Another fuse block question

[Yeahrightgreer]

As usual - I’m investigating the wiring on my car and I came across the fuse block and this stumped me. Admittedly I’m still pretty new to these old cars.


What are these 2 BATTERY and ACCESSORY terminals used for? And why do you think theyre unplugged? I see 2 plug ins on top of the fuse block that look like they were formerly attached to it. I’ve looked through my FSM and the closest thing I could find are 2 “Buss Bars” used in the wiring for power assisted features like electric locks, windows, tailgate etc.


The car is a 70’ NYer. No sentinel lighting.

 

[70NEWYORKER]

Simple!!!!! Battery is hot all the time. ACC is hot in ACC and RUN positions of the ignition switch. Nice places to tap power for aftermarket accessories.
That unplugged double contact connector looks like it might be happy with a flasher in it. Do your turn signals and hazards work?

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

The BATT one will give 12 v at all times, the ACC one will only work with the key on. What they might have been used for specifically I don't know...

 

[Yeahrightgreer]

Simple!!!!! Battery is hot all the time. ACC is hot in ACC and RUN positions of the ignition switch. Nice places to tap power for aftermarket accessories.
That unplugged double contact connector looks like it might be happy with a flasher in it. Do your turn signals and hazards work?

Well that makes sense. The signals and hazards work but pretty intermittently. Often not flashing, solid lights etc. I had assumed my turn signal switch has been worn out. I guess I’ll have to follow the wires and see where they lead but I’d rather not have to disassemble everything

 

[Davea Lux]

Well that makes sense. The signals and hazards work but pretty intermittently. Often not flashing, solid lights etc. I had assumed my turn signal switch has been worn out. I guess I’ll have to follow the wires and see where they lead but I’d rather not have to disassemble everything

Check the turn signal flasher first and then check the ground to your bulbs. Turn signals that work intermittently or with erratic flashing usually have a bad ground, broken bulb filament or a 4 way flasher switch that is corroded. Corroded contacts in the flasher unit will cause the breaker spring to overheat and quit working after a short time.

Dave

 

[Clover]

Don’t plug a flasher into that connector; (you’d have to modify it to do so.) I’m not sure what it’s for but not a flasher.

 

[fury fan]

The other guys pretty much covered what those terminals are.

As for why they are bare:
I haven't seen these be in use (from the factory) in any car I've had. But as mentioned, they would be a great place to use for add-on wiring. I would recommend using them to trigger relays, though, and not to feed anything significant. the capacity on those taps is unknown (it's not on the fuseblock, anyway) so unless you can find them in the FSM, and can determine hte condition of that whole circuit's connection points, don't risk to overload them.

 

[fury fan]

And on the taillights/turnsignals:
Next time they malfunction, wiggle the TS stalk - a bad cancelling cam can allow it to hang between positions and cause a rear light to go out, and it will be an intermittent thing. I once had a convertible with this problem, and people were very willing to get my attention to a bad rear brake light. But when I checked it at home, it was always OK. I eventually learned to touch the TS after a LH turn to solve it. A new cancelling cam will make your switch feel like new.

If you have a tilt/tele column that cam may be HTF, but standard ones seem to be available from Dorman and some repoppers.

Also:
My 70 Fury had the taillight sockets crimp-grounded to the light housings, and those grounds got weak enough to not trip the TS flasher. I went around the crimp with a spring-loaded centerpunch, knocking it back tighter,and that worked, but a few months later it was a problem again. I finally dropped the rear bumper, wire-brushed the sockets where they came out of the housings, wrapped a separate ground wire on them (several wraps), and secured with a screw-type hose clamp. Ran that wire to a good ground on the body. Problem solved. (make sure to make that ground wire long enough for dropping the bumper again later, or at least make that attachment noticeable and accessible for the next guy.)

If tempted to solder the grounding wire into a loop, remember that the socket holds a plastic insulator for the wiring pins, so don't melt it.