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Charging system-stupid newbie question

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Going over to my bro-in-law's after work tomorrow. He's a bus mechanic by trade. I'll go over with him what I have and what you folks have reported. Maybe a miracle will happen. Still in love with the car and the way I can make it dance around corners. I have driven nothing like it.

I have a 90 Chevy Lumina and it has never had an electrical problem.
 
I still believe that a large part of the problem with British wiring has to do with age and DPO repairs. I had charging issues with my TR4, but they were all related to the POs alternator conversion. The Tunebug got a new harness right off the bat, so I knew that all the connections were good. I can't recommend that method enough--these cars a so simple that replacing the whole shebang is quite easy.
 
Drew you up and running, all good?
 
Up and running, but only sort of. I've got 2 issues right now--overheating and carb trouble (can't seem to get the linkage between the 2 carbs to stay locked--after a bit of running the idle creeps up to really high, like 3500 RPM). I'm planning on pulling the radiator for a re-core, and sending my carbs out to be rebushed and checked over. I'm dealing with some budgetary and time constraints now, so it may be a little while. For now I go sit in the car and make "vroom vroom" noises. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

No electrical woes though. That new harness was a great investment.
 
Ain't no such thing. Good and inexpensive. All harnesses are hand made, Moss looks fine to me but there are others such as. Also see on eBay from time to time.

https://www.britishwiring.com/
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/iagree.gif

I got mine from British Wiring, and I would highly recommend them. They know their stuff, and the harness hooked up perfectly. They made sure I had all the extra connectors and tools necessary, and though I didn't need it, I'm sure they would have been happy to answer any questions I might have had.

I went with the harness option that uses modern wires wrapped in a cloth loom. Looks stock, but with good, safe components. Well worth the price, as I don't figure I'll have to replace it in my lifetime.
 
If you're not concerned with originality, making your own is a fairly easy task. I rewired one of my jeeps. Basically got a couple of bags of wire loom, some 12ga and some 16ga wire of various colors and went to work.

I started building the most critical circuits, like the engine ignition system. Tested it, then did the charging system, tested it, then the brake lights, tested it, then front lights, tested it, etc.

Just kept adding wires to the loom each time.

I found this to be a VERY worthwhile exercise because not only is the wiring system much more reliable now, I also know where every wire goes in that rig. It forced me to learn how each circuit worked in that vehicle. Suddenly, there was very little mistery to it.
 
Drew, you got a complete harness as I rmemember. What kind of money did you need?
 
If I remember correctly, I spent about $420 for the harness (including headlight and dimmer switch bits), extra bullet connectors, bullet crimp tool, and connector pliers. This replaced every wire in the car but the HT ignition wires and large battery cables--they have those as well, but I chose to reuse mine for now. I'm sure I'll replace them eventually.

Worth every penny.
 
Nothing cheep about that, but seems to be a class act. Moss wants $310. Last one I got from moss was vinal tape wraped but it was complete and went in without a hitch.

Wonder what their specs are now days. Then they were the only game in town.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If I remember correctly, I spent about $420 for the harness (including headlight and dimmer switch bits), extra bullet connectors, bullet crimp tool, and connector pliers. This replaced every wire in the car but the HT ignition wires and large battery cables--they have those as well, but I chose to reuse mine for now. I'm sure I'll replace them eventually.

Worth every penny.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea, that's actually pretty cheap. I would have assumed you paid twice that!
 
Thanks guys. Time to see how much is in the piggy bank. If my wife knew how much I have spent on this care, I would be a dead man walking.
 
I think the actual harness was about $310 or so. The rest was the extra bits, tools, and shipping. I'm always willing to pay for the good quality stuff. It's a once-in-a-lifetime purchase.
 
At least you folks can buy a harness....

I had to go the Rob S route for the Elva & the Vixen.

I spent much more time & money.

(I bought ALL the wires with the proper tracers...That's why so much $)
 
Ok, I think I solved the problem. The B+ wire (big brown wire) was connected to the neg solenoid. We reconnected it to the positive side and we got 14v w/ engine one.

Next question. On the way home from the bro-in-law's, the engine kept dropping in power, even with the choke all the way open. It will go for several feet, tehn pwr dropped and did this repeatedly all the way home. Bad Battery?
 
Battery checks out. Adjusting the carb did not work. The plugs are in the correct firing order. The car will run at about 1000-1200 rpm then quit. Even with the choke all the way open. The manifold gasket is fine. The header has no cracks I can find. The engine shows no signs of overhtg. It was running fine this morning and on the way to my bro-in-law's. What can make it do this all of a sudden?
 
Oh man! I am going to miss this thread. I learned a lot!

We need to put this one in the vault.
 
Morris, thanks to Murphy, we are going into extra innnings. The choke was a red herring but still needed the fix.

Car is still sputtering. The B+ terminal has pwr, the other 2 smaller wires have no pwr or volts while car is runnning, ignition turned on or off. The alt light stays on until I hit the gas pedal. That's a new one. Coil, dizzy all check for continuity. But on the solenoid, where 2 small brown wires connect, I have no reading either w/ the multi meter or the probe. Are those 2 small brown wires the problem or am I going in the wrong direction?

BTW: I was planning on showing the car today at a local show but this screws that up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
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