No Juice

[Pete BN2]

While re-connecting my wiper motor after a rebuild, I must have made a hot connection under the dash - sparks and smoke. I neglected to turn off the battery cutoff switch. My horn works but thats it. The two fuses under the hood are ok. Anywhere else to look? Did I fry the harness?

 

[Dave Russell]

Pete,

I doubt if you fried the wire harness. It would have had to fry several wires at once to do that.

There is a point in the electrics which could account for the horns working & nothing else. This is the internal current compensator coil in the regulator/control box. This coil is connected in the box from terminal A to terminal A1. All of the feeds except the horn goes through this coil which may now be open circuited.

Try jumpering the box terminals A to A1. They are the two terminals closest to the RH side of the car, they are marked on the box lid. If this cures the problem, you will need a new control box/regulator.

Other possibilities directly related to this are that the wire connection at A1 is now bad or the main feed wire from A1 to the rest of the electrics is bad. This is a Brown-Blue wire which should go to the back of the lighting switch first & then to the ignition switch. Everything else is fed from either of these two switches. Good luck,
D

[ 06-10-2003: Message edited by: Dave Russell ]</p>

 

[ThomP]

Daves remote diagnosis is excellent. After you try his suggestion, if the problem isn't fixed, here are a couple more suggestions:

If the headlights work, the ignition switch could be dead, just jumper across it to eliminate it as the problem. The white wire connected to the fuse box could be open at the push on connector, remove the wire and clean the contact between the wire and the fuse box. If this is the case, as it often is 30+ year old cars, it is an indication that you should clean the other terminals too.

Whenever I look at a wiring diagram for an old car, I'm always amazed. Your car has a separate, fused circuit for the horn, and only the horn, but the lighting wiring runs throughout the car without any fuse!? My BJ8 is the same way, no wonder Ol' Joe Lucas has a bad name!

 

[Dave Russell]

Thom,

Yeah -- your right -- pretty minimal circuit protection on the Healeys.

One fuse for the horn & one fuse for turn signals, brake lights, wipers, fuel gage, & heater blower. Everything else is not fused.

Quite a few people add a 15 amp inline fuse to the red wire on the back of the lighting switch. This feeds the park lights, tail lights & number plate light. These circuits are quite vulnerable to getting pinched & shorted in even a minor fender or rear end bump.

Other places to add a fuse are the fuel pump circuit to the back of the car, the wire is prone to get damaged & shorted, and a fuse to the overdrive operating solenoid which can get hung up if misadjusted & burn out the $100 solenoid.
D

 

[Dave Russell]

Can't tell if it is the regulator. You may have more than one problem. Are you sure that the battery is still charged?
Turn on the headlight switch.
Put a voltmeter between A & A1, one at a time, to ground & see if you get 12 volts or more. If you do, try the other things on the first list.

If you don't, check for 12 volts on the starter solenoid large terminal that goes back to the battery. If not there check the battery connections, both sides of the battery, & wiggle the cutoff switch.

Keep track of everything you do & write it down. Don't give up.
D

[ 06-10-2003: Message edited by: Dave Russell ]</p>

 

[Pete BN2]

OK, I rubbed A and A1 together a got a little spark and 3 clicks of the fuel pump and then nothing. Could it be the regulator?