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question for the electrial gurus

todd reid

Gold Level Sponsor
When we last chatted, my temp guage was reading full hot even with a cold engine. I solved that (with your help - thanks again) by running a new wire to the temp sender.

So yesterday I take my first trip of 2013 in the Sunbeam. I drove it to work (approx 50 mi) with no problems. Leaving to go home, I start it up and the horns start blowing intermitantly - not continueously. Thinking I must have a short in the ground wire, I pull the power wires off the horns and start home. It quickly becomes apparent that I have no turn signals, and the temp guage and fuel guage are not working. I also notice that the engine is idling higher than usual, which tells me the electric choke is not getting any juice.

Q1: The long term solution would seem to be to rewire the car. After 47 years it is probably time. Is Paul A's kit the preferred solution?

Q2: In the short run, I would love to take advantage of the fall weather, and get some seat time in the Alpine. Any theories or suggestions as to logical things to check? It seems weird that we have no power in some places and grounding issues in others. All after sitting untouched in the parking lot for 9 hours.

Thanks in advance!
 

chazza

Donation Time
The horn wire must be earthing (grounding) somewhere along it path, so you will need to trace the wires from the horn backwards. It is best to have the wiring diagram to hep you and you may need to look at the switch as well.

It sounds to me as if you have a dead-short, where a dodgy connection is touching the body somewhere, which then causes the fuse to blow; hence the reason why the other electrical items stopped working.

I have been through a similar experience with my car recently and discovered a short behind the dash, where someone had fitted an aftermarket indicator light. Crimped on terminals suck, so if you find any that a PO has fitted, cut them off and solder new terminals on. You can buy solderable terminals with separate insulating boots. If you find insulating tape, unwind it and check for poor connections underneath; solder any repairs and cover with heat-shrink wrap.

Good luck!

Cheers Charlie
 

Paul A

Alpine Registry Curator
Platinum Level Sponsor
Todd: I think Charlie's analysis/advice is correct. In all likelyhood there is a bare wire, likely due to broken/ missing insulation, that is sporadically grounding and causing the fuse to blow. As you have already seen, there are consequences to having a 2 fuse system! And, unfortunately, this could be just the first of several challenges.

The reason I worked with Rebel to produce the Sunbeam wiring kit is because like some others I had a fire under my dash when a bare wire (broken insulation) shorted. So, I urge you to carefully investigate/trace all the existing wiring to help avoid any issues in the future.

And, if I can help in the future feel free to contact me at palmjeld@yahoo.com

Pete. (Paul A)
 

Tom H

Platinum Level Sponsor
It makes no sense that the turn signals etc would stop working when you pulled the power ( green) wires off the horns, unless someone had previously modified the wiring, or you pulled off the green wires somewhere else other than right at the horns.

But I don't understand why you pulled off the power (green) wires from the horns, Why not pull off the ground wires- the purple wiires- the horns are powered (green wire) continuously whenever the key is ON. It's the return, or ground, wire (purple) that gets grounded when you press teh horn ring. DSounds like you figured that out and realized that. So just pull the purple wires off the horns and reconnect the green ones. As I said, I don't understand how pulling the gfreen wires off the horns caused the other problems, but seems putting them back should undo whatever, and pulling the purple wiires should stop the beeping.

I think Pete's wiring kits are great, but old wires correctly installed, with no cuts or burns in the insulation are OK too. More important is having them connected correctly- either original or Pete's

Tom
 

sunbby

Past SAOCA President
Donation Time
It makes no sense that the turn signals etc would stop working when you pulled the power ( green) wires off the horns, unless someone had previously modified the wiring, or you pulled off the green wires somewhere else other than right at the horns.
Tom

Or the now disconnected green wire touched the chassis, shorting to ground, and blew the white->green fuse.
 

todd reid

Gold Level Sponsor
question for electrical gurus

I probably should have said "wires" instead of "power wires" in my original post. I was dressed for work and drawing an unwanted crowd of co-workers, so I just reached under and detached the first wire I felt in the horn area.

I think Charlie & Todd's explanation is logical. I probably detached a power wire which touched the body and blew a fuse. My only thought (without consulting a wiring diagram) is that I would expect a lot more stuff to not work with a blown fuse. Everything else I checked - headlights, heater fan, radio, etc still works, which would seem to indicate that the still working fuse is doing more than it's fair share of the work!.

Thank you all for your input. I will try to troubleshoot tonight.


You guys nailed it - found a blown fuse.
 
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