TylerW
Well-Known Member
Hey guys:
Got a bit of a mystery. I'm working on a 1972 Valiant that is completely stock and untouched and just needs the usual repairs to get it back on the road. I noticed the steering column harnesses hanging down, and when i investigated, I found 3 of the wires removed out of the "big" harness that contains the ignition switch wiring, on the column side. One was the orange wire that powers the shift quadrant light and the other two are the red wires that leads up to the key-in ignition trigger switch.
The key buzzer wires I could understand since that thing is pretty grating. They could have unplugged it at the buzzer like everyone else, but I guess they weren't that sharp of a tool. However, why remove the shift light? Not only did they pull the orange wire out, but they, whomever "they" were, installed a black wire that is not on any wiring diagram and shouldn't be there. It has the factory-style end, it disappears up into the rubber harness shield...looks just like it was meant to be there. Wherever or whatever it leads to would have been powered by the instrument panel lighting circuit.
I tested the mysterious black wire for continuity to ground; it has none. I applied power to the orange wire and it operates the quadrant light. All other functions in the column appear to work. I'm not really requesting a solution, because I think I know what they did. My guess is that the timer for the key light failed and they wanted a way to see the switch at night. I've found a lot of these kook "repairs" on this car. You know the ones..where some backyard engineer spent twice the time and just as much money implementing some redneck workaround rather than just replacing the defective part.
The column shifter seems stiff and noisy, so I'll be going in there pretty soon anyway. I'll find out where this mystery wire goes and post back. Until then I'll tape it up out of the way.
Got a bit of a mystery. I'm working on a 1972 Valiant that is completely stock and untouched and just needs the usual repairs to get it back on the road. I noticed the steering column harnesses hanging down, and when i investigated, I found 3 of the wires removed out of the "big" harness that contains the ignition switch wiring, on the column side. One was the orange wire that powers the shift quadrant light and the other two are the red wires that leads up to the key-in ignition trigger switch.
The key buzzer wires I could understand since that thing is pretty grating. They could have unplugged it at the buzzer like everyone else, but I guess they weren't that sharp of a tool. However, why remove the shift light? Not only did they pull the orange wire out, but they, whomever "they" were, installed a black wire that is not on any wiring diagram and shouldn't be there. It has the factory-style end, it disappears up into the rubber harness shield...looks just like it was meant to be there. Wherever or whatever it leads to would have been powered by the instrument panel lighting circuit.
I tested the mysterious black wire for continuity to ground; it has none. I applied power to the orange wire and it operates the quadrant light. All other functions in the column appear to work. I'm not really requesting a solution, because I think I know what they did. My guess is that the timer for the key light failed and they wanted a way to see the switch at night. I've found a lot of these kook "repairs" on this car. You know the ones..where some backyard engineer spent twice the time and just as much money implementing some redneck workaround rather than just replacing the defective part.
The column shifter seems stiff and noisy, so I'll be going in there pretty soon anyway. I'll find out where this mystery wire goes and post back. Until then I'll tape it up out of the way.
