so when I hot wire that it does both jobs and I'm good to go. I jumped the positive power from the solenoid over to the starter side and it cranked over and fired off! But here's the real puzzler, after I started cranking the motor over all of my lights turned on and I had normal power back. It's worked every time since then too.
I also had another issue with the truck today where I thought it was gelling up, but I figured when it was still doing it at 35 degrees this afternoon it was no gelling problem. So I checked my fuel pressure gauge on the regulator and guess what, just barely 3psi fuel pressure. That's barely enough to run one of these motors much less make one accelerate. So I'd guess I've got a plugged screen on my holley pump.

Now what i wondering about is your interview did you get one at a later date

Oh and from what i've been reading about these holly pumps I think i'm going to stick with my good ole stock lift pump it dose the job just fine. Just my 2 cents

I am sorry to here that your truck is letting you down though, that suck's

 

[typ4]

Start checking for loose connections, if you had a short you would have smoke or a burnt fusible link. Step back, take a breath and think about it.
Solenoid doesnt switch power for anything but the starter, it is a junction for all the power leads for the truck. So start there, then go to the connector thru the firewall. Your years are known for cooking dash wiring so look carefully at the ign switch and light switch.

 

[Jake S.]

Start checking for loose connections, if you had a short you would have smoke or a burnt fusible link. Step back, take a breath and think about it.
Solenoid doesnt switch power for anything but the starter, it is a junction for all the power leads for the truck. So start there, then go to the connector thru the firewall. Your years are known for cooking dash wiring so look carefully at the ign switch and light switch.

x2
While its running try to wiggle wires to try and find a bad connection or junction. Still sounds ground related. Make sure that the frame and cab are grounded to the motor.

 

[Sycostang67]

Are your terminals clean? Reason I ask is I was out picking up a trailer and shut my truck off for a moment to hook everything up. I went to start it and had no power to anything just like you. My terminals looked clean, no corrosion anywhere to be found, but slightly twisting the positive terminal on one battery brought the truck back to life. When I got home I used a terminal brush to shine things up and haven't had any more problems.

 

[BigRigTech]

Grounds, loose or dirty connections. Remember -the only clean connection is a shiny connection.....I go through this stuff everyday with our trucks at work and as many times as I've tried to teach some of the guys to look for I always seem to be left a no start once or twice a week.........The most aggravating ones are the DT466 and 3126 HUEI engines - they won't start unless they are cranking over at a good clip....Such a simple thing to understand but so hard for some to understand....

 

[Sam7.3]

How would you wire up to jump the fss to drive it home with no power? I'm having the same problem. No power to ignition switch,dash,headlights, etc.