New battery and alternator still no power. Help

Asked by Esther Jul 18, 2023 at 09:06 PM about the 1982 Chevrolet El Camino SS RWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Bought it off a kid who redid the wiring himself and
dropped a V8 350 engine inside. Don't know if it's the
wire job or the starter. Any suggestions

4 Answers

307,235

Sounds like a can of worms. There are fuse links down at the starter that will attach to the main power cable down there, so test those. You can jumper the starter solenoid from the main cable to the S terminal and the starter should crank the engine. If it does from there but not from the key then it could be park switch, ignition switch or wiring. I guess you bought yourself a project.

2 people found this helpful.
38,925

You need a multi tester to see what has power/ground and what don't / You'll need better than a basic understanding of auto electric . At least it's an 82 , 3 or 2 wire alternator ?

1 people found this helpful.
155,245

My suggestion is get it running and sell it. Then buy another one that wasn't butchered by some kid who wouldn't know a carburetor if he got hit in the head with one! Check the fuseable links down by the starter first. Then check all your grounds. Engine grounds, body grounds, etc. Get yourself a factory shop manual from ebay or Faxon Auto Literature, they have a website. The shop manual will have wiring diagrams showing how it's supposed to be wired. Good luck to you! Hope that helps! Jim

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