New Wiring Harness Options

[Big_John]

Your diagram has the redundancies in it that are unnecessary and in my opinion, unsafe.

Eliminate the red wire that runs through the bulkhead.

Take your new black wire, run it through the firewall grommet, and butt-connect it to the black wire just down from the splice (just before the bulkhead), and eliminate the black wire that runs through the bulkhead. The factory welded splice is retained. Add a fusible link to the black wire for extra safety.

I don't know as that is "unsafe". It is, as you say "redundant" though because he has replaced the original factory wiring. The wire is obviously used to take the load off the factory wiring going through the bulkhead connector etc. That has been eliminated in this case. I just don't see it as not being safe though.

 

[cbarge]

I need to "walk back" my comment about @cbarge 's bypass as the Nacho bypass is different. I think I was going back to a previous method that Nacho was using.

Absolutely nothing wrong with either method. Just a different approach. My car was wired quite a number of years ago and was done using a little from MAD, Ehrenberg's, and Nacho's methods with some common sense tossed in and I think I ended up similar to how cbarge does it.

Apologies to cbarge for mixing that up.

And to anyone paying attention, you'll probably note that I edited that about 5 times as I thought about it.... LOL! It was that long ago!

No apology needed.
As you mentioned everybody interprets things differently. Sometimes others need to stop and think or simply read into it too much.
Sometimes I may explain thing differently that others may not understand. Lol.
All good here no problem..

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

I don't know as that is "unsafe". It is, as you say "redundant" though because he has replaced the original factory wiring. The wire is obviously used to take the load off the factory wiring going through the bulkhead connector etc. That has been eliminated in this case. I just don't see it as not being safe though.

Agreed - the term "unsafe" is just my opinion, and that stems from the fact that if the original wire that remains is required all of a sudden to resume taking the big load, then things could become unsafe. Removing it and using the much safer upgrade eliminates that possibility altogether.

 

[TroyCo]

So got my new engine harness. I noticed that in it the new black wire running to the alternator isn't set up to run THROUGH the bulkhead, it instead has it's own connector. Any issues adding a terminal to that 12ga power wire to plug into the cab side of the bulkhead? Keep in mind I also have that other 10ga wire running direct from the alt to the amp gauge....

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

It should not be the type of connector that if it comes apart can allow the alternator to ground out through that wire. Can you show us a pic of that wire in the new harness?

Keep in mind that the wire you speak of in the new harness is redundant if you've already created a new 10 awg run to the alternator from the amp gauge. I assume also when you say that, that the factory welded splice that the black wire runs to from the amp gauge is still in place, and you've actually run your new 10 awg wire to the alternator from AFTER the splice.

 

[TroyCo]

The factory welded splice you mention, is that inside the cab or outside in the engine compartment? Reason I ask is because I have a splice on both sides.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

As we discussed before to keep everything working in the car you need to keep the factory big splice, and avoid anything running to the alternator from going through the bulkhead.

From an earlier post - "You need to retain the original black wire coming off the amp gauge because it feeds voltage to the rest of the car from the big splice - EDIT - this is the factory big splice and is in the dash harness, deeply wrapped up - . Then it originally runs to the alternator (through the bulkhead). To make it safer, and eliminate it from the bulkhead, I ran a NEW black wire (protected by its own new fusible link) through a grommet in the firewall and butt-spliced to the original black wire just inside the passenger compartment, eliminating its run through the bulkhead, but retaining the required factory big splice."

See the new picture below - I've edited it to show where your new black wire should splice in the cabin, and whited out the redundant and unsafe routing (my feeling - there I go again @Big_John ) of the original black and red wires from the bulkhead. They are entirely unnecessary, and I feel that nothing of this circuit should run through the bulkhead. In this way, you should only need one splice as shown. If you so choose, you can add an additional fusible link to the black wire in the engine compartment for added protection. That's what I did, using terminal blocks.

 

[TroyCo]

Gotcha. I will just make the new wire redundant. Anyhow, here's how it's pinned. The black wire I am pointing to in the pic is the one that runs to the alternator.

All the new wires appear to be 14ga. Even the alt wire.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

I would get that OUT of the bulkhead, period. For safety reasons it should NOT be running through the bulkhead. The spade connectors are the issue.

As well, that wire in your new harness should be at least 2 sizes bigger, so I wouldn't use it anyhow, even if I got it out of the bulkhead. It's not up to the task, plain and simple, even if it had no spade connectors in its pathway. When you say "I will just make the new wire redundant", do you mean the one you ran yourself, or the new harness' alternator wire? Please DO NOT use the new harness' little wire.

Run YOUR NEW 10 awg wire through a dedicated grommet to the original black wire in the cabin, just after its connection to the bulkhead. Just snip the original and splice right there to your new wire.

See my new drawing in the previous post.

 

[TroyCo]

Sorry, a lot on the go. I meant the one in the new harness. Anyhow, the steps you recommended have been performed. Almost time to fire it up.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Good - I'm glad to hear that you're going to use your own improved 10 awg wire.

Just make sure you have a fire extinguisher handy when firing it up for the first time. Not to jinx anything, just to be prudent!!

Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[TroyCo]

Well, bit of a snag. Im trying to hook up the 4 point ballast resistor and I'm not sure which wires go where. I'm also missing a terminal to the IGN side of my voltage regulator. Any ideas?

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

The factory wiring diagram should give you which wires go on which terminal of the ballast resistor.

Regarding the Vreg, again, check the factory wiring diagram for reference. Just to clarify, are you saying the Vreg itself is missing a terminal, or your new harness is missing a wire that is supposed to attach to the Vreg?

If I remember right, there is a thin green wire that has a special terminal that is screwed onto the Vreg (on the driver side), and a brown(?) wire on that uses a standard female spade terminal on the passenger side...

In your pic I can see the standard male spade sticking out of the Vreg on the passenger side, tucked behind some taped up wiring, and it looks like the green is already in place on the driver side.

Check your wiring diagram...

 

[Big_John]

Well, bit of a snag. Im trying to hook up the 4 point ballast resistor and I'm not sure which wires go where. I'm also missing a terminal to the IGN side of my voltage regulator. Any ideas?

View attachment 465836 View attachment 465837 View attachment 465844

Take a look at your ECU and remove the connector. If there's 5 pins, you need the dual ballast resistor. If there's 4 pins, the single ballast is the piece you want.

The 4 pin ECU can use the 5 pin harness and dual ballast, but not the other way around... So, if you have the 5 pin ECU, my suggestion is to dump that and go for the 4 pin.

I doubt if you have the 5 pin... They haven't been produced for a long time, although I do see them for sale all the time. If they are produced, I'll bet that the 5th pin is bogus and just there for looks.

 

[TroyCo]

On the old setup, the ballast resistor had two wires jumped onto the bottom left post. Also on the old 5 pin connector going to the ECU, there was this mess:

Two of those terminals went to the BR, one went to the IGN side of the VR, and the blue and white wire went to the bulkhead. You can see where one might get confused.

 

[Big_John]

4 pin

5 pin

 

[TroyCo]

Take a look at your ECU and remove the connector. If there's 5 pins, you need the dual ballast resistor. If there's 4 pins, the single ballast is the piece you want.

The 4 pin ECU can use the 5 pin harness and dual ballast, but not the other way around... So, if you have the 5 pin ECU, my suggestion is to dump that and go for the 4 pin.

I doubt if you have the 5 pin... They haven't been produced for a long time, although I do see them for sale all the time. If they are produced, I'll bet that the 5th pin is bogus and just there for looks.

She's an oldie. Made in U.S.A stamped up top. Was on the car when I purchased it.

Also have the 4 pin BR.

 

[Big_John]

View attachment 465883

She's an oldie. Made in U.S.A stamped up top. Was on the car when I purchased it.

View attachment 465884
Also have the 4 pin BR.

Take the connector off and count the pins.

 

[TroyCo]

Sorry I posted the wrong pic.

 

[TroyCo]

Ok. Pretty sure I've got the ballast resistor crap figured out. However, now it won't crank. That's where I packed it in for the evening. I think the neutral safety switch is fried. The wire leading from the relay to the trans got fried pretty good when the harness burned up. Gonna try and bypass it this morning.