Alright, I picked up a '62 chevy stepside back in august. Its been modded a fair amount 8"+ lift kit, camo paint job, roll cage, five point restaints, the works. It ran for a while, but broke down after about a month. It has been sitting in my driveway ever since. I tried to start it up and it won't run. When I turn the key, the battery voltage drops to zero. The problem isn't with the battery, as i have tried a variety of other batteries and even hooked it up to my tahoe while running. Any other ideas on what the problem might be?

 

The battery voltage drops to ZERO when they key is turned? is this on the gauge on the dash , or useing a volt meter? If it drops to zero on a volt meter attached to the battery posts , that battery , and every other one you have tried is toast...

If the battery is good it would melt or blow up something in the circuit when you turned the key , if it was drawing enough amperage to drop it to zero volts. Heck , drawing that much amperage would probably cause the battery to explode.

 

Is it a V8 or a straight 6? If it's a 6 banger then you can easily jumper the starter solenoid to see if it will turn over. Just short the big post with the battery cable to the little one to activate the solenoid. There may be 2 little posts with small wires attached. If 1 doesn't do it then the other should. If neither one kicks the solenoid then you've got a bad solenoid. If the solenoid DOES kick in and the motor turns then you've got a bad ignition switch.

When you crank it this way and the switch is off it may try to start but it will die as soon as you take the screwdriver off. If you want it to start then turn the key on.

If it's a V8 the starter is harder to get to but the same principle applies.

Edwin

 

alright thanks. I'm gonna try to see if its the solenoid or the ignition.

 

Yeah, if the voltmeter is wired to the ignition switch it may be disconnected when you turn the switch to start so its dropping to zero is probably a red herring.

Edwin