[jpalmer]

On my 1976 Chevy pickup (350), I accidentally touched my battery cables to the terminals BACKWARDS for about 3 seconds. Now there is no power to any part of the truck... where might I start to trouble shoot this?

Thanks a million,

Jeff

[labman]

You may have been saved by a fusible link. First start with the negative cable. Likely it runs straight to the engine or frame. If damaged, you should be able to see it. If you have an multimeter, check resistance from the negative battery post to any bare metal, should be very low.

Likely the positive terminal has 2 wires, a big one and a small one. The big one should disappear in the direction of the starter motor. Carefully follow the little one. You may find a spot with a section of even smaller wire between 2 fat spots in the insulation. It may even have fusible link marked on it. It may also be burned in 2. If it looks OK, feel it and see if it feels like the wire inside is OK. The auto parts stores have kits to replace fusible links, or just Stakon in a similar section of wire. If you don't find a seemingly damaged fusible link, follow the wire to its end and check that with a light or meter to see if it is hot. If it is not hot, go back and check it until you find the problem. If it is, follow the wires from what it connects to and look for fusible links and burned spots. If it is hot and ends at the alternator, you may have blown the diodes. Take it off and take it to a shop that works on them. If the alternator is otherwise in good shape, new diodes are cheaper than a new alternator. Likely everything for the 350 is outrageously expensive.

In some systems, the smaller wire thst supplies electricity to everything except the stsrter, starts at the starter solenoid. Crawl under the truck and start from there.