My Catalina won't start or turn over or make any noise

[Wastedvandel]

So I was driving in my 1960 Pontiac and it just died on the middle of the road. I pulled over to turn it on again and nothing. Battery is good fully charged and still nothing no noise nothing. Anyone have any idea what it could be I checked all the clabes and the starter and everything is good. I can't figure this out. Any help please would be appreciated thanks

 

[melsg5]

1. How did you determine the battery is fully charged, a voltmeter?
2. With two people one watching the turned on headlights, the other trying to start, do the headlights go dim when you turn the key?
3. Assuming an automatic, did you try starting in park and neutral?
4. With two people one hitting the starter/solenoid with a hammer the other turning the key try to start.
5. Have you tried jumping the solenoid under the car with a screwdriver.

Depending on the results above, a dead battery, a bad starter/solenoid, a bad neutral safety switch, or a bad ignition switch.

 

[Wastedvandel]

I took it to Napa and they charged it and checked it said it was good I was thinking it was my alternator but once I got home it wouldn't even turn over. But thank you I'll try all that tomorrow hopefully find the problem

 

[cammerjeff]

I would suspect either the Positive cable or conection to the starter, but it could be the fusible link, or a negative cable or conection also.

How old are the battery cables? If unknown I would start there as we are talking about a 50+ year old car, and cables do not last forever. Even if it does not solve the current issue it is a good maintenance to prevent other issues.

But I would put an Ohm Meter on the cables with them disconnected from the battery to see if there is an open in the circuit. It could be as simple as a corroded cable conection. The fusable link can cause these issues also, it is designed to protect the wiring in case of a short circuit but they can just fail also.

Do any of the other systems on the car work? Like the dome light or head lights?

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[Wastedvandel]

I would suspect either the Positive cable or conection to the starter, but it could be the fusible link, or a negative cable or conection also.

How old are the battery cables? If unknown I would start there as we are talking about a 50+ year old car, and cables do not last forever. Even if it does not solve the current issue it is a good maintenance to prevent other issues.

But I would put an Ohm Meter on the cables with them disconnected from the battery to see if there is an open in the circuit. It could be as simple as a corroded cable conection. The fusable link can cause these issues also, it is designed to protect the wiring in case of a short circuit but they can just fail also.

Do any of the other systems on the car work? Like the dome light or head lights?

Yeah Everything is in good condition I had changed all the battery cables changed maybe like 3yrs ago when I bought the car. And where is the fusable link located at? Am just baffled how it could die while driving. The starter won't even make a noise cause even when it's no good it should make a sound but the car won't even turn over. And I checked all my lights work. The doom light works too. It was running good it Would turn on like a champ

 

[Wastedvandel]

Yeah Everything is in good condition I had changed all the battery cables changed maybe like 3yrs ago when I bought the car. And where is the fusable link located at? Am just baffled how it could die while driving. The starter won't even make a noise cause even when it's no good it should make a sound but the car won't even turn over. And I checked all my lights work. The doom light works too. It was running good it Would turn on like a champ

Oh and I see what you mean about the fusible link. I'll add one for sure now haha

 

[melsg5]

you need a voltmeter or test light to see if you have power at the starter main battery connection.
you also need to have someone turn the key to see if you get power to the S terminal on the starter solenoid.
Not sure why you think a bad starter or bad starter solenoid will necessarily make a noise.
you can remove the starter and bench test it.

 

[Kraig1957]

With the car in neutral, try slightly moving the shift lever around staying in neutral and holding the key in the start position. If it tries to start, then the neutral safety switch may need to be replaced.

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[MTShooter]

If you were driving it and it went dead, there may be a possibility that the alternator is dead. You may have started with just the battery, then as you drove with added power drawn by radios or heater, the amperage available from the battery disappeared and the battery couldn't provide enough juice to continue the need for spark/combustion. I might suggest having the alternator and regulator checked. Same thing happened to me when driving my hunting truck last year.