stock '73 maverick 302...going down the road, pulled the lights on and bam everything battery operated died...no lighter, horn nothing. I'm thinking...light switch...last thing touched... just like someone stole the battery while it was driving down the road... ironic...the door buzzer was the only thing that worked but if you pulled the lights on it would quit...
Maybe but as I found out recently the main fusible link goes THROUGH the headlight switch on it's way to the ignition switch. So yes your could have killed the car with the headlight switch. I spent 3 months last year over-analyzing the B+ circuit... But before you go crazy replacing a 7 dollar part, check your fusible link. If you start at the B+ side of the starter solenoid and follow the main power to the fusible link, it goes from there to the headlight switch, where it gets split to the headlights and to the ignition switch. Inside the ignition switch there appear to also be at least 2 different ways it can fail and cut B+ power.
fuseable link. the buzzer works because there is just a little bit of continuity left in the fuseable link that lets enough current for the buzzer but will heat up too much for any more draw than that.
I had a cracked solder connection in my alternator ad it had troubles charging.. Soon as I tried to draw the extra amps through the lights would die instantly..
well...here is the final on the trouble shooting... not the...light switch..not the...fuseable link...but close... someone had butt spliced in a new fuseable link and the butt splice corroded up and lost connection...bit in the Butt by a Butt splice...
I don't use a butt splice on anything that makes the car opreate. I will solder anything that I feel will/has anything to do w/ keepin the car on the road. In other words: Butt splice is rarely used on my hookups.
Nope and it's something I've decided to start looking at a LOT closer in the future. After re-wiring most of the dash in a Bronco, and then finding out I need to do the same in my Comet... I am going to be looking at wiring in future cars I buy very close. Butt splices are acceptable enough for NASA they are good enough for me. But, I have the proper tools and the training to install them correctly. I would NEVER solder a fusible link because you want the splice to come apart on it. If you solder and don't do a very clean solder job you can create a heatsink that would nullify the job the fusible link is supposed to do.
I was going to say look for a bad ground, but got here too late. loosing Ground will do the same thing.
