Why not cook marshmallows on my under dash fire?

[dkbug]

I'm on it. First thing in the morning. Thanks 67dart273 for the help. I will let you know what happens along with some pictures.

 

[dkbug]

I am getting power to the coil. Found that out the hard way. Now that I bypassed my amp gauge, I am now burning up resistors.

 

[dkbug]

Coming back to this thread.

I have now uninstalled my entire wiring harness and am going through it. I am checking every single wire for resistance and cleaning up my soldering from the amp meter bypass.

How do you guys recommend checking for resistance? My multimeter have an ohm setting of 2000k 200k 20k and 200. While on 200 I have found that the norm for every wire is .3 of resistance. I checked one wire going to my ballast resistor and I am getting a value of 1.7. Definitely something different about that wire compared to all of the other ones. I want to ask everyone else before I do anything else. It is the brown wire going from the ballast to the bulk head connector. There is a wire spliced in with that one that either goes to the alternator or the voltage regulator. (forgot) I checked the wire on the other side of the bulk head and it reads .3...

Thanks in advance FABO gurus.

 

[dkbug]

Also, I am getting rid of all of the factory "wire welds" in the harness seeing as how the two I pulled apart were corroded.

Also, where my 14g red and black wire feed to and from the ignition switch, I have decided to bypass the plastic plug that it runs through seeing as how the wire got hot and started to melt the plug. The ignition switch side of the plug seems fine, but I will be going around the plastic to prevent melting in the future.

P.s. I replaced the entire 14g black wire and red wire since the old one had gotten hot enough to soften the outer shell of the wire.

 

[dkbug]

Few pictures of what I did under the dash. My soldering isn't the best but it will work.

 

[dkbug]

*crickets*

 

[67Dart273]

I can't tell, frankly, if the "big splice" (the original welded one" is adequate or not

First, I think yours was OK, but too late now

The soldering looks cold. This "old wire" can be a challenge, as it can be heat damaged and oxidized.

Sometimes what helps is to "fray" the strands out GENTLY and GENTLY scrape them with a knife / razor, to get the copper clean.

That splice is BIG and should have been twisted, and soldered with a LOT of heat. The soldering looks "cold." (Not good.)

In this particular case a better method might be to get a 10GA "butt splice" clean the wires as noted above, and crimp them in the splice, THEN solder the whole thing

What, exactly, are you using for an iron or gun? Size of tip and wattage?

 

[dkbug]

Well I actually redid that splice because of what you said before. Before I was using a cheap gun from autozone, only 35w with cheap solder. I went to hobby lobby and got one of their 100w guns with lead based solder. The tip is a bigger tip, not exactly sure on the size.

What I am looking for is the crimp splices that they use in the MAD article. Non of my local stores carry them.

 

[dkbug]

And what I did with that big splice, I'm not really a fan of. I made a normal splice with two of the wires then wrapped the last two around them, followed by solder.

 

[RustyRatRod]

blue and 3/4

 

[67Dart273]

What I am looking for is the crimp splices that they use in the MAD article. Non of my local stores carry them.

You might try an electrical supply if you have one that sells retail. I doubt Home Depot, Lowes, etc have them

You want "uninsulated" butt splices.

But I often "make" them.

I often take a "common" plastic insulated splice. With the eyelets, most of the time you can grip the eye with pliers, grab the plastic with needle nose, and twist the plastic right off

There are three common types for automotive. There are larger and smaller than these

"Standard" is red, blue, and yellow. You want yellow for that splice which is "up to" no 10 wire

 

[bigtom]

It does help to tin the connectors first or put a small piece of solder in before you crimp.

I just did this mod this last weekend and it is amazing how the Dart runs with real 12v power.. AND my amp gauge stays rock steady...

 

[dkbug]

67dart273 I did what you did. I took a lighter to the plastic covering until it got soft and just pulled the innards out. Works perfect.

My local electrical shop kind of sucks. Then there is radioshack where the employees don't know their assholes from their belly button.

 

[dkbug]

Now back to info that I will need. I am finishing up the wiring at my fuse block. On the wiring diagram it shows where the connectors hook onto the block. The wire that caused my entire problem from the beginning wasn't hooked to anything but the power on my fuse block. (It was grounding out on the body of the car) that wire doesn't show up on the wiring diagram and I am trying to figure out if it had a purpose that the wiring diagram may not show.

Also, does anyone have anything bad to say about the autozone ignition switches?

 

[dkbug]

Pics for last post

 

[sargentrs]

Also, I want to bypass the ammeter, how? There has to be a thread on this somewhere. Since I am running an aftermarket volt gauge, I would like to run through that if possible.

Electricity doesn't like me. I don't like it either...

Thanks, DK

I feel your pain! My bulkhead connector has been giving me fits and has left me powerless 5 or 6 times in the past 2 weeks. I ordered the "kit" from http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml (page 2 is the install) $43.95 and includes everything you need for the install. You have to call to order, he doesn't have an online ordering system yet. Called Mark yesterday, nicest guy you ever wanted to talk to. In the meantime, to keep going, I've bypassed the ignition system with a toggle switch and push button switch. Flip the switch, push the button, release the button and drive.

To bypass the ammeter, just pull your dash cluster out and, on the ammeter, you'll see a red lead and a black lead. Just move the red lead over to the same terminal as the black lead (that's what I've done so far) or splice those 2 together. Splicing them together is one of the steps in the above madelectrical mods.

 

[DUSTERDOWNS]

I had the same problem a few years back and installed a Painless unit in my Duster. I was afraid of future fires . Start over new and you know what you got in the end.

 

[dkbug]

Decided to go a little different way with it. I'm going to keep the big wire that powers my accessories but I am not going to use my stock ignition. I decided that I think it's easier to run an aftermarket ignition system like msd or 4 seconds flat.

 

[RedFish]

These things are buss bars. The one marked covers 3 fused branches ( although the end one wasn't used ). One of the 3 male spades on the bar must have a supply wire or none of the branches will receive any power. So there's a 3 branch that is hot in run, a 2 branch that is hot at all times, and a single that is hot from the headlight switch park lamp circuit.
Anyway... You wont find many "extra" wires in older cars.

 

[dkbug]

Hey that sends me in the right direction. Any idea what the 3 in 1 powers?

 

[RedFish]

Hey that sends me in the right direction. Any idea what the 3 in 1 powers?

Not exactly. Stuff like signals, wipers, radio, and more are hot in run. Brake and dome and more are hot at all times.
They have very few fuses and even less space for labeling on the box. A fuse marked wiper often powers several other items also. Later models had a number by printed by each fuse and corresponding complete details in the owners manual.

 

[67Dart273]

dk you need to spend some time reading your service manual section 8 from start to finish. Many of these answers are right in the service manual. I think the fuse and lamp list is right before the diagrams start

 

[dkbug]

Anyone have the online downloadable manuals?

 

[67Dart273]

Anyone have the online downloadable manuals?

I already posted this in this thread.........post no 15. Ya know I really don't mind trying to help but you guys have to do YOUR part. This deal goes two ways.

THANK you. See that's all we want, enough info to actually see what you see and have "some idea."

I have bad news. Judging from the photo, there is only one thing to do............Drop the column, pull the cluster and tear the dash apart, and strip out the entire under-dash harness. This is not as bad as it sounds. When I was young, I could do that in 2-3 hours. Nowadays, it would take me all of a day.

WHY? Because when you get meltage like that the wiring in the harness often gets internally shorted together. "Anything" can happen after that

..........and go from there. The way I see it your choices are

1.......Strip out the harness, stretch it out on a bench / plywood, and mark everything. Cut it open and tape it so it stays in place. Physically inspect for insulation damage, and replace the wiring that is affected. Repair other problems, and inspect and repair all connectors

2.......Buy yourself a replacement factory harness from "somewhere" like year one

3.......Find a good used harness and deal with that.

4......Buy an aftermarket harness like Painless........'n many others and just plain start over.

I never said it would be easy.

Be sure to read this article

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml

Which is not only a great read and summary of the problems these girls face, but also explains the basic power distribution

You have a shop manual? You can download them, free, here

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?p=1970088617

and here

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=31

Also, from MyMopar, are somewhat simplified, but not always complete or correct diagrams. They are sometimes easier to follow

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=24