Hey all, last night I went to start my truck and as I turned the key to the start position everything went dark. Nothing works. The lights won't come on, the radio doesn't work, the dome light doesn't work and of course it won't start either. When I first turned the ignition all of the dash lights came on and the dome light lit when I opened the door as well. This was all before I turned the ignition to the start position so I don't think the battery is dead. It was also accompanied by a click sound. Similar to the sound it makes if you forget to fully engage the clutch release but it was louder. I already checked the fuses and they are fine. Any ideas? Thanks.

Last week the radio just quit working out of the blue. Then 4 days later it started working again. Could they be related?

 

Check your battery terminals. Clean WELL & re-tighten as necessary. Also check all your engine & frame ground wires. Remove them, clean contact area, and re-connect. That solves 90% of electrical problems. If that doesn't help, have your battery checked. Next after that is your starter contacts, then solenoid.

 

Thanks I checked the battery contacts and the battery to ground contact and they are fine. I'll take a look at the engine ground wire later. I don't think it's the solenoids as not even the dome light comes on. It seems like something shorted out somewhere, maybe in the steering column???

 

there is a fusible link that botls to the positive terminal, and also bolts to the fuse box. if this wire is burned, up, you will have the problems you describe. and if thats the case you have to figure out why it burned up, before you replaced, so it wont happen again.

but you are sure the battery connections are good? you did exactly what TNR said?

these battery teminals cause problems:


by that i mean the 2 bolts come loose and make weak connections.

 

sounds like what happened to my 86. First the fusible link went bad, then the alternator, and just recently, the starter.

 

Ive had that happen many times on my pickup due to bad terminals. Yeah Im a bad procrastinator. And they looked fine just looking at them. Same exact scenario as you described, lights out, radio lost all preset stations, seat belt chime, everything quit working till I got out and fooled with it.

 

Take off your terminal connectors, clean them with windex and a wire brush, and do this with your posts as well, then add some grease, axle, wheel, etc. then put them on tighten them a little use a socket that is bigger than the post and pound it down and tighten all the way. works great and the grease helps keep a good connection ive done it for years. take out your alternator and take it to have it checked at a checker or something. then check the grounds, or just clean them.

 

Have you tried a known-good battery? It may have enough juice to run your dome light but not crank the engine. I'd check that first. You probably need a new batt. anyway. From my experience, make sure you have a good, fully-charged battery before you start trying to diagnose your electrical system

 

Wow thanks for all of your replys...

This is exactly what was wrong. No visible corrosion but I cleaned the terminals anyway and it started right up. It sure seemed like a much more complicated problem when it happened though. Thanks again!

 

yeah thats a very very common thing, I've had it happen millions of times on different vehicles, usually a wiggle and tighten fixes it

 

yeah that same thing happened to me a while back, i got stranded at a theater at 2am, the terminals were clean(and new) tried tightening and wiggling, nothing happened so i left it and came back the next day and it took me like 5 min to get it working again

 

Glad we could all help, thats what its all about.

 

It was there in the first response to your post all along...

Glad you got it working again!

 

now cover the terminals in grease! happened to my truck alot int he past...i cleaned the terminals and then caked on the greased and it never did it again...it even stops the powder buildup on the battery and terminals.