• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!

    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Extra Wires?

tekspeek

Freshman Member
Offline
1964 TR4 -
My wiring harness over by the windshield wiper motor has 5 connections. 3 are for the wiper motor, the other two are dangling, wrapped in friction tape.

Any idea what these are/were for. There is nothing in the vicinity? They look like part of the original harness. Any idea?

Thanks,
Pete
 
Pete, what color are the wires and do they have the bullet connectors on the end. Wayne
 
Perhaps a latter harness was installed , these could be for a brake lamp switch if this is the case. Color is the key here,I am a fan of the nice easy diagrams sold on E-bay.but I have seen mystery wires in replacement harnesses from time to time, perhaps to make one fit several years??
MD(mad dog)
 
Wiring harnesses from the major suppliers aren't always correct. My new harness from British Wiring was correctly installed in my 73 TR6, with everything hooked up in the right places. Yes, there were a few "extra" wires here and there that did not conform to any diagram I had, but what the hey, everything worked. Or so I thought. I decided to do some checking on some connections. I noticed that the connection from the brake valve showed no activity when I applied the correct power to it. Sure as heck, after a call to British Wiring, they, after much conversation, opened up a harness for the the same year car and found that the same wire in their harness was indeed not hooked to anything. Kind of an embarrassing boo-boo. I fixed my problem. I think they are fixing theirs.

Bill
 
A '64 TR4 should have a electric brake lamp switch, the wires to that would be 1 green and 1 green/purple, both with female Lucar (spade) connectors.
 
Hi,

Also, there was an optional 2-speed wiper motor that has an additional connection. I would expect the harness to have the wire in place, but unused on TR4 fitted with single speed wiper mortors. Not sure of the color of the wire (my service manual would show it, I bet), but should be easy to identify.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
Hi Bill;..Your mention of brake switch's on a TR..I did check for that color combination at the front,on brake switch at the brake pedal,& it was GREEN & GREEN/PURPLE.I followed it back to the REAR,at the brake light wiring & found two of the GREEN & GREEN/PURPLE 'EMPTY' female connectors hanging loose.NOW my question is;..can i hook a HIGH-MOUNT BRAKE LIGHT into this empty connection? I have no idea what that empty connection is for other than an extra stop light. MAYBE A TRAILER LIGHT? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grouphug.gif
 
Ken, I think I was unclear when I referred to a brake light switch. I was referring to the wire going to the PDWA switch that tells you whether you have brake failure either front or back. This is actually a big deal in that if the switch is thrown, and the wire wasn't actually going anywhere, then one would never know if the switch was actuated. I just ran my own wire from the switch to the brake light on the dash. British Wiring admitted the mistake.


Bill
 
Now, in answer to your question, run a test light to this empty connector and see what happens if you hit the brake. Assuming there are no shorts in your harness and all grounds are good and where they need to be, if the test light lights up, why not use it for the third brake light.


Bill
 
Egg on my face...

After reading the replies I went out to find the color code of the wires. I never paid too much attention to them, just thought it was odd that they were there.

The previous owner (or before him) spliced a l2" length of wire to the windshield wiper motor and wrapped it back into the harness with the pigtails hanging out. ooo ouch.

Thanks for the help sorry I didn't investigate this further before posting

Pete
 
[ QUOTE ]
...found two of the GREEN & GREEN/PURPLE 'EMPTY' female connectors hanging loose.NOW my question is;..can i hook a HIGH-MOUNT BRAKE LIGHT into this empty connection?...MAYBE A TRAILER LIGHT?

[/ QUOTE ]When you refer to an "empty connection," do you mean that one of the four "sides" of the double female connector has no wire in it? If so, yes, you could plug a third brake light in there. But just to the green/purple connection, and then you'd possibly need a ground connection (either to body or a vacant "junction" of black ground wires).
 
Many thanks Bill;I guess that effort should have been a nobrainer,I'll try that.Those extra brake light wires are just hanging their.,maybe this will help others that may want to hook up a third brake light.I can't say for sure if those wires are original or not.as they are covered with an overshot of undercoat.I believe the factory wire harness wiring was wrapped in gray tape /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif,i may be wrong,thats what mine is in front on my 80 Spit.,i may stand corrected. Ken
 
Back
Top