Total loss of power... stranded

[leadlobber7]

Good morning all you repair gurus. I've got an issue that totally has me stumped. This morning I started my truck to go to work everything just fine, get about quarter of a mile from my house and my headlights, dash lights start flickering and the engine sounded like it was turning off then it came back on, the truck continued down the road about another hundred feet or so and then total loss of power! No dash lights headlights nothing, not even the dome light. I turned the key off, tried to crank the engine, nothing, no lights dome lights, nothing! Tried to put the truck in neutral to push it off of the road and I couldn't even get it into neutral, wouldn't come out of park. I sat there trying to think what to do, opened the door popped the hood, looked under the hood, couldn't see anything obvious. closed to Hood, tried to start the truck, fired up so I turn her back around and got my little car and headed to work.

I did recently change my ignition switch, following advice from a mechanic friend, As I had a similar situation happen except for one morning I went start the truck and the starter went to turn over, probably half a second of crank, then total lost power. So after some troubleshooting with test light found that there was no power to the hot connection junction terminal on the engine bay firewall, that was the advice I was given. That was a couple weeks ago so I don't know. Any ideas?

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[bucket]

Need to check all the main grounds and power feeds. Start at the battery and work from there. Make sure to check the starter connections, as it is often used as a junction too.

 

[leadlobber7]

What would be the reason that I wasn't able to get it out of park when it did have a total loss of power?

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[climb-101]

sounds like maybe he alternator died and the battery followed. i would jump it and check the voltage

 

[bucket]

What would be the reason that I wasn't able to get it out of park when it did have a total loss of power?

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Coincidence. Could you not turn the key? Aftermarket or worn cylinders often get hung up. If you just plain couldn't move the shifter, the driveline may have been in a bind.

 

[Blue Ox]

Coincidence. Could you not turn the key? Aftermarket or worn cylinders often get hung up. If you just plain couldn't move the shifter, the driveline may have been in a bind.

Or maybe the steering lock was loaded up. Lot's of possibilities and lots of things to look at. Kind of a ten cent question looking for a million dollar answer kind of thing.

 

[Snoots]

I'd go over the procedure of changing out the IGN switch again (without changing the switch).
Sounds like something went awry in there or, the rod down the column to the switch is distorted.

 

[leadlobber7]

So I took you guys advice and drop the steering column and removed and reinstalled the ignition switch. I could only find 3 grounds. 1- from Battery negative to alternator mount. 2- from battery to chassis at Grill/radiator area. 3- from frame to chassis a grill/radiator area. ANY MORE GROUNDS TO LOOK AT? I removed, cleaned and reinstalled all 3 of those. I then started the truck up and was watching my small monitor that is part of my Holley sniper EFI kit that I installed 8 or so months ago. And all the sudden I seen my battery voltage box go red and start flashing at 18 + volts!! at the same time my dome light in the cab of my truck started to Flicker and the truck started to run really rough. Turned off the ignition. Then turned the key to ignition which fired up the electric fuel pump but dimmed my LED dome light at the same time. I then tried to turn the truck over with no luck not even a click. Right now all I have is power to my LED dome light. Even if I try to turn on my headlights everything goes black. Have no idea what's going on??

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[bucket]

And the plot thickens! Lol.

Ok, I think it's safe to say that the truck runs rough or stalls because the aftermarket efi can't handle the voltage fluctuations. If you haven't checked the main 12v connections yet, that's the place to start. I do know that a poor connection at the alternator can cause the voltage to spike, particularly the 2-wire connector.

 

[leadlobber7]

Bucket, I also have a post under a different category of this page under 73 to 87 truck modifications under electrical. There's a guy on there that is also helping me and has come up with multiple different things. If you wouldn't mind reading those replies and suggestions and replying to that one? Thank you sir

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[bucket]

Bucket, I also have a post under a different category of this page under 73 to 87 truck modifications under electrical. There's a guy on there that is also helping me and has come up with multiple different things. If you wouldn't mind reading those replies and suggestions and replying to that one? Thank you sir

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I just came across that one, my suggestion is still the same. I think there's a loose power connection somewhere. And remember about the starter connections too, as that's often a junction point.