Dead as a door nail

[gogo34]

Took the kids out for breakfast this morning and on the way out, the '66 IIa started right up and got us there without a problem. After an hour of stuffing our faces with pancakes, we got back in the Rover for the ride home and when I turned the key nothing happened. No Oil light, no Charge light, no Headlights...nothing. Pushing the start button produced nothing as well. I figured my battery had gone dead somehow, so we called the wife and she came to take us home.

Once home, I charged the battery up to 100% and returned back to the Rover. Reinstalled the battery, turned the key and still nothing. Obviously, it's not the battery.

Before I start tearing into the thing I was wondering if anyone knew where I should start? Since it's not getting any juice to the headlights, I'm wondering if my ignition switch has finally died. That would explain why it won't turn the starter over.

Another odd thing is that the horn doesn't work either and it's not getting it's juice through the ignition so maybe it's something else.

Any good starting point?

Thanks

[solihull121]

Might not explain all your symptoms, but check for a broken wire on the side of the distributor. Had that LT wire snap off at that spot before and took me forever to find it.

[NC_Mule]

Such a major power failure should be easy to find. Start at your battery, 12V...check. Then follow the positive cable to the starter solenoid. Then check your ground from the battery, did it break loose from the engine block? I just tried to attach a partial wiring diagram showing how the ignition switch is powered but it loaded in error even though it's only 82kb. Do you have a wiring diagram handy?

pb

[bugeye88]

If your battery has voltage above 12.5V then its not the battery. Check the fuses, loose or dirty battery cables bad or dirty/loose ground strap. The get down and dirty. Let us know and we'll look at other stuff.

Bugeye88

[SafeAirOne]

Like others say, check for good contact between the battery cables and the battery and the cables and the connections on the other ends. Also check the wires that supply the main power to the whole rover and the ignition switch. This is not an issue with the engine ignition system wiring or any electrical sub-system, rather a problem with the main power supply.

[gogo34]

Thanks for the help. I went back and double checked all the grounds, jiggled and tightened everything I could find. Got in, turned the key and everything lit up like a Christmas tree. Rover fired right up like nothing happened and drove it home.

I don't take it off road much, but these New England roads have plenty of pot holes this time of year so I guess something just came a little loose on the way to breakfast.

Thanks again.

[NC_Mule]

Thanks for the help. I went back and double checked all the grounds, jiggled and tightened everything I could find. Got in, turned the key and everything lit up like a Christmas tree. Rover fired right up like nothing happened and drove it home.

I don't take it off road much, but these New England roads have plenty of pot holes this time of year so I guess something just came a little loose on the way to breakfast.

Thanks again.

Good work, it's always nice to figure it out and keep it off the tow truck.

pb