I only drive Plymouth during the summer months and 99.9 percent of the time it never let's me down. Last week I went to take my son for a drive and when I went to start it, the high beam indicator came on, both dash turn signal indicators lit up and it acted like the battery was dead with. It just clicked when I tried to start it. The lights work fine and the battery gauge is at half where it usually is. I tried swapping for a known good battery, and I still get the same condition. It seems like I have a short somewhere but I have no idea where to start. Is this a condition anyone else has run into? It's a 75 Scamp with the 225 with factory a/c. Thanks in advance.

Joe

Check your ground connections, engine to fire wall, and the ground connection from the headlight harness to the radiator support...usually if the ground for the headlights goes it grounds through the harness and all your dashlights light up at once...happened on my '76...

-D.Idiot

I think I narrowed down my problem. I checked my ground connections and they look good. I left the battery unhooked for a few days incase there was a serious short somewhere. I came back today and re-hooked the battery. Turned the key forward, and all accesories worked. The radio came on, the fan for the blower came on and my turn signals worked again. I turned the ignition to start, and everything went dead. The lights and the dash came back on like stated in my original post and no accessories worked.

I tried unhooking the starter and the condition remained, even after unhooking the battery. So I traced the wires from the starter back to the firewall and found what appears to be the solenoid. I tried disconnecting wires one by one, replacing each one back before removing another to see if I could find the culprit. I unhooked A from B (see Picture)


and now when I turn the ignition to start, the lights on the dash don't stay on anymore. Everything seems to work as it should. The fasten seat belt light comes on for a few seconds then turns off. The Blower works, etc. Now, when I turn the ignition to start, I just get a clicking from the solenoid like it is trying to start. I tried touching A to the post above B and the issue comes back until I unhook the battery again. Am I correct in assuming my starter is bad? Wire A traces back into the harness that comes off the positive terminal on the battery. It looks like it starts at the positive terminal on the battery and then Y's off to the starter and the solenoid. Its hard to tell because its wrapped in insulating tape but thats how it appears.
Thanks

Joe

Well I pulled the starter and took it to advance auto to get tested. Just my luck that the tester they had was broken. They had a starter for a 94 Dakota V8 in stock so I bought it and brought it home to install. Same issue when going to start. I guess its the solenoid?

Here is exactly what is happening:

With key off: Horn and hazards work as they should
Turn Key to ACC: Blower motor comes on, radio comes on, horn works, turn signals and hazards work
Turn Key to Start: Solenoid clicks and then stops
Release Key from Start: blower motor stops working, pushing horn makes a buzzing in the dash, radio won't come on, flasher makes noise but turn signals do not light up, marker lights on hood light up dim, marker lights in front fender light up dim, turn signal indicators on dash stay lit, high beam indicator stays on.

If I disconnect the battery for a few moments, the condition "resets" itself and everything works as it should until I try to start. I also noticed, that even with the battery disconnected, the alt gauge registers at half. Shouldn't it fall completely to the left with the battery disconnected?

Joe

Duh! had a fauly ground on the engine block. When I checked the connections, they were ok. But when I put a load on the starter, the one on the engine block failed. I removed the connection from the block and wire brushed the connections and now all is good. Simple fix. Boy do I feel stupid. Where the new starter is no longer needed, its quieter and faster to start so I'm goning to keep it.

Next step..... carb rebuild!