Sunday, April 4, 2010

Wiring harness--finished and running!

Double checked all connectors today, particularly around the alternator, the starter relay, and the firewall/bulkhead connection. Tightened everything down that I could. At first, it wouldn't start because it had been so long since I'd run the rig, but after a few minutes, it started up, to my great relief. But...
Then she wouldn't shut off, even with the key out of the ignition! Oops. I thought I'd created some kind of perpetual energy machine. Or, as my dad put, I'd learned how to hotwire a car (the slowest way possible).
Turns out, the old harness didn't have a clearly defined (+) line to the coil (it was lost in that awful bird's nest of wiring by the AC condensor). So when I installed the new harness, I had two hots going to the (+) side, including initially straight to the battery and not to a switched source. I've since rectified that, losing the old hot wire and keeping the new.