Melted White/Blue wire solve (1 Viewer)

[Hoperichb]

Hi,

Just replaced almost all mechanical gaskets, dizzy, rebuild carb by Jim, new fuel lines and now going through electrical so I can fire this thing up finally.

The white - white/blue wire is melted in both the engine compartment and dash. From teasesrch on the forums here I can attribute it to the previous owner connecting a black main to the starter and red to the frame making it extremely easy for someone to revere the battery hookup and fry this wire. I will undoubtedly be switching these. Am I missing anything? This is as far as I could get from the archives.

Question is how should I replace this wire, should I unwrap everything from the battery to the dash and rewrap a new one or should I just run one in parallel for the time being to get this beast started and come back and wrap it in?

Cluster is a mess and missing ammeter, missing the mechanical oil pressure gauge needed since the converted line is there and missing the temp gauge. I'll have to head to the classifieds for a replacement.


Hoping @Coolerman or @Pin_Head can jump in for their expertise. Plus I'll need some wire and a new fuse link from you cooler.

 

[Pin_Head]

The large white/blue stripe wire goes from the alternator to the amp meter where it distributes power to everything. When you install the battery backwards, it burns out this wire if you don't have a fusible link to protect it. You had a fusible link, but maybe it was replaced with one that is to high capacity to protect the wire.

Chances are that it is not the only wire that was damaged, so it would be good to unwrap the whole think and replace all the damaged wires.

 

[Hoperichb]

Well I got it all unwrapped while in the truck. Didn't take long but was pretty miserable. The exposed wire melted pretty good but within the harness it looks like it only got one or two wires that is actually melted to ( other than the white and white/blue).

Any idea what gauge the white/blue wire is or the rad with black stripe in the last photo? I'm guessing 14 gauge for the white blue and 16 gauge for the other?

Going o head over to see coolerman and then try to start before I wrap everything back up.

Thanks for the push to do this right pin head.

 

[Tireguy87]

@Coolerman can help you with replacing the burned wires if keeping an OEM look is important to you.

 

[Hoperichb]

I haven't been able to connect with him and would like to get something in the mail so I can work this weekend. Either of you have another source you would recommend?

 

[Pin_Head]

You can use any color wire you want as long as it is the proper size. To make it easier to trouble shoot, just take a piece of the original color coded insulation, slit it lengthwise, slip it over the new wire at the end and then shrink wrap it to the new wire. I don't remember the function of the red wire with black stripe, but if it is larger gauge than the rest of the wires, it is probably a main power wire, like the constant power wire from the ignition switch to the fuse block, but I thought that one was black with a red stripe.

 

[Coolerman]

For future reference: Both the White, and the White/Blue wires are 10ga wire. I got your email, and will put your order together tonight and contact your in the morning with a total. I will add a roll of non-adhesive harness tape if you want it?

 

[Hoperichb]

Thanks Pin and Coolerman. I should be all set with rewiring these and solving the root cause of someone setting the main battery cable up for a positive ground vs a negative ground. Red to starter to positive.

Thanks. Ben

 

[Hoperichb]

Coolerman,

I just realize my reply could have been interpreted wrong.

I could still use your help. Will follow up with PM. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Coolerman]

No worries I knew what you meant!
Last night I built you a new charging circuit from the alternator, to fuse block, to the amp meter, to the battery including a new fusible link. It is completely terminated EXCEPT for the alternator to allow you to get the wires taped up then cut to length. I built it based on a 72 harness I happened to have. Basically only going to charge you for parts because I wanted to see what was involved in doing this. Seems to be a rash of people burning up the charge circuit so thought I might offer it as a sub harness in the future. Anyway sent you an email with your total and payment method. Thought you might see the post here first...

 

[Hoperichb]

Thanks Coolerman. Well worth the wait and will save me some time on make the splices around the dash. Extremely appreciated.

Money coming your way.

Ben

 

[Hoperichb]

Hey Mark,

Got this in the mail yesterday and started working on it now. Thanks for the side email as well. Detailed and helpful. Here is what I see:

It looks like modeling after the earlier model there is one wire missing from the splice. I have two splices (which I circled) and 4 terminations. I took a picture of my old to help describe and took a photo of yours in case you forgot what you sent along as I'm sure you are looking at a lot of these.

It looks like your harness excluded the wire to the ignition plug.

What I am going to do is use one of the flat plug terminals to the ignition and then take the wire to the fuse block and splice into it to create the second terminal I need for the fuse block. I am hoping I can user excess from the alternation end once I get it in.

White looks good from battery + through fuse link and into ammeter.

Let me know if I'm not looking at this right

 

[Hoperichb]

scratch that. Pm incoming.

 

[Coolerman]

Well my good intentions trying to help a fellow FJ40 owner went south.

I have several harness projects going on at the time and had it in my head Ben had a 1974 FJ40. I built a main charge sub harness based on that assumption and of course he has a 1976! Alternator on the wrong side... Duh!

I am re-making the sub harness for him tonight so he can get this nightmare behind him.

 

[Hoperichb]

Thanks Mark. Regardless of this which isn't a big issue I would give my recommendation to do business with you. Everything was top quality, included things he knew I would need and didn't ask for, gave a long detailed email instructions and was totally understanding.

Mark makes you want to pay more for what he is offering. Don't hesitate to work with him. Mark, hoping you are still doing this in a few years when I decided to rebuild my entire harness. In the meantime I am sure I will need a few things.

 

[Coolerman]

New charging sub-harness is in the mail!

 

[emac]

Mark was an incredible resource when I was rebuilding my harness. I laid the harness out on a sheet of plywood, and went through every inch, rewrapping and adding new terminals. It was a great feeling to have all new matching terminals and colored wire. I cant wait to see how this one turns out.

 

[Coolerman]

Forgot to add that I used my 1976 harness to make this one so I know it is correct! I left the alternator end long so you have some wiggle room!

 

[Hoperichb]

Coolerman, This was perfect. I didn't end up trimming any and left the few extra inches in the cab. Rebuilt Jim C carb is on and everything is turning over now. Just need to nail down this timing and should be running and ready to wrap my harness back up.

Thanks again.

 

[Coolerman]

My pleasure!