Short somewhere behind the dash in 1969 Fury III

[system11]

So when I tested the window washer on my Fury, I found it was dead. Had a look around and found the ground screw for the washer assembly was missing, and a piece of electrical tape wound around the tab it would go through.

I put a screw in and .... the key wasn't even in the ignition and the washer motor started spraying water all over the floor, which is where someone pointed the tubes they'd unhooked from the jets....

There's 12v on the positive side of that pump, at all times. Dead short to the battery. I removed both wires from the washer switch (massive PITA) and still a dead short to the battery. Next I pulled the bulkhead connector inside the engine bay - that finally removed the 12v supply to the pump, and I checked that the pump was connected to the correct pin on the bulkhead as per the wiring diagram, which it is. That pin is still a dead short to the battery.

So I can only assume there's an insulation short back there behind the dash somewhere, or someone has made a really dumb wiring error. I can't really tell if the correct wires are on the few switches I could see as the colours are too dark to tell apart in some cases. I can see some of the wiring has been messed with before, but it's difficult to really access anything - great big metal panel in the way. I put my shoulder out for a week trying to get a good view from the footwell.

How can I remove the dash, or that metal frame, or at least the dash plastics so that I can get some more space or at least some more light in there? I've worked on old wiring before but I've never come across a huge metal bin blocking pretty much all access to things. I couldn't see at the time, but how do you access the inner bulkhead connectors?

Bonus points if I can get some space and leave the car in a state where it can be started up to move within the storage unit still!

 

[Davea Lux]

The back side of the bulkhead connector is held in place by sheet metal screws. If you look under the hood hinge on the driver side you can see the end of the screw sticking thru the firewall. I would suggest pulling the instrument cluster to get better access, I know a major PIA but there is no good way to get at the harness with the cluster in place. With the cluster out of the way, you can inspect the harness for obvious splices and try to correct the issue that way. If necessary, you can remove the tape from the harness to check for shorts. There is a short cable from the washer switch and following that thru the harness should lead you to the problem. The short or wiring error will likely be someplace between the washer switch and the bulkhead connector. The FSM gives detail on how to pull the cluster, usually works best to drop the lower trim under the steering column and drop the column to get enough clearance to pull the cluster. Do not forget to remove the gear position indicator wand first or it will get destroyed when the column is dropped and be sure to set the park brake as the car could come out of park when the column is lowered. Putting a couple of layers of blue painters tape on the top of the column will help keep it from getting scratched as the cluster is removed.

Dave

 

[CBODY67]

See if you can take a picture of the area with your phone. That would give you "flash" and a way to enlarge the image, hopefully.

Just a thought,
CBODY67

 

[1970cat]

you can't remove the plate without removing all of the switches. the plate provides a common ground for the instruments . does the push button itself work correctly?
does is have resistance pushing it in and spring back properly?

 

[system11]

I disconnected the switch completely, both wires - and still get 12v at the pump and the wire connector which should be the output of the switch, even with no ignition key.

I wasn't sure what the "lamp panel" is until I found a video on Youtube of someone removing the dash pad with the rest of the car still together, so at least I can remove that to get some more light in there.

 

[1970cat]

the easiest access may be to remove the speedometer although it is hard to reach the cable connection. if you connect the two ammeter wires together you can power up the car again.
you can tip the entire dash forward too but it is more involved, especially if you have a/c.
the washer switch gets it's power from the wiper switch. there is a short , white wire that goes from the wiper switch to the washer switch. if i remember correctly the wiper switch has a three wire connector on the lower left and the white wire connects to the upper right by itself. it sounds like there is constant 12 volts to the wiper end of the white wire.

 

[system11]

Yes the feed to the washer is via the wiper, but even with the wire from the wiper switch to the washer switch disconnected, and with the washer switch to washer pump side disconnected, I've still got 12v at the bulkhead pin hitting the pump! I need to get access to the bulkhead connectors from the inside of the car and see where that pin has been connected to. I'm half expecting to find it spliced to a 12v feed due to someone thinking it's a switched ground circuit.

 

[1970cat]

ok, you have me stumped then the fuse panel will come apart but only about 1 1/2 inches unless you disconnect all of the wires between the two halves which i wouldn't recommend. maybe someone else did though and has the connector in the wrong location. does the wiper fuse have power with the ignition off?