It's me against the wire cutting DPO and the Prince of Darkness, but I will
prevail.
Some of you may recall I asked about some wiring questions for my newly
acquired 73 MGB the other day. Well I think I have replaced all the burned
and cut wires in the engine bay so last night I decided to bypass the
seatbelt system to see if the engine will turn over without all the smoke.
I removed the center console and found the DPO had been there with his
trusty wire cutters as well. I should have known all wouldn't be well under
the dash by the voltage stabilizer hanging down with the original connectors
cut off and extra 12 inch wires on it so it would almost rest on the floor.
Most of the wires behind the console had been cut as well, some taped up
some just left. I traced and repaired most of them and then jumpered the
red/white to the yellow/pink so now the engine turns over without worrying
about the seat belt (or as one person has on their web site "the bum
detector") circuit. I then looked under the dash by the steering wheel.
Another mess. I did repair a couple wires that had been cut are stripped to
add a second wire to.
Now the moment of truth, will it turn over with out smoke? YES!!!!! Start,
not yet, still no fuel pump clicks. I turned on the lights and there was
light, outside the car anyway. The headlights and tail lights came on,
without smoke thank you. No dash lights and no gauges, but at least I'm
making progress. I looked at the Haynes manual to see how to test the
voltage stabilizer and it says it must be mounted and level. I guess that's
a pretty good reason it doesn't appear to be working while laying crookedly
on the floor. Didn't feel like tackling behind the dash much last night so
I just crawled under to check the fuel pump quickly. Yup, two wires going
too it, no melted insulation, so far so good. The white wire is connected,
but not the black, it' s just hanging. Well I'll just hook it up and see
what happens. WRONG. The negative terminal on the fuel pump is missing.
Oh well, that's another night's problem. It was time for a wee dram of
scotch, I felt I deserved it.
The quest to restore power to my car will continue, I will succeed.
Anyone tell me how to check the voltage stabilizer? Tracing the circuit on
the Bently schematic, it appears both the gauges and the dash lights run off
the stabilizer. However, the Haynes schematic has the dash lights coming
off a different circuit and not related to the voltage stabilizer.
After I get the electric's working I need to spin the engine over to do a
compression test and see what condition it really is in.
To be continued,
Ken Waringa
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