Electrical or ground issue?

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Valiant273

Valiant273

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Hi all,

It has been a long time since I've posted but recently have been having an extremely frustrating issue. Long story long :)

Late last Summer I had a wee wirefire which was directly my fault. My ballast resistor had not been mounted on the firewall since I bought the car years before. I always looked and it and said " I should mount that puppy properly" Well I didn't and it eventually flopped over onto my choke cable casing and promptly fried a whack of the wiring right up to the bulkhead connector.

This Spring my son and I have replaced or spliced as best as we could but still have an aggravating complete power loss/shutoff that can last 1-2 seconds and then it comes back. This may happen a number of times until the temp reaches about 150F. It starts and idles fine but once you give it some juice it can completely drop but not die. Until it gets to the magic 150 F and then it runs perfectly. I have replaced the dist cap/rotor and the main wire from cap to coil. Swapped coil and ICM as I had spares. Checked/fixed grounds anywhere we thought it could be a problem.
I'm pretty good with mechanical fixes as I grew up working on cars/truck but electrical/ignition baffles me. I borrowed a multi meter but honestly not sure how to use it other than measuring voltage :)

Any thoughts /suggestions?
 
Valiant273 said:
This Spring my son and I have replaced or spliced as best as we could but still have an aggravating complete power loss/shutoff that can last 1-2 seconds and then it comes back. This may happen a number of times until the temp reaches about 150F. It starts and idles fine but once you give it some juice it can completely drop but not die. Until it gets to the magic 150 F and then it runs perfectly. I have replaced the dist cap/rotor and the main wire from cap to coil. Swapped coil and ICM as I had spares. Checked/fixed grounds anywhere we thought it could be a problem.
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Well, it sounds like an intermittent connection that is improved by heat. Usually it's the other way around. Any time you have a high amp condition, like ya'll did with the choke/ballast, the female connectors can lose their tension on the male side. I'd go back and remove the female connectors from the bulkhead and inspect thoroughly. You said it fried up to the bulkhead. It likely did not stop there.
 
Demonic said:
Well, it sounds like an intermittent connection that is improved by heat. Usually it's the other way around. Any time you have a high amp condition, like ya'll did with the choke/ballast, the female connectors can lose their tension on the male side. I'd go back and remove the female connectors from the bulkhead and inspect thoroughly. You said it fried up to the bulkhead. It likely did not stop there.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks yes. We MacGuyvered a couple of the wires going into the bulkhead as I didn't have the proper ends. Just used male tab type leads and jammed them in. Two in the middle top row of the bulkhead connector in particular.
 
Valiant273 said:
This may happen a number of times until the temp reaches about 150F. It starts and idles fine but once you give it some juice it can completely drop but not die. Until it gets to the magic 150 F and then it runs perfectly.
Click to expand...
I agree with Demonic. It sounds like its choke related. Whether directly or due to issue with too much resistance when the electric choke assist is on.

Electrically. Simple test is disconnect the choke assist. And if its a aftermarket electric only choke, mechanically hold it open.
Better electrical test will be measure the drop in voltage between the alternator output or battery positive and ignition run wire.
Red probe or aligator clip on the highest voltage location.
My pref would be alternator output stud but on harnesses its covered in a boot.
Black probe or aligator clip the battery positive, then the ignition run at the ballast resistor, then the electric choke connector.
Write each of them down. Write down what the ammeter is indicating.
Repeat as the warms up.

This assumes the multimeter can provide a voltage readings as low as 0.1 V
If not then measure voltage to ground at each of the junctions.
For a given current, the bigger the voltage difference indicates a larger resistance in that circuit.

Valiant273 said:
fried a whack of the wiring right up to the bulkhead connector.
Click to expand...
Many times the fusible link was located at the bulkhead connector.
If that was melted, replace with a reproduction.
 
Valiant273 said:
Thanks yes. We MacGuyvered a couple of the wires going into the bulkhead as I didn't have the proper ends. Just used male tab type leads and jammed them in. Two in the middle top row of the bulkhead connector in particular.
Click to expand...
A good crimper and leads is really really worth it.
Packard 56 male terminals are a close match for the bulkhead disconnects.
Packard 58 female terminals are a close match for the firewall side of the connector. PICO canada also sells Chrysler style female terminals.
For the connector seals, contact DMT.
 
Mattax said:
A good crimper and leads is really really worth it.
Packard 56 male terminals are a close match for the bulkhead disconnects.
Packard 58 female terminals are a close match for the firewall side of the connector. PICO canada also sells Chrysler style female terminals.
For the connector seals, contact DMT.
Click to expand...

Any distributer that ships to US that you know for the 58 female terminals?
The PICO site tells me they don't distribute outside Canada
 
snate66 said:
Any distributer that ships to US that you know for the 58 female terminals?
The PICO site tells me they don't distribute outside Canada
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That's weird, but I'm not in the business.

My most recent purchases were from Mouser.
But look in this thread.
Sources for Chrysler type wire terminals
I'm pretty sure we identified a place in the US that has the same stuff.

edit: Either the "repair connector store" in the first post, or "Clips & Fasteners" (Auveco) seems to have the same as PICO.
 
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There HAS to be a way to get Pico in the US. Hell "North Forty" does or did stock that brand. I've seen them elsewhere, don't remember offhand.

Is Pico so damn big they can afford to "avoid" the U.S. market? Doubt that.
 
Update, Had a mechanic spend hours on the existing electrical and stll having issues. I'm looking at having them completely redo all wires. Is there a kit to do so? And maybe one that eliminates that #$#$$#ing bulkhead connector? I'm going crazy as I should be driving (but can't ) the car as weather is still decent!
 
You can buy all the harnesses from Year One, if you wait for a sale it is not that bad, less than $1000, depending on the car.
 
Mike69cuda said:
You can buy all the harnesses from Year One, if you wait for a sale it is not that bad, less than $1000, depending on the car.
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Yes I took a look at a few different vendors but they didnt seem to have staff that could answer any questions. Another thought I just had was ...why could I not eliminate the bulkhead connector completely and just hook up wires directly one by one?
 
You can do that. I don't know where the photos are. It is easy to take the old connector for a pattern, make a sheet metal cover that will snap in place exactly like the connector does, punch a hole (or two) for grommets. All the wiring outfits likely sell these if you contact them, Painless, American Auto Wire etc
 
Valiant273 said:
Yes I took a look at a few different vendors but they didnt seem to have staff that could answer any questions. Another thought I just had was ...why could I not eliminate the bulkhead connector completely and just hook up wires directly one by one?
Click to expand...

No real right answer to this. If you have time on your hands and some electrical skills, you could probably do it cheaply yourself if you don’t care about original look.

I bought the harnesses and put it back stock. Figured since I don’t drive it but about 3-5000 miles a year, I might get 10 years out of it before more trouble. I didn’t want to spend the time doing it from scratch.

On the bulkhead connections there are really only about three that are really a problem. The ignition and the two ammeter feeds. If you bypass those you might get most of the typical problems solved.
 
Mike69cuda said:
the bulkhead connections there are really only about three that are really a problem. The ignition and the two ammeter feeds. If you bypass those you might get most of the typical problems solved.
Click to expand...

This is basically true
 
I am getting ready to tear into mine again, and I wonder if the GM Packard 56 terminals will work in the bulkhead connectors? Thanks
 
You have to be careful, I'm going to guess "no." The key is that most of the packard I've seen in original Mopars has the sides of the terminal curled around, many of the GM ones have the spring tension provided by a tab that folds around the top.

See post 14

Sources for Chrysler type wire terminals
 
67Dart273 said:
You have to be careful, I'm going to guess "no." The key is that most of the packard I've seen in original Mopars has the sides of the terminal curled around, many of the GM ones have the spring tension provided by a tab that folds around the top.

See post 14

Sources for Chrysler type wire terminals
Click to expand...

Yes I noticed that, I am going to start at the ignition switch and drop the instrument cluster and work forward from there. Thanks
 
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