The Dodge Challenger Message Board

hey guys,today i was driving my chally a few times and all was fine
this evening i was on the highway and the car back fired a few times and then went completly dead. what i mean by dead is absolutly no functions working,not even a tiny sign of electricity. some smoke did come from the engine somewhere? i went through every wire and no sign of a short + no burnt fuses?
had to get a tow truck to get my car home. when i got home i tested the battery,it was fine,tried a boost and nothing.
would the regulater or alternater cause this? let me know if anyone thinks they know what is the problem.

No instruments when you half turned the key?
No click from the starter when you turned the key to ignition?

It happened to me 3 years ago, leaving Paris for the Euronats in a cuda. Overtaking a truck, in the fast lane. Oops!
The exhaust backfiring is a side effect of losing the ignition... fuel ignites in the exhaust (it popped the mufflers open in my case).
It was the fusible link. No apparent damage. It took years to slowly burn inside. I yanked the two ends of the link and it came apart.

You can temporarily replace it with a wire with a fuse holder and a big fuse (30A minimum). But it's best to get a fusible wire. (easy to find a NAPA or the like, always backordered at Year One if you want a corrrect-looking one).
Don't buy one. Buy several and prepare them (if you get them from NAPA or Autozone, etc. you may have to crimp the terminals yourself).
Of course, having a spare in the glove box probably means it will never fail again!

I am with fbernard on this one. same thing happened to me last year. Fusible link. Still to this day do not know what caused the link to blow. I had brand new wiring harnesses throughout the car. I went to NAPA and bought a roll of 16 guage fusible link wire, and never leave home without it.

Bob
I also never leave home without a spare ballast resistor.

hey fbernard and j27nob,you were bang on.just checked my fuse link and the middle part of the 16 gage wire at the fuse link was totally burnt out under the rubber insulation.

i will update the progress after i put a new fuse link in. thank you guys!

It won't be period correct but a lot of RX-7 guys replace their fusible links with automotive circuit breakers (fl going bad in 7s is common). That's on my to-do list for my 7. Over time the fl becomes brittle and cracks.
Perhaps install te link for show then relace for go

update,i replaced the fuse link wire and car started and everything works but the fuse link burnt out right away again.

i put the same 16 gage wire and i even tried it a second time with the same results. what would make the fuse link wire keep burning out?

on tuesday i put a new rebuilt starter but i dont see why this would have anything to do with it.

maybe i need a new alternator or regulater or balist resistor. maybe a short in the ignition?

let me know what you guys think.

Danny, sounds like a bad starter relay, next to the battery. Take it off and get it tested at NAPA, they should also have a replacement. How long does it run before it breaks the circuit?

airfuelEddie wrote:Danny, sounds like a bad starter relay, next to the battery. Take it off and get it tested at NAPA, they should also have a replacement. How long does it run before it breaks the circuit?

a few seconds!!!

Yeah, it could be that. It's an easy fix if it is. Take it off and get it tested. I would disconnect the batt. first for safety sake. Danny, I would keep the battery disconnected until it's fixed or you are performing a test.(A lot of current is shorrting somewhere, enough to disable the fusible link circuit, I wouldnt want to have a fire) I've also heard of a shorted starter doing that but you replaced it .

airfuelEddie wrote:Yeah, it could be that. It's an easy fix if it is. Take it off and get it tested. I would disconnect the batt. first for safety sake. Danny, I would keep the battery disconnected until it's fixed or you are performing a test.(A lot of current is shorrting somewhere, enough to disable the fusible link circuit, I wouldnt want to have a fire) I've also heard of a shorted starter doing that but you replaced it .

maybe the new starter i just got has a defective selenoid? i will get the new starter relay tommorrow and give it another quik test,if that doesnt work,out comes the new starter.
eddie i have been disconecting the battery all the time,just will hook it up for testing.

Sounds good, let us know!

Since you replaced the starter possibly one of the wires is contacting the exhaust or another source of ground. I would check the wiring in that area.

Jon wrote:Since you replaced the starter possibly one of the wires is contacting the exhaust or another source of ground. I would check the wiring in that area.

jon,starter wire was fine,it is in like new condition and far away from the exhaust in the wire loom holders.

Update**** well after 16 hours of trial and elimination i finally found the problem.

the alternator that is original and nearly 20 years since its last rebuild,had a nasty short inside.i brought it in for a rebuild and the guy tested the alternator and he called me and said everything inside was pretty much shot!

let me tell you guys that a short is one hell of a lot of work to find.
first i tried the starter relay putting in a new one and problem still there.
second i removed the fuse and wire panels at the firewall.what i found was smoky residue at the thick red ignition wire and at the black thick alternator positive wire.my first guess was the ignition wire so out came the steering wheel and part of the colum.no signs of bad wires in the column or ignition area.
third i followed the black positive wire to the alternator and as soon as i unhooked the wire i tested another temporary fuse link and vowlla the car started 3 burnt fuse links later and about 16 hours of pulling my hair i think i got it.

should get the freshly rebuilt alternator next week and i will let everyone know if all is fine.

Glad to hear you have got it figured out. Wiring can be a total pain in the arse. I've been there on the side of the road also.

I remember the article from mad wiring diagram (or something like that) and they had the fusible link on both the red and black alternator wire at the relay. I believe the factory only has one on the red battery circuit. That really makes some practical sense now.

Cool, glad to hear you figured it out Danny!