Problems starting my '71

[240zdave]

This problem started about a month ago. I got in the car to go to work, turned the key to RUN to turn on the electric fuel pump (did the mechanical to electrical pump swap last year), then turned the key to START and nothing happened, just a click that sounded like it was coming from under the dash. I then turned the key OFF, turned it back to RUN, and this time no fuel pump. Turned it to START and just the click and nothing else. I did this several times, and eventually the car started. Soooo, of course, what did I do? I drove it to work. When I came out to go to lunch, duh, the same thing happened again. After about 5 minutes of trying, it finally cranked, so I drove it home and drove my truck back to work.

I was trying to figure out what was wrong the following weekend. I checked to make sure the battery cable connections were tight, and all of the wires going to the starter were connected and tight as well. Then I noticed that the fusible link going from the wiring harness connector to the starter was wrapped, not very well, with electical tape. I removed the tape, and the original insulation was cracked, exposing the wire, which was corroded and about half of the strands were broken. I ordered a new fusible link and replaced it, and that seemed to solve the problem.

The car cranked and ran great for about a week and a half, then all of a sudden, the same problem again. Now I'm thinking that it's the ignition switch, even though the one in the car is practically brand new, replaced by me, along with the ignition lock, about 18 months ago. The new switch came from Black Dragon, which in my experience does not always have the best products.

Any other ideas of what things I should check?

[spitz17]

I had a similar problem in regards to the clicking noise. I swapped the ignition switch and everything was fixed. However, I do not know why your fuel pump would not pump... =\

[240zdave]

The fuel pump gets its power through the ignitiion switch. It's only on when the switch is on.

[spitz17]

The fuel pump gets its power through the ignitiion switch. It's only on when the switch is on.

There you go