wham... nuthing!

[mbouse]

i gotta good idea, but have never experienced this one... so before i jump to conclusions, what say you?

i return from an errand in the Spider, experiencing zero clues or hints to any issue. park the car, take the keys. return about half hour later, and throw the key in the ignition.

turn the key, and WHAM. loose all power everywhere except the analog clock. no power to the radio, lights turn signals .. nothing except the clock. eventually i see that the radio lost all power, and has reset to its zero state. that wire does NOT run thru the ignition key. it is off the cigar lighter, which is not ignition switched.

whip out the volt meter and check the battery. 12.63 volts DC. pop the hood, see, hear, and smell nothing unusual.

look at my watch to determine i have just enough time for one more last ditch effort at firing this beast up, or transferring some essentials to another vehicle for a rendevous with a friend. jump in and turn the key one more time...viola! she fires right up, as she always has.

grab a spare ignition switch&key just in case. the spare switch is in the trunk, but...failure to reproduce the symptoms has me unable to test the cause.

that was yesterday noon. Meeting accomplished and several starts of the engine have transpired between now and then with zero symptoms.

ideas?
solutions?

[racydave]

The clock will only draw occasionally enough to be wound, so ignore it. It sounds like close to the source, like at the battery or the immediate connections.If not, it will be at the starter, either dirty connections or bad wires in the terminals.

[manoa matt]

I didn't respond, for fear it might be contagious. Fiat Spider electrical flu. F1S1

[ventura ace]

Loose or oxidized battery connection or connection at the battery wire to the starter. Talk to Ron Luxmore. He experienced almost the same thing on Sunday, and later found that the nut holding the big wire to the starter was loose -- or maybe it was the nut that was supposed to tighten that nut!

A

[So Cal Mark]

definitely a large voltage drop, easy to check with a voltmeter

[punes]

I had the same problem and it was a loose negative connection on my battery. I actually would loose the radio while driving....I know something was up.

Frank
79 Fiat Spider.

[rlux4]

You know, it doesn't matter how my day goes, I can always come here and be cheered up with a chuckle or two. Ain't it great.
I don't think it matches my experilence though. I still had electrical to the headlights, dash and so forth. In my case the nut was just loose enough at the starter solenoid that it lost a good enough contact to even click the starter. I mean nothing.
So mine was easy to diagnose and fix. Yours though, Mike, that's a puzzle. I assume you checked that the battery terminal connections are gootentite.
Ron

[So Cal Mark]

maybe all the current went to ground thru the Michigan Shorted Shifter

[mbouse]

Matt, i doubt it is contageous, or the '78 would be suffering too. they sit in the same garage. took that gem out for a cruise with mamma last night, and we smiled all the way.

Ron, yup. the batt connections were the second thing i thought of. perfectly tight and clean. and i am glad to have provided some comic relief for your dreary day.

Alvon, will investigate the starter connections tonight. did not think to look there. but, i believe i am gonna quickly rule that possibility as void.

i'm driving the '80 again today, no symptoms yet...which is the most frustrating part. i dunn understand how it could be starter related when the voltage loss was on both the 'start' and the 'run' positions of the ignition switch. (i forgot to mention that in the original post but i did illude to it)... Since that ONE TIME, no recurrence. when the loss occurred, i could find nothing except the clock that would function.

did the ign switch find a momentary short? no fuses blew, all circuits appear normal today.

[rlux4]

I wasn't chuckling at your expense Mike, I was talking about Alvon's comment. I mean, so far you haven't said anything particularly funny.
Ron

[manoa matt]

Mike you were wrong IT IS contagious! The F1S1 flu went from epidemic to pandemic. I knew my previous comment would somehow backfire.

Now MY headlights don't work! The headlights have the relay modification. Power goes from the alternator to an inline fuse then to the relays. The inline fuse is good. Relays then send power to the lights through the original fuses in the fuse box. All the fuses in the box are good.

All running lights, dash lights, and turn signals work. Just no high or low beams.

[rlux4]

Got me too!
I was mistaken about the loose battery wire being my culprit, my starter solenoid is dying. It will only work if I knock it on the noggin. I'm not looking forward to the swapout.
Thanks a lot Mike.
Ron

[So Cal Mark]

if you had one of the new lightweight gear reduction starters you would do the swap with a smile on your face

[rlux4]

I know Mark. I've been sweet talking Krissy all afternoon about it.
Ron

[So Cal Mark]

make her change the starter, you'll have a new one lickety split