OK, I have a big problem and Call me a newbie, call me an idiot, just HELP!

I have a 1978 CJ5 that is virtually all new, I have replaced everything.

The other day I drove it after it had been parked to months no problems.

It wouldnt start the next time I went out so I charged the battery, no luck. Decided to replace the starter solanoid.

When replacing it touched the positive wire of the battery to something and now besides not starting there is NO power to anything on it.

Checked the fuses, none blown anywhere.

Replaced the battery, no luck.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated from a more experienced forum! Havent gotten any help anywhere else.

step one. check all your grounds. make sure that you have one from frame to body and body to engine and engine to batt.

if you have a fiberglass body you need grounds everywhere, and that makes it more complicated.

I have a ground from the battery to the engine block and the engine block to the frame on the top neg. post and a ground from the side post to the engine block and frame as well.

It is definitely not that and I have checked the wires and they do not appear to be scorched.

It worked before I touched the positive wire and ARCed the battery so its not a ground issue. I either blew a wire (scorched) or fried the fusable link which I cannot locate.

I found a huge fuse in between my battery and the solonoid/ ignition but it isnt blown and thats the one that usually blows if I touch a positive wire to something.

So Im at a loss unless there is another fuse I do not know about that is hidden in the painless wiring harness.

I have a feeling I fried the fuseblock or something. There are two big round silvers things above my fuses. Anyone know what they do?

Those two silver round things are flashers, for your blinkers and hazards.

Get out the voltmeter and start following from the battery down through the system to see where it is being lost. Or check to see if one of your wires is being grounded somewhere.

The voltmeter and ohms will be your friend or worst enemy by the end.

You might have a fusible link protecting your wiring. Get a multimeter and start looking for voltage starting at the battery and working your way out along the positive side. Don't know about your vehicle specifically, but most have a wire that runs straight to the starter solenoid and one that runs to the electrics, via a distribution center/block. There is often a fusible link between these, which is basically a piece of wire that acts like a fuse. Just keep checking for +12v along the main circuit till you can't find it, then look at everything that's between where you last had +12v and there.
whodat

sounds like you dont have a DVM huh? You need to get one if you dont....

Ok, guys, think about what he did. Sounds like he had the positive cable hooked to the battery, and was hooking up the other end to the hot side of the starter seneniod. If he grounded the cable on something, then why would he be looking for a blown fuse. The circuit would have been from ground(on the block I guess), through the ground cable to the battery, through the battery, and through the positive cable. Where is the fuse in that circuit? Unless there is more to the story, then there must be a problem with one of the cables, or a prob with one of the connections.

Now the book does show a fuseable link off the hot side of the seleniod. Possibly something else was done to pop it, but I dont see it. It would take a short downstream of the fuseable link to blow it, not on the source side.

How corroded are the cables. A good jolt of current through them could have burnt up the inside of the crimps, if they were dirty enough to generate enough heat.

You need a meter to check the resistance. You could also use a set of jumper cables to replace the battery cables to see if that gets any power to you.

sounds like you dont have a DVM huh? You need to get one if you dont....

Ok, guys, think about what he did. Sounds like he had the positive cable hooked to the battery, and was hooking up the other end to the hot side of the starter seneniod. If he grounded the cable on something, then why would he be looking for a blown fuse. The circuit would have been from ground(on the block I guess), through the ground cable to the battery, through the battery, and through the positive cable. Where is the fuse in that circuit? Unless there is more to the story, then there must be a problem with one of the cables, or a prob with one of the connections.

Now the book does show a fuseable link off the hot side of the seleniod. Possibly something else was done to pop it, but I dont see it. It would take a short downstream of the fuseable link to blow it, not on the source side.

How corroded are the cables. A good jolt of current through them could have burnt up the inside of the crimps, if they were dirty enough to generate enough heat.

You need a meter to check the resistance. You could also use a set of jumper cables to replace the battery cables to see if that gets any power to you.

I would skip the DVM and just go for the ol' test light. You obviously don't have power at the fuse box, so start at the battery and work your way downstream. Strange things happen, last time my CJ lost power a wire had come loose from the terminal, under a heatshrinked rubber boot, right at the starter solenoid. Visual inspection never would have caught it.

Originally posted by Slagburn
I would skip the DVM and just go for the ol' test light. You obviously don't have power at the fuse box, so start at the battery and work your way downstream. Strange things happen, last time my CJ lost power a wire had come loose from the terminal, under a heatshrinked rubber boot, right at the starter solenoid. Visual inspection never would have caught it.

A test light is NO replacement for a DMM. How are you going to check the load that a bad connection causes in a circuit?

Why would you need to? Use a test light, find it, fix it. Don't waste time figuring out what load it draws.
DVM/DMM's have their uses, but figgering out why a rig doesn't have power isn't one of them IMHO. Keep it simple.

At least that's what works for me.

Well with a test light you have to have power to test ever wire. If your testing with ohms you don't need power. I say the DVM would be easier IMO.

Originally posted by Slagburn
Why would you need to? Use a test light, find it, fix it. Don't waste time figuring out what load it draws.
DVM/DMM's have their uses, but figgering out why a rig doesn't have power isn't one of them IMHO. Keep it simple.

At least that's what works for me.

I quit using test lamps when I was 15. Sometimes, tracing wires in a vehicle is not so easy. Having a Volt-Ohm meter sure makes continuity testing possible. Will a test lamp tell you how many volts the alt is putting out? Will it tell you where a short is? Will it tell you where an open is? Will it tell you what the resistance of spark plug wire are? Will it tell you what a coolant temp sensor is reading? The list could go on and on. Buy a DMM, your money wont be wasted.

I have one and use it for all the same examples you listed. But for tracking power or lack thereof I go to the test light.
Whatever floats yer boat- you guys got me whipped.