Wires Going Nowhere

[Bingster]

In the course of checking my wiring to see of I have all that I need to start the car, I am finding a number of wires going to nowhere. They have the round terminals so I know they connect somewhere. I turned on the ignition key with the battery connected (the questionable one) and nothing lit up inside the car, which probably doesn't mean a whole helluva lot.

The color coded wiring is almost impossible to decipher, and the factory electrical tape winding is difficult to remove. Seems to me that unwinding it would make it easier to "pull and wiggle" to find out where the wires are connect.

 

At any rate, I can follow the wiring diagram to hopefully hook up what I need to start the car.

 

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

your wiring schematic is invaluable to you especially given you did not disassemble the car and kept assembly notes.  Further, for help here, a picture of the wires showing their approximate location on the body would be helpful if you looking for help from an owner with similar car.   Hard to guess from you description these wires and their location.

[Mezz]

If you can get an idea of where you think a wire should go from a wiring diagram you can use an ohmmeter or continuity checker to verify.  I'd disconnect it on both sides if possible to be sure you've got the right one.

[lostviking]

On 10/4/2023 at 10:28 AM, Bingster said:

In the course of checking my wiring to see of I have all that I need to start the car, I am finding a number of wires going to nowhere. They have the round terminals so I know they connect somewhere. I turned on the ignition key with the battery connected (the questionable one) and nothing lit up inside the car, which probably doesn't mean a whole helluva lot.

The color coded wiring is almost impossible to decipher, and the factory electrical tape winding is difficult to remove. Seems to me that unwinding it would make it easier to "pull and wiggle" to find out where the wires are connect.

 

At any rate, I can follow the wiring diagram to hopefully hook up what I need to start the car.

 

 

On the wiring diagram in my shop manual, both the color and the size of the wires is given. It's a factory manual.

[Bingster]

My wires are so dirty that even if I clean one off with a little water on  a clothe I cannot tell what they are.

[Plymouthy Adams]

again, post a pic of the area these wires are dangling and maybe someone can help you, it is impossible to guess at the wires you mention.  You need to add a tad more if you truly expect an answer for your query.  

[Bingster]

Since I have been able to locate the wires to start the car, I'm doing that first. I was told that I didn't need to hook up more than that to start it. I'm losing my weather here and the car is under cover but cold.  I'm also selling the house and this start-up will be the last thing I can work on for awhile.

[greg g]

To just get it running you need two wires. A switched lead from battery negative to coil negative and a jumper from battery negative to the small post on the solenoid.  Connect the coil. Toggle switch to off to stop engine after starts, crank engine by touching jumper wire to solenoid to engage starter. Be aware jumper is hot when you set aside from cranking the starter.  Yes there may be sparks at the solenoid terminal.  Use at least 12 gauge for the solenoid jumper.

[Los_Control]

To hot wire one of these cars and steal it, you only need one wire. A wire with alligator clips going from the battery to the coil.

Then a thief would use a screwdriver to jump across the solenoid ..... steal your car and gone in 60 seconds.

 

To be honest you really do not want any other wires connected if you are unsure of their condition ..... My truck I have power going to my ignition switch, then to the coil.

You want some sort of switch in case something goes wrong and you need to shut it off in a hurry.

Alligator clips you can just yank on them and pull them from the coil .... points will no longer have spark.

 

Then you want someway to activate the solenoid. A mechanic will have a push button of sorts with alligator clips again to activate the starter .....

 

So you need battery cables from battery to starter, the other to ground .... you need a jumper wire to get power to the coil, then another jumper to activate the solenoid.

 

Any other wires you want to remove from the battery or starter .. They are for things you do not want right now.

[Bingster]

I have one large connection from battery to large lower left post on solenoid, and then there are three smaller posts on the solenoid. It was kind of difficult for me to decipher the starter solenoid icon on the wiring diagram. It could be interpreted a couple of ways depending on which direction they had the starter pointed.  But I finally figured it out, I think, and it should be good.

Now, positive on coil to distributor. Negative on battery to negative on coil.

 

I do have one of those hand-held remote starter buttons with a large alligator clip with a plastic shield on one wire and a regular alligator on the other wire. I think I saw my friend connect the larger clip to the large negative post on the starter solenoid and the small alligator to the adjacent small post to it's right.

 

If that is correct, then as I interpret you folks if something goes wrong I just pull the small alligator from the starter solenoid.  I know he also used the screwdriver trick.

 

Wherever I have rewired I've used new wires.

 

I should be about ready to try to start Carlo again. New Battery (the first one I bought was bad. They ordered two more. One looked like it was used and they both were very dirty. I didn't feel good about taking one. I went across the street to Arnold and they had a brand spanking new one.

 

So new battery, new coil, distributor gaps are set . . . the only thing that could mess me up is not being able to get Piston #1 to TDC.  I got the pulley to TDC but the fan is pretty tight for one guy while feeling for the pressure in the spark hole.  It's one of those things I suppose where it doesn't click until you've tried it once. 

 

I do have a small leak in one of my Welch plugs near the oil fill tube. It's not green liquid. I don't know where water would have come from.

 

I also have a small oil leak at the bottom connection of the oil filter return. 

 

Our attempt at starting the engine two weeks ago must have brought out some of the weak spots.

[Los_Control]

1 hour ago, Bingster said:

I have one large connection from battery to large lower left post on solenoid,

I have no idea without looking at it, good chance these are the wires you want to remove because they feed the rest of the car.

 

You do want the battery, solenoid & starter connected .... but you do not want any extra wires connected .... they will be to feed the switch or the headlights .... you just do not need them to start the engine.

 

Just figure out what you need to activate the starter from the solenoid .... I have done this with many cars with a screwdriver jumping across the post.

 

Then get power to the coil ..... Assuming all is good the points will have power and fire and run ..... removing the wire to the coil will kill the engine.