Arrrggghhh...

Went to fire up the slant for the first time, and test out my wiring (been packaged up and labelled in a box for a year before reinstalling...)

1)Headlight switch is on, I have no headlights, and the blinkers barely light up...I removed the grounding bolt, shined it up with some emery cloth and removed the paint around the nut. No change to the above problem.

2)Instrument cluster gauges and lights work, but the ammeter seems to register no change (start the car, no dip in the needle...)
Also, when I turn the wipers on it parks them, and no action occurs when I turn the wipers to any other "speed"
If I pull the headlight switch on it lights up all the lights in the cluster (turn signal flashers, brights indicator....)

If that is also a gorunding problem, or ammeter related, I'm having a problem tracking down the ground for the instrument cluster in the 1976 Electrical manual. Anybody have some tips for better grounding, troubleshooting, is it a daytime,summer only car????

thanks for any help, I appreciate it...

-D.Idiot
almost a 1976 Feather Duster again

This is something I have to deal with a lot as a custom car audio installer. Welcome to my nightmare! I can offer a few tips.
*If the car was painted since the removal of the harness, paint on the panel joints, such as fenders could be causing some resistance to the current flow.
*Check all of the ring terminals to be sure that there isn't any corrosion on them by checking voltage on bith sides of the connectoin. This is also a common problem on cars that are only occasionally driven.
*Use star washers on all ground connections. You wouldn't think so, but they dramatically increase the conductivity of the connection.
*On a big audio competition system it is customary to beef up all factory grounds and run them from the battery to the engine block, then to the fire wall, fender(s), and frame from that point.
*If a circuit only works partially, such as a dim light or wiper motor that only has one speed, check the voltage at rest as well as during opperation. A drimatic drop in voltage can indicate either a resistance problem, or a positive short to ground indicating for example a bad motor or switch.
*The best tip I can give is to take your test light and pitch it in the garbage! Always use a volt meter. Four or five volts may light a test light, but is obviously not enough voltage to operate something intended for twelve volts.

slantedsix225@aol.com

Try connecting a test wire to ground at the battery then to the ground connection at each problem accessory. If that gets it working then use your meter and work back to the battery until you find the high resistance points in the wiring or chassis connections. When you set you ohm meter across any two points you will measure that resistance so take measurements from say one headlight ground to the other, if that reading is OK then test back to battery/chassis or wherever it goes from there. If things are all painted up you may just want to add a ground wire to parts of you wiring harness to bridge body connections and restore you ground path. I hope this is coherent.

Steve