Please look at the pics. I am completely lost on where this red wire goes. This is off of the Interior bulkhead block. Obviously one to the ammeter. Where’s the other connect????? I’m exhausted trying to figure it out.
Please help me ID this wire
- Thread starter AlVal74
- Start date
There is a 10GA red wire that goes from the bulkhead connector to the ign switch. If that wire has issues, nothing inside the passenger compt which is switched works, from my experiences. Nor does the car start, of course.
CBODY67
CBODY67
mrs49
Member
Maybe cig. lighter
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
I might be able to help you if I know exactly what year and model you're troubleshooting. Is it like a 72 Imperial? That #10 AWG red looks like an alternator feed, for sure, and in my wiring diagrams, like what you've shown, there's a splice to A1, one leg of which goes to the ammeter in #12 wire. I recall my fuse block had the black battery feed going in for stuff like the cigar lighter and some lights. How many fuses does your block hold? That might help me figure out what schematic you should refer to. I feed my ammeter bypass straight through my firewall to the joined leads formerly making the series circuit with that ammeter BTW. You want total restoration, or a safer wiring harness?
It’s a 68 300 2dr HT. Pic 1 is red out of bulkhead (A1-12R). Then it splices. One goes to the ammeter (A1A-12R). A1B-12R to accessory circuit breaker is the one in question. New fuse block red wire goes to ignition switch through a splice which also goes to headlight switch circuit breaker (red), auto transmission connector (black). These were taken and tagged directly from the old fuse block. The only thing I can honestly think of is that the wire in question is a main battery feed. But to where? The fuse block as well? Then out to supply the ignition switch? I don’t want full resto, I just do NOT want to burn the car down.
With the way that wire is labeled, my guess is it is aftermarket. And being 10 gauge, my second guess is it was an attempt at the ammeter bypass. (Just guessing though). And when you say ammeter bypass, you can’t do it without tagging @cbarge
I labeled it. Someone told me to just put both ammeter wires on one terminal to bypass it (it had a crappy shunt tying both together but I cleaned up that fire hazard) I’m curious because there’s no actual feed from the bulkhead to anything other than to the ammeter. The black comes right from the bulkhead to the ammeter and nowhere else. So what powers the interior stuff?
The BATT wire I labeled on the fuse block goes to the ignition switch. Then splices to the headlight switch, flip up headlight relay circuit breaker. So the red ammeter is the battery feed to the interior. Should I just splice that to the red that goes to the ignition switch so it powers the switch and the fuse block?
That red wire spliced to ammeter wire is behind the left kick panel and is used for powering any optional accessories and circuit breakers like power seats, windows,locks,and center console feed when equipped.
My 68 Newport has no power options but the wire is still there.
On my loaded 67 Monaco 500, the wire is in use.
Hope this helps.
Everything else goes through the fuse box.
Some convertibles piggy back on the ammeter to power the top.
Gerald Morris
Senior Member
Yes they do, like mine! I disconnected the little fusible link into my bulkhead connector, ran in nice 8 gauge wire to both the battery lead and the black alt lead which were on my ammeter, nicely protect that 8 gauge with a #12 fusible link back at the battery, to protect the starter relay as well as the dash, and feed my automotive circuitry ALL through the single #8. The black wire originally came from the absurd little alternator which originally charged the battery on mine, but with a 95A alt, I calculated that 8 gauge is the minimum I should use, and that for finite distances.
I too still have the original kickpanel branch of the A1 circuit and likely will forever. I prefer to rebuild the old fuseblock using new brass clips, preferring American Fuse Society glass 1.25" fuses such as were used, but so long as one wires a modern fuse block properly, I suppose it will do. I also like using an auxillary fuse block in the engine compartment for certain things. It too is protected by a fusible link right off the battery. Easier to protect everything from there.
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