rubikstruck

Hello gents, I'm diagnosing my 1985 p/u which does not provide power when the key is turned to ACC. I've almost no experience doing car electrical, so bare with me while I describe symptoms and what I plan to do about it. Any advice is sincerely appreciated.

The problem started while driving into my driveway the other day, when the car's electrical literally shut off (luckily I had momentum). Previously there had been no electrical hiccups or battery drainage issues. Now on to diagnosing:

Symptoms/state of the car:
1. Key gets no power.
2. All stock lights do not turn on (previously, these DID turn on when key was "Off").
3. Battery contacts are tight and not corroded, I cleaned them a couple months ago.
4. All fuses and fuseable links in the dash/bay fuse boxes appear to be in tact, though I have NOT volt/ammetered them. That is on the todo list. I have not tested any of the relays either, and the only one I really know about is in the engine bay fuse box. Are there any more fuses/fuseable links/relays that I am missing here?
5. There are a pair of lights in the wheel wells which DO turn on. The previous owner tied these on to the positive terminal of the battery and stuck them on their own switch and a random fuse. I do not know where they are grounded or how the circuit is completed (I was planning on pulling aux fuses until they don't turn on to find out). Really what these lights indicate to me is that this isn't a battery problem.

Interpreting symptoms: Based on the fact that neither the stock lights nor the key get power, I am assuming that a problem exists somewhere before the fuses for these. Based on my limited electrical experience, this sounds like it could be:
a. a break in the line to/from the fuse boxes,
b. accidental ground before the fuse boxes,
c. Broken relays??,
d. a simple loose connection
e. Some combination of the above?
f. ??????

I am sort of a noob with electrical, so I feel a bit lost. Could anybody with some extensive knowledge on the subject perhaps shed some light or indicate a hierarchy of things to diagnose first? I have searched and haven't quite found problems exactly like this, but I've tried to glean as much as possible from other threads that have similar problems. I'm sorry if this is a repost that I just didn't find in my search.

Thank you for any insight. I will keep this thread updated as I slowly trace wires and test connections.

rubikstruck

Crisis averted. Turns out the cable that runs from battery to the 80A fusible link had corroded and snapped off. Good thing it was too short to reach the engine bay or my truck would have become a campfire. .

Lesson learned: occasionally inspect all old, exposed wires in your 27 year old truck