As I was working on replacing the fuel pump on my 1971 Dodge Travco motorhome with 413 engine, a wrench sitting on top of the engine, slipped and fell. As fate would have it, it landed, shorting the hot post on the alternator to the block. It sparked for just a second, then did nothing. I removed the battery ground wire and retreived the wrench. Now the ignition switch does not function at all. If I jump the battery hot post from the starter relay to the positive side of the coil, the ignition switch will activate the starter and the engine will run. Remove the jumper wire and everything is dead again.
What happened? Did I fry the alternator and cut the circuit? I've never had a bad alternator cause an ignition switch to die before. Any suggestions? I can't see any burned out fuses and there shouldn't be fuses in that circuitry anyway. There's definitely no current getting to the ignition switch. Anyone had this happen before? Could it be the voltage regulator? Electrical gremlins are the worst.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13