73 electrical gremlin

[SWOMACH1]

I pulled and replaced all the fuses and cleaned the contacts with an emery board and spray from parts store. After that I pulled the fuse box out and found a burnt end in the plug. I've attached 3 pictures of it. One picture shows the female ends, another shows the male ends and the last shows the burnt yellow wire. It makes sense now as to why the power was gone and came back when I messed with the fuse box.

So this begs the question, what's the next step? Should I just try to clean the ends and hope? I know that I can't properly fix this myself. And I'm also concerned about 1) why was it getting hot and 2) why didn't the inline fuse w/i the wire melt?

Any thoughts? It's nice to be getting somewhere on this!            

[Mach 1 Club]

Someone with more electrical knowledge than myself will have to help with this question. Glad starting with the fuses headed you somewhere. I would always look to the easiest solution when trying to fix something.

[SWOMACH1]

I agree, looking at the fuse box again has pointed me in the right direction! Thanks!

I'm close, really close! I went ahead and took out the dremel tool and cleaned up the connections. I have power but I literally have to pull and hold the fuse box to maintain the connection. But when I do that everything works! Unfortunately when starting it she's not firing right up; I'm not sure if I'm getting spark... So I'll keep plugging away at it tomorrow.

I was thinking about soldering a small piece within the suspect hole (pic previous post) to help maintain connection. Any thoughts?

I really appreciate the help on here, I'm pretty motivated again! Thanks!

[JTS71 Mach1]

The reason it burnt needs to be addressed first. Was it because of a weak dirty corroded connection? Which is the most likely cause, or was it due to some other problem. As the shorted wires? One solution to your problem would be to take both ends of the burnt wire out of the connector/ fuse block drill a hole slightly larger then the wire Probably 10 Guage so a 3/16 drill ought to work if not go up a size or two. once you have both halves drilled clear thru. cut the old ends off, clean the wires and install new bullet style connectors one male and one female. One to each end of the wires now assemble the connector/ fuse block. Take one end of the wire and put in form the back and the other from the front, thru the hole you drilled you might have to enlarge your hole to fit the wires, depending on the size of the bullet connectors. If you take your time, you can get the connectors to hide in the connector/ fuse block and not be very noticeable and it will be 100% functional, and if it happens again it's a simple fix. JTS 71 Mach1

[SWOMACH1]

My guess (or hope) is the corrosion or dirt within fuse block was the initial problem because the loss of power issue happened first. It was very intermittent at first and progressively got worse until it finally just quit providing power. The burnt wire didn't happen until after I hot wired it numerous times. (temporary wire from ignition coil to battery side of solenoid. So it's my hope that this is the true culprit. Everything now acts normal as long as I'm holding fuse block to maintain the connection.
Your advice (JTS71) makes a lot of sense and sounds like a good fix. I'm just not sure how easy it's going to be to get the wire slack I need under the dash. But it definitely sound like the right solution. I'll take a look for those bullet connectors at the auto parts store tomorrow and crawl underneath the dash.
Thanks for the advice! I'll let you know how it goes.

[Rare Pony]

Glad to see your making progress. Another reason for the cause may be the previous owner had added some type of accessory. It is easy to use a spade connector to slide over one of the clips that hold the fuse in to power an accessory; I know because I did it years ago to power my CB radio (does that show my age). I've had no problems with my adaptation, but it could have overloaded your fuse connection and melted the wire. Just a thought.

There are a couple of folks parting out some Mach's here on the site, maybe they would have a fuse block to replace yours and just fix the end of the yellow wire.

[Mach 1 Club]

There are a couple of folks parting out some Mach's here on the site, maybe they would have a fuse block to replace yours and just fix the end of the yellow wire.

Good idea!

[don29163]

I would cut the yellow wire on each side of the fuse panel and butt splice it on the outside of the box. A bullet connector is resistance.
Usually that wire burns at the ignition switch..it is the main accessory feed wire. Running the A/C with the blower on high was the main cause.
I would also take a look at the ignition switch, that may be where the problem started.

[JTS71 Mach1]

You are correct that a bullet connector adds resistance, but so does a butt connector the difference would be almost nill. And if you look at the original connection it's nothing but a bullet connection to begin with.
The repair would not have much difference in resistance then the original connection Ford made. The only way you could lower the resistance, would be to solder the bullets to the ends of the wires before you connected them. Or solder the butt connector in solid, but then you eliminate the ability to assemble the fuse block /connection block correctly. This also may be near impossible to do up under the dash. JTS 71 Mach1

[chutsonjr@yahoo.com]

In the past I,ve owned alot of fords . To start with it goes like this battery with clean terminals . Check your cable ends Be sure clean them too . I always - ground to the motor on the front of the motor head with its own bolt . Leave this cable unbolted untell you have everything put together first . On the + side battery cable goes to the starter solenoid . Make sure the solenoid is bolted in place . The + cable is bolted to the solenoid closest to the battery . On the other side bolt your long starter cable to the solenoid . Feed the long cable down under the motor mount throw the opening under the mount to go to the starter . Jack the car off the ground with a safe jack . Put a safety stand under the car so it does not fall on you . find the cable and pull it to the starter make sure the starter is bolted tight to the motor . Find the starter bolt remove it . Put the started cable in place put the bolt on tight so that cable does not move . Make sure on the 2 smaller studs on the solenoid .If you havent mix up the 2 small wires along with the rest of the wiring . Be sure the wiring is in the right place . You have a short ground strap with big eyelets on each end this is on the back of the motor block . This cable is to be grounded to the firewall . Did you check the starter relay block on the column to make sure the rod is hitting the right place or if it is off it won,t start . Last you have a neurtral safety switch could be out of place . The fuseable links do swell up so the wire look much bigger if it is bad . You also have a points distributor . If you have left the key on for long with out running the point are burn up . There is alot of things that can and will go wrong . I hope this is of some help . C.L. Good Luck