no power
Asked by chevyheavy74 Mar 21, 2016 at 01:10 AM about the Chevrolet Chevelle
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I have a 1974 Chevelle was changing the alternator
and so I took the power wire completely off and
was taking the bolt off the back of the alternator
and it barely Spark now that I've got the new
alternator back on and battery hooked back up I've
got no power what so ever.Ive checked glass fuses
and changed what i thought mite be bad. What
else do i check to get power back on?
6 Answers
You did remember to disconnect the battery before you removed the old alternator didn't you? Otherwise, you might get extremely lucky and just have to recharge the battery that might have shorted out and went dead. Many times the battery and alternator have to be replaced at the same time because if one malfunctions it puts undo stress on the other component. Charge that battery up and do a load test. And check all your wire connections again. There's not too much that can go wrong on an alternator replacement. We have to keep these classic 70's cars on the road!
chevyheavy74 answered 8 years ago
The batteries got plenty of juice in it I charged it but it's like I'm still getting no power whatsoever there's nothing on the inside I'm wondering if there's a fuse underneath the hood or something that would keep it from getting power. Any info is extremely helpful
There are no fancy fuses or relays to deal with on a '74 Chevy. And if the battery has juice and the starter is good, it should fire up even with a bad alternator. The alternator light/gauge should indicate a discharge, but you should be able to drive it a few miles on battery power alone. If you did remove the old alternator without disconnecting the battery, you might have burned out some fusible links in the wiring harness. Use a test light to see if any current is getting to the starter. If the old alternator is still available bench test it to see if it's good and the problem is something else like a bad ignition switch or ballast resistor. These electrical problems can be a bear to track down. I hope I was a help but, I've needed help from other people to deal with this stuff myself occasionally. Good luck.
chevyheavy74 answered 8 years ago
Well i figured out the problem. A wire coming off the starter had corroded and separated fro the inline fuse link. Thank you for your help.
Glad you got that Chevy back on the road. I'm about to get my 1977 Buick Electra out for cruising season. We have to keep these old cars going so we can show people what things were like when they made real cars.
Which wire was it? I’m having same issue. Took engine out and put back in, I think the starter is wired properly, but have no power or cranck. Inside lights won’t turn on either. F_carlos @att.net. I have a 66 impala. I have two wires going to starter, one from the battery and ignition wire hooked up to S post
