So I've been driving my 74 Lesabre past couple days because the weather has been nice. Pull in to a gas station just now to fill up. I go to start it and it is completely dead. No crank, no lights, no radio, no nothing. Got a friend coming to give me a hand but while I wait for him I thought I would throw this out there to the experts. WTF happened?
Could be the battery, if it starts with a jump (and you didn't smell any smoke). These newer batteries do not fail gracefully. I've had this happen a few times.
I did check the connections, seemed fine. When my buddy got here we tried to jump it. Didn't seem to do anything. I even tried disconnecting and reconnecting one of the cables to see if it would spark, and 0 sparks. Got my buddy to drive me home and I got one of my other cars. Decided to get a new battery figuring at least I'd be able to get the car home. Put the new battery in and still nothing. I was hoping it would be a battery or alternator problem but it looks like I got 'other'.
Fusible link. It's in the engine's wiring harness and when it lets go, nothing works. Search on the forums here and I'm sure you'll find all you want to know about them.
Thank you all for your help but I figured it out. As I was waiting for a tow truck, I decided to take another look at things. Battery connections were good, but then I thought what about the other end. Stuck my hand down by the starter to see if I could feel anything. Low and behold the little wires that connect to the solenoid felt a little loose. I jiggled them a bit and then tried to start it. I had power! Though it quickly went dead again. A couple of rounds of jiggling and crank attempts and the SOB started up! I hopped in and drove home (the whole time praying it wouldn't die). And just to spit in my eye, after i got home i tried to restart it and it fired right up. It's starting to come back to me why I haven't had a really old car for a long time...ou:
Glad you found the culprit. Had the same thing happen to me while driving my old 76 limited. I was gonna suggest you check it, but you beat me to it. Good deal
Yea alls well that ends well. I was sweating it there for a while because the top was down (of course). And it's at a busy gas station. And it was blocking pumps until my buddy came by to help push it out of the way.
You say that's why you don't have an old car as a daily driver--but think about it--even if this had gone the worst possible way it'sa tow and an hour of labor. Have a 'no start no crank no nuthin in anything 10 or so years old, you're dealing with security systems, antenna rings, rfid transmitters, relays, computers, body control modules, fuel pump assemblies, ad nauseum. I just learned last week that late model VWs have electric parking brakes that need scan tools to service and immobilize a car when they fail-which happens somewhat often. It'll crank but won't go anywhere--WTF? So---sometimes simple to fix is better than breaks less but in spectacular fashion. Patrick
I noticed that in that thread the fusible link scan in my post is no longer visible, here it is from another post: The fusible link is located under the engine, close to the starter motor. Here's an old scan from a Buick Chassis Manual: