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I just finished my swap and when I jumped in it and turned the key to on all my gauges and radio turned on then I turned it to start and everything shut down. I turned it off and tried again and nothing happened at all. What happened?
Ground wires hooked up? Connections at the battery secure?
Turn the headlights on, if they do not light take a voltmeter and start measuring for where the voltage is being lost. First measure at the battery posts to confirm the battery is not dead. Then measure from the post to the terminal. There should be zero volts. If a voltage appears between parts that should be connected, it is a bad connection. Do this all the way around the circuit both on the power and the ground side.
Ground wires are good and the battery terminals are tight The headlights do not turn on and the battery is charged. I put two different battery's in the car. Let me make sure I understand this. I need to trace the headlight circuit to figure out where the voltage is being lost? What do you mean from the post to the terminal?
Ok so both fuses are getting 12.3v on either side of the fuses when I probed the grounds I got 12.3v where the battery ground hits the chassis and at the thermostat ground. I have a nology ground strap running from the head and the block and to the frame. When I probed where it hits the frame it slowly rises from 0v to like 3v and then jumps around between 0-3v. But that wouldn't cause the car to lose power to everything would it?
I thought I answered you. No the horn nor the hazard lights work. Headlights and blinkers do not work. None of the interior lighting is working as far as the over head lights and any dash lighting including the radio. This is true with the key in every position. The battery ground is getting 12.3v where it meets the chassis. I forgot to test that one I will get back to you with a reading as soon as I get back to the car.
Put one meter probe on the lead post on the minus side that is part of the battery (not the terminal that is part of the car). Put the other probe on the frame or the engine. The reading should be very close to zero volts.
Do this test with the headlight switch on and/or someone turning the key trying to start.
Exactly. The voltage reading you are seeing there, assuming you did it right, is voltage grounding thru the multimeter instead of the ground (path of least resistance) as was said that reading should be near zero volts.