78' 510 Goon wont crank

[Dan510Wag]

hey guys, I'm still a il new to the goon world an I NEED HELP.

 

ok so I was changing my head gasket, an when i was all done with that I was working on sum inter. stuff an a buddy of mine was hooking up my battery(hes not so good at cars an hooked up positive first). when I was in the car I hit the brake pedel by accident with out the negitive hooked up yet. I hooked up the battery the right way, went to start my car an nothing happend. nothing is working but the headlights. I changed most of the fuses an tryed to jump start it an still nothing is working. can any one help me out? relay, battery, fuse box?

[datsunaholic]

Fusable link, most likely. It's the thing with 2 green wires and a pink loop attached to the battery cable. Or it's just a loose/corroded connection- the headlights work, but when you turn the key on do they go out?

 

And BTW, you're SUPPOSED to connect the positive side first. That way you can't accidentally cause a short when you hit the body with the wrench. Hitting the brake pedal with the negative disconnected would not do anything. There's no complete path until both sides of the battery are connected.

[Dan510Wag]

Fusable link, most likely. It's the thing with 2 green wires and a pink loop attached to the battery cable. Or it's just a loose/corroded connection- the headlights work, but when you turn the key on do they go out?

 

And BTW, you're SUPPOSED to connect the positive side first. That way you can't accidentally cause a short when you hit the body with the wrench. Hitting the brake pedal with the negative disconnected would not do anything. There's no complete path until both sides of the battery are connected.

 

 

thanks I'll check that out after I get home from work tomarrow. no they stay on when I turn the key. thanks of the correction on the battery hook up

[DAT510]

Make sure to also check the flux capacitor, You want to make sure you tear into the time and space continuum at exactly 88mph

[Jon-Doe]

Make sure to also check the flux capacitor, You want to make sure you tear into the time and space continuum at exactly 88mph

 

:lol:

 

sounds like an earthing problem to me .... check main earths

[banzai510(hainz)]

Datsunaholic if fusable link was bad the Lights would not work,Right?

unless a 78 Datsun circut is different than the earlier 510s/521s

[datsunaholic]

Late 510s have 3 fusible links, vs one of 510/521. You can lose one and have half the electrical system still work. Problem is it's one assembly unlike the 280Z which had separate individual links.

[Dan510Wag]

ok I might sound stupid but can any one tell me where i can get a new fusible link because I suck at rewiring. wish i had my camera to show you guys the previous owners hack job, cut an taped wires every were

[ggzilla]

Where can you get fusible links?

 

* Nissan dealer

* Oreilly/Autozone/NAPA

* Amazon.com

 

Just make sure you get the exact size specified. See Fusible Link for a brief overview.

 

The Green one is used on 620s. Maybe on your 1978 A10 too.

[datzenmike]

The '78 apparently has two Green and single Brown fusible link. Green fusible links are rated for 40 amp. each. Because the Brown draws power through one of the Green links it must be of a lesser rating. I could not find out what that rating was.

[Dan510Wag]

well i changed my fusible link an still nothing works, what els can it be?

[datzenmike]

Is the ground cable firmly bolted to the head???? It had to come off to remove the head.

 

There should be a small wire going to the starter solenoid.

[Dan510Wag]

Is the ground cable firmly bolted to the head???? It had to come off to remove the head.

 

There should be a small wire going to the starter solenoid.

 

 

yes I made sur every thing was good this time. yes the wire is there

[datsunaholic]

Do you have a voltmeter?

 

Time to check to see if you have voltage to the fusebox, the ignition switch, etc.

 

1) The 3 15A fuses on the upper right side of the fuse box should always be hot. The 3 upper left fuses are hot only with the ignition ON. The bottom 2 fuses are hot with ACC and ON.

 

2) The White/Red Stripe wire plugged into the ignition switch should be hot all the time.

 

3) The White/red stripe wire on the alternator should be hot all the time.

[Dan510Wag]

Do you have a voltmeter?

 

Time to check to see if you have voltage to the fusebox, the ignition switch, etc.

 

1) The 3 15A fuses on the upper right side of the fuse box should always be hot. The 3 upper left fuses are hot only with the ignition ON. The bottom 2 fuses are hot with ACC and ON.

 

2) The White/Red Stripe wire plugged into the ignition switch should be hot all the time.

 

3) The White/red stripe wire on the alternator should be hot all the time.

 

I'm going to sound stupid agin but how do I check the fuse box, alt, an ingnition? every time I try them I get nothing. So far I have voltage to fusible link, starter/solenoid. I'm a total noob when it comes to wiring. I want to get this bitch up an running before the new year

[Dan510Wag]

^^^^ can anyone help? I dont want to buy all new parts if I dont have to.

[datsunaholic]

Question #1 was "Do you have a voltmeter". I guess I should have asked "Do you have a multimeter and know how to use it?".

 

I don't want to sound harsh, but if you don't know how to check for voltage at the fuse box then you're not going to have the expertise to fix this. You obviously have an open circuit somewhere, but it's going to take a while tracing wires with a multimeter to find it. Someone with experience with wiring could probably find it in 10 minutes, preferably with a factory wiring diagram in front of them.

 

Throwing parts at it likely won't fix it. It's a wiring issue- Something somewhere is burned open, loose, disconnected, or corroded. Unless the ignition switch itself is bad, read on.

 

Or, of course, there's the possibility the battery is hooked up backwards, which would have done a lot of bad things. But the headlights and brake lights would still work assuming the wiring didn't go poof.

 

What I can tell you is this:

 

1) assuming the original fusible link is there (the one with 3 wires, 2 to the battery plus a loop)

 

Since your headlights are working, that means 2 of the fusible link wires are good. One of the green wires and the brown (usually faded to pink) loop, because the brown(pink) loop gets power from that green leg.

 

So, there are 3 wires coming OUT of the fusible link into the wiring harness:

 

White: This is the BAT circuit as well as the Charging circuit. This powers everything that doesn't go through the ignition switch except the headlights. So, this powers the Hazards, the brake lights, the horn, the dome light, the clock, the running lights, and the cigarette lighter. All these go through the fuse box- the 3 upper right-hand fuses. In addition the heater relay and ignition relay get power from here, without going through the fuse box.

 

RED: this connects to the brown "loop" fusible link. This powers the headlights (main beams hi/low).

 

White/Red: This goes from the other green leg (the one without the loop) This powers everything else, but it only goes one place- the ignition switch. From there, it's split 3 ways- ACC, ON, and Start. So if that fusible link is blown, you will get nothing with the ignition switch. Of course, the same would hold true if the fusible link connection was loose or corroded, or if the ignition switch plug fell off or was loose. Or if the ignition switch itself is bad.

 

 

 

Here's what I would do, but once again it requires basic electrical understanding and knowing how to properly use a multimeter on "Voltage" setting.

 

1) Ensure voltage at the battery (since the headlights work, this is a given)

2) Ensure voltage at all 3 legs of the fusible link (where it connects to the main harness). I'd also unplug the link and make sure the connectors aren't corroded, and plug back in and recheck. If one leg shows dead, that leg is blown. Same with the loop.

3) Ensure voltage at the alternator. The output terminal should be hot all the time since it's connected directly to the fusible link. If there's no power here but IS power at the fusible link, the wiring harness is broken inside, usually right that the fusible link connector. If good, next

4) Ensure voltage at the BAT fuses. They're the 3 upper-right fuses. The left (center of fuse box) ends should be hot all the time, EVEN WITH THE FUSES PULLED. If there's no voltage there, again the problem is in the wiring harness or connectors. The only connectors between here at the battery are the fusible link and the fuse box connector, so the connectors are easy to check for corrosion. If there is voltage, then check the right (outboard) side of all 3 fuses, they all should be hot (with the fuses installed). If there's power on one side but not the other, the fuse is blown. It may not LOOK blown.

 

At this point, if there's voltage at all points given, you should have power to the headlights, running lights, brake lights, dome light, horn, and hazards. At a minimum the brake lights should work. The horn might just click, and no guarantees with a 34 year old car that the dome light and hazards still work.

 

 

5) Now on to the ACC circuit. There's only 2 ACC fuses, they're the bottom 2 (one right, one left). It'll be dead with the ignition off, so the key has to be turned to ACC (or ON, but go to ACC for now). The fuses get power from the switch, which comes to the middle of the fusebox so you'd check the left side of the right fuse and the right side of the left fuse, or what I called the "inboard" side of the fuse. If there's no power, but you had power to the BAT fuses, AND the fusible link checked good, then the problem lies in the wiring or at the ignition switch (see #7).

 

6) Repeat #5 with the switch on ON. Then, check the IGN fuses (the 3 top left fuses).

 

7) Checking the Ignition switch wiring: From behind the ignition switch, pull the plug out. It's a 6-position connector though only 4 are used. First I'd unplug it, then plug it back in and try the switch. If that doesn't do anything, I'd check for voltage in the connector. Unplug and check voltage at the white/red stripe wire. It should be hot. If it isn't, that wire goes straight back to the fusible link, so the problem lies there or in the harness. Fixing THAT means disassembling the harness and repairing the broken wire. If there IS voltage, then most likely the ignition switch is bad. You can verify by making a jumper wire (3" of wire with 2 male spade connectors) and jumping the White w red Stripe wire to the other 3 populated terminals in the connector, but caution jumping the Black/Yellow Stripe wire because that's the starter solenoid wire, it SHOULD crank over (it won't start without jumping multiple wires, but it WILL crank). If it's in gear that would be very bad. So make sure it's in neutral before doing that.

 

 

If all that doesn't find the problem, well, that exhausts everything I can think of.

[TENDRIL]

^^^ :) nice

 

so theres no sound at all? no click

[Dan510Wag]

Question #1 was "Do you have a voltmeter". I guess I should have asked "Do you have a multimeter and know how to use it?"..........

 

thanks for all info, I'm going to have a buddy help me out. he knows wiring like the back of his hand so hope he can find out whats wrong.

 

 

^^^ :) nice

 

so theres no sound at all? no click

 

no sounds, an no click

[bananahamuck]

Could you have pulled loose or cut wire that goes to clutch pedal or transmission ( if it`s automatic ) that keeps it from starting in gear??