So finally got my 1968 firebird convertible running. Was sitting there about to go for a test drive, hit the power top down button an it lifts a few inches then the whole car dies.

Everything is dead. No power anywhere but right off the battery itself. This is bizarre? Anyone have this happen or know where to start? I'm at a total loss here. The whole car has been drunk uncle wired and most everything spray painted black. So making working on this stupid hard.. the old wiring diagrams are useless and the legends in them only ID like half the symbols in the circuits the left I'm left to guess at...

 

Hi spacedandy, I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. Your car, being a 1968, is a first gen Firebird and this board only deals with the third generation (1982/1992) Firebirds/Camaros, hence the "Thirdgen.org" name. I'm not telling you this to blow you off, I'm telling you this so you know that if no one knows the exact answer to your problem it not snobbishness, it's a matter of how many people here remember and/or have firsthand knowledge of the particulars of your car's wiring. I can tell you you've had an open circuit fault somewhere in the beginning of the power distribution circuit since all power has been lost, but for instance, I don't even recall if it has "fusible links" or not (my last first gen Firebird was 30 years ago, so the ol memory is a bit fuzzy). If it does have fusible links coming from the big terminal on the starter absolutely check them first. If not, you'll have to start at the battery and check every connection with a voltmeter till you find the open circuit. Don't forget the negative side of the circuit as well, is the black wire from the battery solidly grounded to the engine block (likely yes if it started ok before the failure) and is there a good solid body ground as well?

Since there is no power at anything but the battery, it should be a simple matter to use the voltmeter to determine exactly where the power is, and isn't, to find the open circuit.

 

Yeah. Next nice day here I'm have to do some serious poking around.. prolly tear apart the underside to get to the starter to see if there is any fuses there.. all fuses in the car look fine. An yeah thanks for the heads up. Just tried everything and at a total dead end so kinda reaching out everywhere even close I can think of. haha.oh an yeah all my grounds are good. Car was def running and good to go till I hit the top down switch for a few seconds.

 

Yes, for sure check at the big bolt on the starter where the battery wire goes with the voltmeter. If there is power there, follow the smaller wires that are also connected to the big bolt to where they go into the body (near the steering column and brake booster if I recall correctly) and see if there is a good sized connector there. If so, check both sides of that connector for power. Chasing from where the power is, and then finding where it isn't, is gonna hopefully lead you to what went open

PS, it's not fuses you'd be lookin for at the starter, it'd be "fusible links" , small lengths of wire that are of a thinner gauge than the wires they ultimately feed power to, which are specifically smaller to burn open in a short circuit situation, keeping the rest of the harness from going up in smoke. I just truly can't recall if 1968 birds had them or not.....

 

As he said, this site is for 82-92 Camaro & Firebird exclusively.

However, it sounds to me like your problem is a fusible link (NOT a "fuse" like you'd think of) at the starter. Serves the same purpose as a fuse, but looks like a piece of wire. There are probably 2 but maybe only 1; can't recall for sure; but it/they connect THE ENTIRE CAR to the battery.

 

Yeah I'm not sure either and everything is wrapped in electrical tape and on top of that spray painted black. ;_; The wiring diagram shows all sorts of stuff that could possibly be what I'm looking for but it doesn't have any legend labels for any of it lol. .. not looking forward to this at all. Accessing the starter on this car is a god awful nightmare =\

 

Yeah thank you. Even tho not first gen site still getting some good help here. Kinda confirming my suspicions.. just wish I could know for sure where exactly these fuses are. The starter is buried and everything is wrapped in electrical tape AND spray painted black x.x what a nightmare. Not looking forward to this. Haha. Hate trying to decipher people's shotty work before me. And even more sotty engineers haha.

 

Since this car's wiring is not stock, you're on your own here. The only advice that can be offered is basic: check any existing fusible links and scour the car for any/all ground connections. Follow one circuit at a time with a multimeter and test light until you find the problem(s).

 

Yeah.. that's what I figured. Just thought I'd ask to see if anyone had the same thing happened and knew exactly what it was an where but guess I'm the only lucky one in the world the fire chicken doing this to. Lol. Maybe I'll find it one day XD