Well I have started to have problems with my wiring again. I think its due for a lot of new wiring or time for another truck. The amp gauge has never worked, the temp gauge quit, the gas gauge is iffy, and im not sure if the oil pressure gauge reads right and the turn signal switch sucks. I had it flat die on me when i was bringing home 1000 lbs of coal luckly for me it was just a bad ground that i was able to "fix" on the side of the road but, i need to make it right.

Its got the HEI upgrade and a parallel two barrel holley 2280 and fuel line mod, electric fan, and I have had little trouble with it for about three years.

I thinking about going through the whole wiring harness and replacing the fuse box with one from another vechicel and moving it to the engine compartment so it will be easier to get to and wire from. My only worry is the firewall connector its really nasty and im not sure it will be reliable.

Any input is welcomed.

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85 d-100 HEI 2BBl
06 Toyota Corrola

carlherrnstein,

I wouldn't give up on it after coming this far. I had some fluky problems like you mentioned on my 74 Dart Swinger a few years back. The main problems were fixed by rewiring the short 4' long engine harness that goes along the valve cover. I bought some new plug ends and replaced it wire by wire and found that 4 wires had melted together because the alternator wire got too hot at some point, so the engine oil check light, temp gauge, coil wire and the main red alternator wires were touching. It gave me some pretty weird readings......The upgrade was very easy to do. I unplugged it from the back of the block and took it inside the house and pulled one wire at a time color for color and replaced all of them. I soldered each end to be sure the connections were good after crimping. It was a lot of fun to do it that way and have had not had a problem since. On some of the wires I went up one wire size and re wrapped them with black electric tape and put them in black plastic conduit.

This last year I did SL6Dan's dual 10 gauge alternator wiring mod straight to the battery with the circuit breakers. I installed a volt meter since the amp gauge is taken out of the circuit. That made a huge difference in lighting and overall power.

Don't give up!

To view pictures of the harnesses click on the red link below my name.

_________________
Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

I agree with Ted! You will probably have to spend a few weekends cleaning up grounds, checking for cracked insulation and bad connectors, but with a little work and some easy upgrades your truck's electrical system will be fine. With the exception of any lean burn wiring, the wiring in your truck is basically the same simple system as in a truck ten years older.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Their right DON"T give up!! I redid the wiring on my 86 last spring.
I was able to eliminate 15 wires from under the hood by doing the HEI upgrade.
The computer on my truck was located behind the battery under the fender.
I gutted it and used the housing to mount the HEI in.
Also plan ahead of time anything you want to put on relays, you are going to put your headlights on relay's are'nt you?
Also you will find some folks say to use a system Like Painless Performance. Don't waste your money.
You can buy the exact same type wire they use, they sell theirs in bulk but you can get for a third the price of what they want for it.
Here are link's to place's that i ordered wire and connectors from.

http://www.amazon.com/Tool-Aid-18960-Ra ... B006O1Y1FY
http://www.repairconnector.com/
http://www.halfpricecaraudio.com/
http://www.corsa-technic.com/index.php
http://motorsportswiring.com/
http://www.clipsandfasteners.com/O_E_M_ ... _s/259.htm
http://www.pcsconnectors.com/
http://www.prime4x4.com/
http://rockauto.com/
http://www.securecableties.com/ShoppingCart.aspx
https://www.terminalsandconnectors.com/

I try'ed to reuse all my old factory plastic terminal housing's and just replaced the terminals, if i was not able to find the proper terminals the connector's were replaced with weatherpack connectors.
Plan all your upgrades and changes first, will save you money on shipping.
I kept making changes on mine and had to order more terminals and wire. So plan ahead.
All the companies were great to deal with or i would not have posted them up here.
Good luck.
Dave

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86 Miser 170,000+
2 1/4" exhaust
Holley 1920 #55
HEI MSD BLaster 2
17.8 mpg

Much agreed w previous posts, don't give up on it just yet. Plenty of resources here to help and looks like more than one of us in Indiana. (I'm currently out of country) however I'd jump in my 84 and head over otherwise. Also look up dadstruck in slixers gallery as he's working w wiring as well, may be able to help out some. As for a fuse box under the hood, there have been a few ppl use caravan distribution boxes and worked well. Don't quit now!

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225, Offenhauser, Holley 350, A833OD, 3:55, GM HEI,99 Durango starter
BOOSTED! WH1C, BIG FMIC, 10#
Operation Noble Eagle 03-05
Operation Iraqi Freedom 05-07
Operation Enduring Freedom 12- 13

The day I picked up my Dart it drove up onto a trailer, rode on it for 200 miles, than refused to start in order to unload it, in fact the only place on the car that had voltage that night was the battery. Electrical system repair quickly moved to the top of the long list of projects that night… A car that can’t be trusted for a 50 foot cruise on and off a trailer; ain’t nobody got time for that. I feel your pain.

Like the others have said; start repairing it one wire at a time with the aid of FSM to guide the project. All you need is a supply of Packard 57 spade connectors, I got the 100 pk each, a selection of stranded wire of various gages and colors to match factory’s scheme, a few wiring tools, and time. This is a project that requires no heavy lifting, and no big hammers. LOL

If so inclined one can up-grade various circuits that tend to be problematic in old Mopars such as headlight, charging, and voltage regulator sensing point, etc.

Bill

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Thanks for the replies everybody, I like the idea of replacing the terminals in the plugs. I would have never thought you could get them. wjajr the link you gave doesnt have packard 57 anywhere on it but there are 100 packs of female and male connectors there that look about right, part (BM-100, 100 Female Terminals) and (FM-100 100 Male Terminals) are they what you used? Also is there a trick to removing the terminals from the plug?

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85 d-100 HEI 2BBl
06 Toyota Corrola

part (BM-100, 100 Female Terminals) and (FM-100 100 Male Terminals)

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Just slide a narrow jewelers screw driver into the slot to depress the tang and it will slide right out.

_________________
Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

My truck used chrysler terminals throughout, firewall and various other connectors.
Sealed beam connectors are Packard 59.
Not alot of use of Packard 56 from the factory on my truck.
Is your firewall connector about 3"x3" square with a bolt in the center of it? if so it does'nt use Packard terminals their chrysler.
Also if your going to get new turn signal sockets and would like to wire them to look factory rather then splicing they have the lamp socket buttons here
http://www.repairconnector.com/products ... ector.html their cheaper than Ron Francis.

Dave

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86 Miser 170,000+
2 1/4" exhaust
Holley 1920 #55
HEI MSD BLaster 2
17.8 mpg

The 59 terminals maybe just 57’s that are plated to prevent corrosion. At any rate Ron F has those terminals as well.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Well i got a new turn signal switch from autozone and installed it today boy oh boy that was fun but now i have turn signals that work right now. I also replaced the 10 ga alternator wire and ran it to the junction bar i put in when i fixed the burned up fuse link mess. In the process of replacing the turn signal switch i had to take the insterment cluster out and i saw the temp gauge needle fall to the bottom, so i opened it up and quickly found out its problem it needle has a tiny loop of wire that hooks on a small spring ant the other side of the loop hooks on a peice with a small coil on it so i just hooked it back together and it works now the gas gauge had a dead spider down in it so i blew it out of there and it makes more sense now. I am thinking about trying to hook up the ammeter tomorrow. If memory serves me right this ammeter uses a shunt wired parrall with it I will use some 10ga wire as a shunt. Im not sure how long the wire needs to be i figure if its too long the ammeter will peg out or burn up and if its too short it wont read much.

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85 d-100 HEI 2BBl
06 Toyota Corrola

59 terminals are .03118" wide and 56 are .25" wide. http://www.pcsconnectors.com/packard56.aspx

Dave

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86 Miser 170,000+
2 1/4" exhaust
Holley 1920 #55
HEI MSD BLaster 2
17.8 mpg

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'64 Dart GT convertible, 64 Dart 170 2-door post sedan in faded blue and rust (the Az Dart) & a sixty THREE Dart 170 2-door post sedan in faded blue and rust. (future project)
Early Dart Disorder (EDD) is real, and I've got it!

I got the ammeter working now I put a ring terminal on a peice of 18 ga wire and hooked it to the +battery clamp bolt, then i hooked another wire to the junction bar, I then found the wires that go the the ammeter and hooked them up. So i am using the 4ga or so wire that runs from the battery to junction bar as the shunt. It works OK but i think it might have too much resistance cause the ammeter will peg if I give the engine some throttle right after it starts up, but once the alt has recharged the battery from a start its fine and only wiggles the gauge a 1/2" of so. I may re work it in the future.

The firewall connestor is about 3"X3" square with a bolt through the center i opened it up and carefully removed a connector that had the wire cut off (i think it had something to do with the lean burn junk) and its definatly not a packare 56 or anything i can ID.

xjarhead or anyone know if these terminals can be had anywhere new?

I replaced the octopuss harness with a strip of brass 4"x3/4"x1x8" with many holes punched in it and the wires have ring terminals soldered to them which are held on with some #10 brass machine screws and the whold new mess is wraped it electriacl tape and hidden in side wireloom.

This truck is a 85, the ammeter is not made to take full current like the older units. Sense the ammeter is hooked to two positive connections and not the path for current to take it only sees the voltage drop between the two which is in millivolts.

Happy easter im going to go eat some ham

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85 d-100 HEI 2BBl
06 Toyota Corrola