All Electrical Out 95 RMW

Hoping someone can help me out here. I have a 95 Roadmaster Wagon with approx 67k miles. She has been running great with no signs of any issues whatsoever. The other night I went to run an errand when I cam back out to the car and turned the ignition key, all of the electronics shut off. No when I turn the key I get nothing...not even a click from the starter or anything. Is there a master fuse or anything that might have tripped to cause this? My secondary problem is that with no power I am not able to get the hood open...I assume there is a trick, but I can't seem to figure it out.

Problem 1: Dead battery or bad connection

Problem 2: There's no reason why you can't open the hood, there is nothing electrical involved. Pull hood release, driver side, kick panel: then center of the hood reach under and release the lock. There is nothing electrical involved.

Tom

silverfox103 wrote:

Problem 1:  Dead battery or bad connection

Problem 2:  There's no reason why you can't open the hood, there is nothing electrical involved.  Pull hood release, driver side, kick panel: then center of the hood reach under and release the lock.  There is nothing electrical involved.

Tom

Thanks for the response Tom.

I find it odd that it would be a dead battery just because when I drove it 10 minutes prior there was no indication of a low battery...it fired on the first crank, etc. I have tried pulling the lever in the cabin multiple times. Even had my wife pull it while I lifted on the hood. The hood won't budge. I even tried to reach underneath and manually move the latch but it still won't budge.

Well, the first thing you have to do is get that hood open so you can check battery, connections etc.

You could have a broken hood cable, it has happened to me. You should be able to reach from underneath and move the locking mechanism. At the end of the cable there is crimped metal piece that looks like a small fishing weight. It sits in part of the mechanism that is "V" shaped. It also has a clip on it. If the clip falls off, pulling on the release does nothing. You could also check the cable and mechanism inside the car.

You probably going to have to release the hood, laying underneath the car.

Tom

the other common issue is that the cable stretches over time and makes it hard to release. While your wife is holding the release up as far as she can in the car, try pressing up and down right at the latch with the palm of your hand, or gabbing somewhere and shaking the hood a bit. I have found that will do it sometimes. I then put a big tie wrap right next to the 'fishing weight' and cut the tie wrap so just the square part was there next to the 'weight' effectively shortening the cable and never had another issue.

Dead battery. Same thing happened to me last year. Drove car home from work without a problem. Got in it in the morning, turned on ignition and everything went black.

First thing I told myself was “the battery isn’t that old” and wasted my time checking other things and even changing out the ignition switch. When none of that worked I tried jumping it and it barely tried to turn over. Tested battery and it was DEAD.

Pull on hood cable and then walk to front of car. Give the front left corner of the hood a good thump with a fist. I have to cover my latch with spray lube every couple of months or it isn’t going to open.

Welcome to mid 90s B Bodies. I love my wagon but hate it with a passion at the same time.

Thanks everyone. Rechecked the handle and everything seemed to be in order. I ended up pushing down on the hood a little and heard a "click". I then went back and pulled the handle and the hood opened immediately.

Currently trying to jump start it in the hopes to at least be able to move it in my driveway until I have time to go get a new battery tomorrow.

Be careful jump starting it, a voltage spike can fry your computer. Use a battery from another car after you remove it, or disconnect it. If you have a VOM, you can check the battery for 12 volts. If you have the meter across the leads, and you cycle the key, and the voltage drops really low, it is the battery. You might also loosen and retighten the battery cables, because sometimes they get some corrosion on them, and do not make good contact.

On the note by Sprocket, you can use a fishing splitshot on the cable in the same position as a ziptie. It will work just as well. Clean the latch as well with brake cleaner. I would not put lube on it, unless it is a dry lube; graphite or molybdenum . A wet/liquid lube will gather dirt, and grime over time, and make the latch sticky.

Pull the battery out and take it to any parts store in existence in your part of the country. They will test that battery and sell you a new one when you find out it is dead.

Fred is a sharp dude. This might be the first/only time I’ll ever disagree with him. In Michigan, where we average 13-19 inches of ROAD SALT every winter….I spray the heck out of the hood latch, hinges and cable with WD40. Early & often. I’ve got the zip-tie to make that old stretched release cable ‘act’ shorter. Make sure the sides of the hood aren’t rubbing against a fender. And I tug the ‘hood popping’ spring slightly. Like your stretching it longer. I like to think it provides a little extra force upward, but I have an active imagination, so who knows.

When jump-starting…..if your putting the clamps onto the battery terminals themselves, make sure those bolts are tight and clean. Same thing goes for those teeth on the clamps. If the car doesn’t start up, don’t be afraid to clamp the negative clamp right onto the engine itself ( making sure the jumper cable isn’t laying across the serp belt). If that doesn’t start the car, See if you can clamp the positive cable onto the + post that powers the under hood fuse block.

It’s just a quick way to determine if the battery itself, and the + & - cables going to it…..are faulty. Just to check the easy stuff first, see if it’s worth pulling a battery and getting it tested.

Heaven forbid something get dirty, lol. Decades of spraying hood latches and nothing has been destroyed yet.


Anyways. It's been over a week, what did you find out?