Topic: Battery is Draining?

[ta78w72]

Yeah, somethings been added to that connector.  It should have an orange, red, dark brown with white stripe, and a light brown with white stripe.

The light brown wire with the white stripe comes from the alternator.  The brown wire from the alternator goes to CX of the bulkhead connector.  Then from interior cx the light brown white stripe wire goes to the ignition switch.

Now you need to fix that wire.  Then figure out what the heck those other two wires are doing.  They should come out because I don't think they're fuse protected.

You know in the mid 80's you could pick these cars up for practically nothing, so people didn't think twice before doing surgical "repairs".

That light brown wire with the white stripe doesn't look like it's fuse protected or have a fusible link protecting it.  It goes straight from the alternator to that place in the ignition switch.

[mikeb78ta]

Ok cool.

Ohh yeah and what's with the silver/copper wires with clear insulation? Is that something you added? Is that about the time you started experiencing problems? If so....time to retrace your steps.

Speaker wire.  Re run from the trunk.

[mikeb78ta]

Yeah, somethings been added to that connector.  It should have an orange, red, dark brown with white stripe, and a light brown with white stripe.

The light brown wire with the white stripe comes from the alternator.  The brown wire from the alternator goes to CX of the bulkhead connector.  Then from interior cx the light brown white stripe wire goes to the ignition switch.

Now you need to fix that wire.  Then figure out what the heck those other two wires are doing.  They should come out because I don't think they're fuse protected.

You know in the mid 80's you could pick these cars up for practically nothing, so people didn't think twice before doing surgical "repairs".

That light brown wire with the white stripe doesn't look like it's fuse protected or have a fusible link protecting it.  It goes straight from the alternator to that place in the ignition switch.

The wires are exactly as desribed. Red Orange, Brown w/ white stripe, Tan whit stripe.  are the orange and Brown w/ white stripe suppossed  to be in the same slot?  I am all ears when it come to fixing it.  Where do I begin???
 

[brian c]

I think it has something to do with the voltage regulator and or the volt gauge.  If so is there a way I can bypass the old wire and run a new one.  The rest of the harness looks pretty good.  I followed the large group of multi colored wires I diddn't see any other breaks or burns for that matter.  The brown/white wire are connected to the thick orange wire in the picture.  My service manual is all in Blk and wht and I can't read half of it.  God I need to by a real manual with Colors...

The volt gauge is a two prong connector in a different section of the harness.

What I would do for the repair is this...cut the section that is totally toasted out and splice in a wire of the same thickness/gauge. Use shrink wrap AFTER soldering the connection to protect it from grounding out against something and causing a short circuit/fire. You should be able to remove the metal prong from the plastic connector using a small bladed flat screwdriver.

But I'm not sure that brown wire with white stripe should be tied in at all to that orange wire. In fact I want to say it shouldn't be. Let me check under my dash when I get home to confirm that - its been a while since I tinkered under the dash so my memory is a bit fuzzy.

[mikeb78ta]

Thanks I appreciate it. The only reason I thought it was tied into the volt gauge is because when I unplugged it from the steering column when I noticed the burn, the volt gauge wasn't showing any voltage.  Worked before that. 

[brian c]

One problem at a time. Considering that the brown wire with white stripe is currently fried we need to correct that first before jumping to other avenues. Otherwise, you'll just go nuts tracing down these electrical gremlins. I know, I'm still getting rid of the last few in mine.....

 - highbeam indicator doesn't work - new circuit and new bulb....going to look at it again once it gets nice and warm (and dry out - car is sitting on dirt/mud right now)

 - one of my turn signal indicators in the gauge pod is stuck on when the lights get turned on. I think this is because of a grounding issue and I think I might have the solution.

[ta78w72]

That connector is correct other than the speaker wires.  The orange wire and the light brown with the white stripe do come together at that point.

[mikeb78ta]

The Speaker wires only appear to be with that connector.  they are not involved in this issue.  How do I go about fixing the brown w/ white wire that is fried?

[ta78w72]

The Speaker wires only appear to be with that connector.  they are not involved in this issue.  How do I go about fixing the brown w/ white wire that is fried?

Like Brian said.  Cut out the bad part and splice in new wire of the same gauge.  Or, pick up another dash harness off ebay and use it as a spare depot for stuff you need.

But I would spice it first before I put in a wire from a different harness....just to be sure you've got the cause of the wire burning fixed.

[mikeb78ta]

Just so I am clear All I need to do Is trace down the end of the Brown w/white stripe and splice in a new piece.  That sounds like no problem, however I can'tfind the end of it, which makes it difficult to fix.  Where should it end at. Do I need to remove the fuse block to view it?

[ta78w72]

Just so I am clear All I need to do Is trace down the end of the Brown w/white stripe and splice in a new piece.  That sounds like no problem, however I can'tfind the end of it, which makes it difficult to fix.  Where should it end at. Do I need to remove the fuse block to view it?

You might have to.  It's goes into the interior end of the bulkhead connector.  You can see the bulkhead connector on the firewall in the engine compartment.

You shouldn't have to trace it all the way back....just keep tracing until you don't see anymore burned wire.  On the other hand, it would be nice to see the wire all the way back to the bulkhead connector just to make sure you don't have more than one burned area.

[mikeb78ta]

Roger That! I'll go and check it out right now and see if I can get it sorted out.  Thanks for the help...

[ta78w72]

Come to think of it, I would also inspect the brown wire from the alternator back to the bulkhead connector too.

[mikeb78ta]

Okay so I traced the wire down.  It was fried to the fuse block.  I got 18 gauge wire and made a new run to the panel and back to the red, orange and tan wire cluster.  I'm done for today. I need to solder the orange and my new wire to each other.  I wish I could find the electrical clips that are the same as the originals.  I can't find them anywhere and then I wouldn't have to solder it.  Oh well more news tomorrow.  Thanks for the help.

[mikeb78ta]

Correction, not the fuseblock, but the bulkhead...