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Help! Electrical Gremlins are getting me
Hi, my car (67 coronet with 440) Is getting attacked by some electrical gremlins. I can not drive the car because when I try to it dies and I have to open the hood, and wiggle the bulk head connector. When it dies there is no power to the car at all, everything dies. I am hoping I can just re-route or change this one wire instead of buying a new wiring harness, has anyone had this problem? I tried cleaning the connectors but that didnt help. I also switched to a 1 wire delco alternator today too, I was ready I should disconnect the amp gauge and get a voltmeter. I plan on doing that today too. Maybe that caused this problem....???
Thanks, Matt |
#2
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I am not famiar with your car, but you might have a fusable link on your engine harness that would be by the bulkhead connector. It could be the problem?-just a guess.
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#3
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you don't just disconnect the AMP gauge. You must bypass the gauge. If you do not bypass the gauge, the 12VDC from the battery goes nowhere, once it enters the passenger compartment.
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Quote:
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#5
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if you installed a new one wire alternator I would recommend running a wire direct from your alternator (b+) to your battery. This will eliminate your ammeter, however your way of joining the wires together will work fine. You can only run a direct wire if your new alternator is internally regulated. If your car runs fine after you wiggle the bulkhead connector then I dont think your ammeter is the problem (although if your alternator puts out over 60 amps you should still bypass it). I would look for loose connections in the firewall connector.
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#6
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I agree, if wiggling the bulkhead connectors rectifies the problem, you have some loose and/or broken wires in the connector.
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#7
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The red wire with the fusible link is the probable cause of the problems. Disconnect this wire before the the bulk head connector and jumper it to the same wire on the interior of the car if power is restored, make a permanent connection, with some fuse protection in the line.
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#8
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i had the same problem on my 66 plymouth.it bothered me for years off and on.it would be completely dead ,then i'd jiggle a few wires and then id be fine for the time being.when i dismantelled the bulkhead i found that some of the connections were rotted or fried and the wires werent making good connections.find the main power wire going into the bulkhead and run a new wire bypassing the bulkhead alltogether using proper guage wire and it should be fine.my power wire was located in the lower bulkhead in the righthand corner.it may be similar to yours even though different years. if the car seems completely dead like mine was it has to be the main power supply wire.it also could be the fusible link like the others mentioned on the power wire also.be sure to keep the fusible link on the main wire to prevent meltdown.good luck
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#9
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I had a 62 Plymouth that did the same thing,suddenly no electrical power,wiggle the wires to the bulkhead connecter,we have power. turned out to be main power wire on the interior part of the connecter had pushed through the connecter,vibration would break the contact..
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#10
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If you know which wire it is causing trouble, drill right through that slot. splice on both sides of the firewall.
check out http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...p-gauges.shtml good stuff here. even shows the correct way to bypass amp gauge.... |
#11
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So now that I am using a 1 wire alt I can go directly to the battery and not to the starter relay on the firewall?
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#12
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as long as your one wire is internally regulated (which most 1 wires are)
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#13
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I worked on a 69 Charger with the same problem. After a lot of chasing I found it was the connections to the ampmeter. All the power flows through the amp meter. When the lights were on , the higher draw would build heat in the corroded ampmeter terminals. The car would shut down and we thought we were fixing it by jiggling wires when all that was happening was the amp meter was cooling down. When it cooled off everything would work again. After fixing the ampmeter all is well.
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#14
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Hey thanks for that link... that was pretty good reading.
As an aside, what's the preferred model/yr. for an internally regulated alternator to go for if I get around to upgrading that later? |
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