'78 (Re)wiring Advice (Kwik Wire 14) (1 Viewer)

[Ramey]

I'm attempting to sort out a few wiring issues - mainly no hazards, no high beams, etc. - on a '78 I bought a year ago from another member.

Anybody tackle Kwik-Wire install in a 40? Would love diagrams, tips, sympathy, empathy, basically whatever I can get.

The background:

PO had a new wiring harness and fuse box installed - appears to be the Kwik Wire 14 circuit harness, in the "basic" option (i.e. No base or cover for the fuse box, no kill switch, and no Maxi fuse)... It was clearly installed just enough to have the necessities like headlights, turn signals, brake lights, etc. functioning, but none of the optional extras like hazards or high beams, and some interesting quirks I can't quite figure out (like the light bulb on the wire from the battery to the alternator).

I have very little electrical experience, but love a good challenge and am fairly good following instructions and reading manuals and schematics. I'm trying to sort this out using a combination of the Kwik Wire instruction manual (http://kwikwire.com/content/kwik-wire-instructions.pdf) , the 1978 wiring diagram off Cooleman's site, the 75 chassis and body manual PDF from Trollhole, and a reprint 75-80 chassis and body manual I bought off Amazon.

The issues/questions:

First, what I assume is the most pressing issue - no fusible link or Maxi fuse appears to be installed. The Kwik-Wire instructions would have a Maxi fuse added at the starter solenoid. The Painless instructions seem to put it in the same place. The stock harness would have a fusible link between the battery and the ammeter. I haven't confirmed it (as I'm still not done sorting through the rats-nest that is the wiring behind the dash), but I suspect the ammeter is connected to anything right now. Suggestions?

Less pressing issues to sort:

Light control switch - the parking lights, side and rear markers, license plate lights, etc (which I'll just call the running lights), as well as the low beams, are all wired off the headlight wire on the light control switch (i.e. the red and white (RW) wire which is supposed to go to the dimmer switch). Thus, nothing happens when you pull the light switch out to the first stop (which should illuminate the running lights), and when you pull to the second stop, everything comes on. The red and green wire (supposed to be power, coming from the "tail" fuse) and the green wire (supposed to go out to the running lights) and red/black wire (supposed to go out to the gauges? and the light control switch) are all disconnected. It seems I should connect the red/white wire from the light control switch to the red/white wire at the dimmer switch (see below), and will need to connect the running lights back to the green wire. Haven't sorted the red/black yet.

Dimmer switch - at the steering column, the red/yellow wire (high beams) is disconnected, the red/white wire (supposed to come from the light control switch) is disconnected.

Hazards - the hazard switch is in the dash, but all the wires are disconnected. The OEM Hazard/Turn Signal Flasher appears to be missing. This is probably going to be fun to figure out.


Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Ramey]

Progress!

Added a fusible link where the Kwik Wire ("KW") instructions indicated (#16 Red 10 ga from fuse panel to Starter Battery Lug).

Here it is installed- the little red wire heading to the upper right is connected to nothing...

I know this isn't the Toyota location (between ammeter and battery), but I figure it will protect the harness while I sort it out and I can replace the fusible link once I figure out whether to reconnect the ammeter (see below).

Pulled the combination meter (instrument cluster) and found more rats nest and discovered that lots of the KW harness isn't connected to anything, and a lot of what is connected is just twisted and taped.

I did manage to sort out the high beams and headlight switch, as well as the high beam indicator which was disconnected. I'm missing the purple (or is it blue?) lens that covers the high beam indicator- will try and pick one of those up eventually, but not worth the shipping on its own.


Feeling like whoever installed the Kwik Wire harness had plans to finish the install but ran out of steam - hence some things nicely wired with butt connectors, and some things that (giving the benefit of the doubt) look like temporary connections intended to be finished later (I.e. wires twisted together and wrapped in electrical tape, the headlight high beam wire in roughly the right location behind the firewall but not connected to anything, etc). But there was some really bizarre stuff - like a new red wire, wrapped completely in electrical tape to turn it black, run from the KW wire at the right headlinght back over to the left headlight, when the KW harness already had a separate wire that was already run to the left headlight).

Following the pattern of temporary splices and a plan to finalize later, I'm temporarily rewiring to get everything functioning, and then will follow up with permanent connections once I've sorted through where everything goes and verified everything works.


As an update to the references I'm using, I've found the Painless installation manual pretty helpful in understanding how things are supposed to be wired - http://www.painlessperformance.com/Manuals/10107.pdf

I'm also modifying (or at least attempting to modify - it may be messy) Coolerman's 1978 wiring diagram with callouts for what's spliced to what, and how the Kwik Wire Fuse Box replaces the factory box. Figure that way I don't have to go through the hassle of tracing things down in the future. Will post that, as well as notes on the KW instructions, later in case anyone else finds them useful.


The updated list of issues/questions:

Ammeter - confirmed it's not connected to anything

I'm not sure whether I'm going to try to rewire the ammeter into the harness, leave it a nonfunctioning meter in the dash, or replace it with a voltmeter. Per the Painless instruction manual, the high amperage of most non-Toyota alternators will burn out the ammeter (think I'm running a Remy 13038 55 Amp alternator designed for a Volvo).


Hazards - still haven't hooked the switch into the harness. Think I'll try and use one of the KW flashers for now. Unfortunately I don't have the harness side of the plug for the switch, so I need to eventually find one of those as I don't want to hack the plug off the hazard switch. May eventually end up installing a Toyota flasher, which is what the Painless instruction manual suggests.



Lastly - why is there a bulb between the battery and the alternator?

 

[bikersmurf]

The light on the alternator is likely for an iddiot light to show when it's not charging.

The Ammeter was likely left out for simplicity. To wire it in the feed from the alternator should go through it and then to the battery. If you're planning to upgrade your alternator, don't bother hooking it up... instead install a volt meter in its place.

All of the aftermarket harnesses require reworking the hazzard circuits as Toyota has all the turn signals wired through the Hazzard switch in a different way than North American autos.

As you get it figured out post up the solutions.

I've got a similar Kwik Wire harness in a drawer waiting to go in. It was pulled from a 40 who's owner parted it out after giving up on the rewire... It kept blowing the 25 A fuse he had in place of a fusable link. I'm confident I can succeed where he failed, but am a bit nervous since it already claimed one 40

 

[Ramey]

Got the hazards working!!!

Just repurposed the KW turn signal flasher to be powered off the hazard switch, and pulled the other KW flasher off the fuse block.

Still need to deal with all the half-@#!ed connections, but it works!

Speaking of half-@#!ed connections, I've added one of my own - just used a bunch of female disconnects to the hazard switch.

Not pretty, but it will work for now.

Next step will be cleaning all this up. Thinking I may still switch to a Toyota flasher, as the KW flasher is inconsistent in speed and seems flimsy.

 

[Ranger Jeff]

I'm in the middle of this myself with 14 circuit KW kit. What you have above is already helpful.

Would it be too much to ask if you diagramed what you did for the hazards using the KW numbers/colors, and custom connections as well?

Thanks

 

[Ramey]

Here's my current diagram. Let me know if you can't follow it.

I could probably draw a diagram of just the Hazard Switch if you needed.

In the diagram "KW" is a reference to the Kwik Wire wires, the numbers and words in quotes are the KW number and description, and the one or two letter color references are to the OEM wiring color - so the following phrase "Connected GR to KW Gray "6 El. Fan Sw.Power" - Ignition Hot Wire" means I spliced the factory GR to the Gray Kwik Wire wire #6 that is labeled "El. Fan Sw.Power". The Ignition Hot Wire is just my note of what the KW wire's function is (from pages 8-9 of the KW instruction manual).

The text boxes are my notes of what I've done or where wires go (black text) and need to do or figure out (red text). The grey boxes indicate stuff that's just not connected.

 

[Ranger Jeff]

Every little bit helps and appreciate this ... Thank you!