no power

[fordchris47]

I have no power, no lights not ever a click from the starter. there is power to the solenoid though. im completly stumped, under the dash board is a rats nest of wires. truck was running fine till I turned it off went to start it and nothing. can anybody please offer some assistance

[1972hiboy]

First thing is first. Clean the battery terminals and re-tighten the batt cables nice and snug and re-try...

[fordchris47]

battery terminals are clean, the weird thing is it would start every ten or so tries but when I would turn on the lights the truck would shut down and not start for ten or so turns of the key again. thanks for your reply but I ended up fixing the problem, not sure what I did but it started with the head lights on, been driving it all day worried the whole time that it wouldn't start back up but it did so I guess I got lucky. the po's have really done a number on the electrical system, im sure this wont be the last time I have to deal with a situation like this. this website has a wealth of knowledge were fortunate to have it at our fingertips, love my fe 390 and

[1972hiboy]

the common variable is your headlights. Maybe check the connections at the headlamp switch. or replace the switch. but sounds like you should start there. glad to hear you got it started though.

[tac]

Could be bad ground cable. Clip a test light to bare metal on the engine and to the + on the battery. Try to start it and if the light goes out you have a bad ground cable/connection.