Mustang Club of Maryland

I am a new member to MCOM, I hope this is the correct place to post this.
I have a 66 convertible electric problems,
I think I need to re-wire under the dash
and would love to get advice/help on that project.
Anybody out there have any good advice?
Thanks in advance
66inoverlea

You never said what kind of electrical problem. There are a few people on here that have done complete restorations that might be able help if you narrow it down.

There are a couple of great resources in your area. Rick of Mustang Recue is right in Rosedale.

Tell use a bit more about the problem.

I guess some details would be useful.
My fist problem-when I turned key and I got nothing-zero
I replaced the ignition switch and solenoid still nothing
a friend then rewired from the ignition to solenoid.
That got me to where the car now turns over but there is no spark.

The car has new engine bay wiring but under the dash it is all original
thats why I was considering redoing wiring under there. It needs to be redone
even if it isn't the original source of the problem.

I've had some other small electrical problems but this has made the car a big paper weight.
I got another response mentioning a shop in Rosadale I may look them up.

Thanks for your response
KM

Mustang Recue is Rick Hinkle's business. Rick is a club Vice President. His business is fixing classic American Muscle cars and selling them. He does not have a repair shop for the general public. But he is VERY helpful to club members. He has helped me with number issues and introduced me to my current mistress, a 1967 Mustang Coupe.

Do you have 12 volts at the coil terminal with the key in the on position?

How long has the car been sitting without running?

I replaced the coil because it was inexpensive
but i don't own a volt meter to check it.

The car has been sitting since May
but i charged the battery 2 weeks ago and it cranks

Would bad wires under the dash cause Coil problems?

There is a wire that goes from the ignition switch to the coil to turn it on. You need that wire to be 12v switched. Get a cheap test light and check it out.

_________________

1990 Mustang GT
http://www.ocstangs.com

I really think that in this case there are way too many variables - and you should stop and troubleshoot. If you had no power to run the starter - and your friend re-wired the switch to the solenoid, there could be other issues you might be overlooking. Lack of power to the solenoid can be the transmission's neutral safety switch. Does the car have a factory tachometer? If it does, many of the original FoMoCo designs have the coil power running in series through the tach - so when the tach fails, the coil is shut off. Without a meter, the issue could be as simple as a bad set of points and we wouldn't know it.

It's always a good idea to upgrade the older. stiff and brittle wiring to a new harness under the dash, but without troubleshooting/meter, you may likely end up with the same symptom after you are finished. The repair process you are using is commonly called 'shotgunning' - and with this symptom, I would really suggest that you switch to troubleshooting.

DRRummel is a good man, if he is willing to stop over, I would recommend that. If he and you come up with a schedule that is open on my calendar, I would be happy to bring a few items and help out too.

_________________
Rick HinkleMCOM
Facebook - Mustang Rescue
N3HIA

Update from the orginal poster: No voltage at the + side of the coil.

Next Steps:
Trace the circuit back to the switch and then the power source.
1. Trace + coil to the plug on the firewall (Red/green stripe?)
2. Then check the pink wire under the dash at the firewall.
3. Then check the wire at the connector near the ignition switch. (might be red/green stripe)
Is the wire harness under the dash melted or 'fused together'?

Maybe a vintage owner can clairify... Is the 'pink wire' the thick resistor wire? Is there a fuse on this circuit? Maybe a 7.5amp fuse?

This helped me understand...

That`s funny. Such a simple system. In a new car that it what it would look like for a trunk release curcuit.

_________________

1990 Mustang GT
http://www.ocstangs.com

It was a good Sunday in Overlea. The patient was a beautiful Bonnie Blue Convertible that would not start.



It took about 1 ½ hours of tracing wires, making continuity checks, studying the wiring diagrams and looking at work done previously by a mechanic.

Can you see the two wires cut at the connector block? The Red wires in the background were an attempt to bypass the cut wires.



We found that there was ONE missing circuit. The mechanic was SO close. We ran a jumper from the solenoid “I” terminal to the brown wire on the wiring harness block and the car now had spark.





So we made a permanent fix by wiring in a new brown lead from the solenoid to the wire harness block and then the moment of truth…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lty5D5Vn3E

Many Thanks to Dave and Rick for all the help.
2 great guys, very generous with their time.
Not to mention their knowledge and expertise .
Thanks a million
66inoverlea

... I was looking over my shop schedule and see that I can probably work you in for the underdash harness work if you are willing to leave it with me for a few days. I will take care of the lights, heater control, etc - and remove all the 'spliced-in' stuff we found as well. If you want to go that route, let me know via PM.

_________________
Rick HinkleMCOM
Facebook - Mustang Rescue
N3HIA