Rig Won't Shut Down. This Is A First For Me.

If that was the case, the new one i installed would have fixed the issue.

 

EZ wire has a kit with 12 circuits for a couple hundo’s. The walcks kit with provision for an alternator is $325 and would work if i could wire in an accessory blue sea fuse block. All very much within my price range - just don’t know whats best right now.

 

I would recommend using a Painless kit. I've used several of them on hot rods and most recently on my CJ. It was only $250 if I remember right. They have a bunch of customizable kits for CJs to choose from. They make it about as easy as wiring can be.

 

If you put them back on the coil together, does the 12V return?

 

• Engine swap - yes. 198 Buick V6

• Gm column - no. Replaced with a basic speedway hot rod column to emulate the stock ross look. I think i have many un-needed wires

*Alternator is planned for the 198 or the 4.3l i might swap in (already have that motor)

what i like about the walck’s kit is that they ask you a lot of questions when ordering on the site. A lot of things that i wouldn’t have thought of (ignition, lights, switch positions, etc) and they do have a V6 kit.

 

no, it doesnt, but i’m not ruling out inaccurate testing due to my battery being less than 100% condition.
To that end i pulled both terminals off the battery, isolating it, and have it on it’s battery tender for a nice slow recharge. I’ll retest when i have a full 12v, if i can’t get there, it’s new battery time.

 

Undecided at this point.
I’ve been researching 1 vs. 2 vs 3 wire and a 1 wire with self-exciter or the two-wire with main battery wire and the igition wire as an exciter seem like what i’d be choosing from.

 

I dealt with something similar to this last week on my friends cj7. Out of the blue, the key wouldn't shut the engine off and I was getting 6.4 volts on the ignition when the key was off. Just enough to keep it running. I tracked down the backfeeding to the exciter wire on the alternator. Soldering in a diode on the exciter wire solved the problem.

 

My '75 F250 did this. It was the voltage regulator (external on a ford). Why they never installed a diode from the factory to stop that backfeed if something goes wrong is beyond me.

 

This truck would have come with a mechanical regulator. They typically have an internal resistor for the exciter. That should be enough to prevent back-feeding. A semiconductor diode will too, though considerably more expensive (1975!) and less reliable than a resistor.

Suggest to the OP that he be systematic about diagnosing this. If you don't own a multimeter, suggest you get a decent one and learn to use it. You want a mutimeter and a test light - use the one that tells you what you need to know. A multimeter may have detected a voltage difference between the two wires even with a discharged battery.

 

Aye it was mechanical. I tossed a replacement solid-state electronic one on it, to get me by, until I figure out whether I'm going to do the Ford 3G style upgrade, or toss a 10 or 12SI on it.

 

I just finished rehab on the wiring in my CJ5. It wasn't overly hacked but there had been some very sketchy additions made at some point and there had been an electrical fire under the dash which fried all the wires coming off the light switch and apparently burned up the cardboard defroster duct which was evident by the burned windshield seal around the defroster opening.

Wiring is not my forte, and I too considered buying a new wiring harness, but after I removed the dash so I could see everything I decided it wasn't going to be that tough.

I started by removing all the add on equipment, most of which either did not work any longer, or was not needed for my purposes. This included remains of a radio which had been installed with wire connections just twisted together, two AMP meters, both of which were suspect, and a boost assist device called a "Saf-T-Boost" which was apparently wired in by a monkey. I traced down the wiring for each of the things I removed and eliminated that.

The burned wires from the light switch were still burned but had been heavily wrapped with tape. I replaced the burnt parts of all of these wires using wires I harvested from the wiring in my parts Jeep, and installed a new light switch. I made good splices which I crimped and soldiered then sealed with shrink wrap. That took care of under the dash. Under the hood was mostly unmolested but there were a bunch of extra wires tied into the the voltage regulator, and coming off the positive battery post terminal which was one of those crummy clamp on terminals and the extra wires were connected to the clamp bolts. These extra wires were related to the added on equipment I had removed.

The regulator was not working anyway, so I replaced the alternator with a one wire internally regulated Delco which eliminated the voltage regulator and simplified the wiring. I also replaced the very crappy battery cables with quality new ones.

I tossed both of the AMP meters, one was specific to that battery boost device, the other was for the rest of the system, and neither worked. I installed a voltmeter instead.

Now, everything works as it should, including the horn, and all lights and signals, and most importantly the charging system.

I now have nice neat stock wiring, and am glad I didn't opt for a pre-made harness as fixing the existing wiring made me more familiar with the circuitry and gave me more confidence in what I can do. It really is a lot simpler than I thought at first, though it looked complicated when looking up under the dash and would have been difficult for me to trace things down had I not unbolted the dash panel.

I am now ready to tackle my CJ2A on which the wiring is a real bird nest, with many things not working including headlights, and charging system. If left connected the battery drains completely overnight.

 

Seems a little drastic.

You should be able to pull the coil wire if you hold the wire by the insulation far enough from the end. Don't otherwise touch the car if you can help it. I guess some people's coil wires are so old and cracked that you could get a shock through the insulation ... I also have pair of all-plastic pliers I could use, them being fuse pullers I presume. Don't expect the plasti-dip insulation on most pliers to protect you.

 

Plug wires are relatively inexpensive, I consider them a regular maintenance item, I've never understood people that just leave them on there until they're literally falling apart.

 

Yes, my VW is particularly sensitive to plug wire condition. When I was driving it regularly to work, I knew the plug wires needed replacing when it would start to hesitate or miss in the rain. Maybe every two years they'd need renewal.

 

That seems like a good idea.

 

may have been joking a little

 

Would you expect that smacking the solenoid with a hammer would release what is "stuck" closed inside?

After doing this, I was able to start and shut down the rig. Not sure if I simply disturbed wiring enough to remove the "hot" feed to the ignition system or if the solenoid was actually stuck closed...lol.

going to try to start it up and let it run and see if getting it hot/letting it idle makes some sort of difference. Also, I rigged up my remote start switch from the negative post of the coil and a good ground. This works very well to shut down the motor in the event that the ignition switch won't do it again.