1974 Plymouth duster no power
 

Hey guys, I have a few problems I was driving the duster the other day and was slowing for a stop sign when I lost all power to everything and smoke was coming from the drivers side hood crack and the AC vent. I can't see any burned wires or anything and the battery was tested and good but still have no power to anything!
Thanks for any advice
Jacob

Start by reading this very good article. It goes through the basics of general troubles in all these cars, and the how why and what

http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...p-gauges.shtml

Go down the page, there's a simplified diagram of the main power for these cars:

ALL power except the starter main cable comes off the battery, goes to the big stud on the starter relay, through the FUSE LINK, through the BULKHEAD CONNECTOR---through the RED wire to the ammeter---through the ammeter and branches off of the BLACK wire

---back through the BULKHEAD CONNECTOR---to the ALTERNATOR

---and to the factory welded in-harness splice, which is under the dash, taped up in the main harness in the BLACK ammeter wire. This branches of and feeds power to

---the IGNITION SWITCH

---the HEADLIGHT(s) only power (not tail or park)

---to the hot buss in the FUSE PANEL


You PROBABLY blew the fuse link, finally, but the smoke means you PROBABLY have harness damage, and the ONLY way to find out is to carefully untape or cut the tape covering on the harness and inspect the wiring for melted insulation.

To find the short, assuming the harness is not cross -welded, do the following:

Get yourself a multimeter and 12V test lamp, and some clip leads from Radio Shack

Disconnect the battery ground cable, and clip your 12V test lamp from ground to the battery. Hopefully the lamp does NOT light.

Now go up and follow the wire (probably burned) going from the starter relay stud to the bulkhead connector. This is your fuse link and is probably blown. Cut the wire back to "good wire" and temporarily clip a clip/ test lead to hook them together.

The lamp will now LIGHT if the short is still present.

Now

1---Remove fuses one at a time to see if any of them cause the lamp to go out

2--Unbolt the black wire at the alternator and tape the wire end

3--If the lamp is still lit, get under the dash as necessary and unhook the connector from the headlamp switch.

If none of the above removes the short, (lamp shuts off) things might be a little more complicated.



http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...s/amp-ga18.jpg