1964 lost all electrical power while driving | Ford Thunderbird club group 1955-2005 T-Bird models

  • We're glad you found us via a search engine! Right now, you can join our club absolutely free and unlock member only features like the site search! This notice only appears once! It only takes 30 seconds to register, and we would love to have you as part of the World's largest Thunderbird Forum/Club! Click here to continue

1964 lost all electrical power while driving

  • Thread starter Thread starter Myj156
  • Start date Start date
M

Myj156

Click here to upgrade
Reaction score
0
Thunderbird Year
1964
Any advice about losing all electrical power while I was driving? The whole car shut off, I couldn't start it anymore. Car smelled like burnt electrical, the interior filled with some smoke. Any ideas, I would like to here

This page contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, and Amazon Associate I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no cost to you.

 
Bad high load short somewhere. Don't know if Ford put in fuseable links after the battery at the time of the build. Time to put on you're Sherlock Holmes hat. Could be a big job but finding the cause should be your first priority then asses the damage down the line.
 
For all it's worth, the exact same thing happened to me in my 67 Mustang at night and I lost all power and could smell smoke and it happened right after I pressed the high beam foot switch which at least gave me somewhere to start looking. Turns out that when I was hitting the foot switch or had my foot near it, the carpet was pulling on the main wiring harness that would cause it to rub against a very sharp metal piece on the steering column so it would cut through the harness and cause a short. I found it by following the harness with my hand and I happened to cut myself on the metal piece, pure luck but sometimes lucky is better than good I guess. Took 3 days to find!
Good luck.
 
REDTOY said:
For all it's worth, the exact same thing happened to me in my 67 Mustang at night and I lost all power and could smell smoke and it happened right after I pressed the high beam foot switch which at least gave me somewhere to start looking. Turns out that when I was hitting the foot switch or had my foot near it, the carpet was pulling on the main wiring harness that would cause it to rub against a very sharp metal piece on the steering column so it would cut through the harness and cause a short. I found it by following the harness with my hand and I happened to cut myself on the metal piece, pure luck but sometimes lucky is better than good I guess. Took 3 days to find!
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Now that's what I'm talking about. Sherlock Holmes investigation. These cars can be a mind game but when you figured it out yourself instead of paying close to $100/hr for somebody else to diagnose is just money in the bank not only the sense of self satisfaction and worthy of a stiff drink afterwards. .
 
1614167169443.pngmy 57 engine stopped and I smelled burning wires and it would not start again. It was my Coil Resistor. I replaced it and got back on the road
 
Thx everyone for your insight. I forgot to mention that all my power loss happen right after I turned on my defrost and put it in heat, high mode
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top