[ReelFun]

My 65 Goat died the other day and left me stranded for an hour and a half waiting on a tow truck. The car would just shut off when I was at a light. It did this several times and I was able to restart it. I guess it finally had enough and just quit. The only electrical functions I had were my headlights and interior light. No signals, no wipers. My other accessories weren't working prior to this as I have not fixed them yet.(radio, heater fan, horn, lighter.) Anyway, I did some poking around and thought it may be my starter solenoid, so I replaced it. That turned out to be the problem. Now everything that was working prior to this is working again. My question is are all of these things supposed to rely on the starter solenoid or has someone prior to me messed up the wiring? And would a malfunctioning solenoid cause the car to shut down? Just curious. I have now ordered new engine and dash harness. Thanks for anyone reply.

[SteveGB21]

Reel Fun,

By any chance, did you inspect the harness? Also, how about the battery cables, alternator, voltage regulator and battery? If it wasn't one of those, then yes, I would have said it could be the wiring harness. By any chance, did you get the wiring harness through M & H Wiring Harness www.wiringharness.com? If I were you, did you get a harness for the engine modified for the internal voltage regulator? Just that external voltage regulator alternators are such a pain in the a#@. A bad voltage regulator can cause quite a bit of problems. My '70 LeMans, I had an external voltage regulator (last year for the Pontiac A-Series). I got one that had for an internal. I am now having problems with no horn, but it was since I changed steering columns, as well as maybe not having enough ground, and using a 140 amp alternator through Powermaster. I am still working on that, but I can tell you what does and what will work. Hope this helps.

[ReelFun]

Yes, I checked the cables and battery. The purple wire going to the starter from the harness had a bare spot on it, but it looked old. I fixed that. I did order from M&H and they are modifying my harness for HEI and the internal regulator. I already have these on the car but the wiring was rigged by a previous owner. My other items that aren't working besides the horn are just not wired up. The new harness will take care of that. as for the horns, I put 12 volts directly to them and they were dead. I think I need new ones.

[george kujanski]

I'd say you had, and still have a problem with the battery feed to the ignition switch, since the stuff that wasn't working, along with the ignition, goes thru there. the headlights are fed separately from the ignition switch.

Check that particular circuit and fix it permanently or it may leave you starnded again.

The purple wire to the solenoid has nothing to do with ignition and accessory feed but in working on it you may have temporarily fixed the actual problem.

opefully the new harness will take care of the issue.

George

[ReelFun]

Thanks George. I really value your opinion. I hope the new harness will solve this issue permanently. Do think it could be the switch itself ?

[george kujanski]

It's certainly a possibility. A test I would do is run the engine and move the harness under the dash and in the area you were working. If it's a harness issue, the movement may shut down the ignition. If not then proceed to the switch. Make sure the connector is plugged onto the switch correctly. If you can get the problem to appear and stay, then I would measure voltages starting with the battery feed to the ignition switch.

George

[johnta1]

Doesn't the main power wire run from the solenoid to the alternator?
(haven't looked at a schematic, I know the later ones do)

Might have had a loose/bad connection at the battery cable and the main power wire on the solenoid.

Also check that it has a good connection on the alternator and the fuselink is OK.