Matt,
That large white wire with a red stripe is the main power wire on the
alternator side of the ammeter. The ammeter is between the battery and
that wire. All the electric loads, as well as the charging circuit are
on that wire. My guess is that you have an intermittent connection at
the ammeter. If the ammeter opens up the battery is disconnected from
the rest of the car. If the engine is running the alternator output can
be higher than normal and the ammeter will sit at zero. When you messed
with the wire you probably disturbed the connection on the ammeter,
which allowed it to make connection again, allowing you to start the car.
It may also be that the splice you found is intermittent. I can't say
for sure if that would cause the problem you had, not knowing exactly
where in the wiring it is located.
Peace,
Pat
Matthew A. Smith wrote:
>I know, I know. All these lovely lil cars have "odd" electrical issues. This
>one stumped me for a little while. Stuck at work in the parking garage after
>most everyone else had left. No cash to take the bus home. (of course,
>Loreli gets it all!)
>
>
>
>Driving to work yesterday, just the light side of dawn. I had my headlights
>on as I always do when the car's on the road. Noticed my headlights were
>EXTREMELY bright. Couple bumps later, they seemed to normalize. When I
>parked at work I found that my driver side headlight was off. Shut the car
>down and went to work.
>
>
>
>Came back out and the car was dead. Fuses ok, battery had spark. Began
>playin with stuff cuz I'm no electrical genius. I traced all wires I could
>find and didn't find any glaringly burned up wires. (There's a surprisingly
>large number of wires that don't go anywhere. I'd love to find out where
>these are SUPPOSED to go). Then I climbed into that incredibly small area
>between the floor and the steering wheel. Pulled the plug from the back of
>the ignition and pushed it back in a few times. Still no go.
>
>
>
>I then found a splice in a large guage red and white wire that came from
>approx the ignition and headed thru the firewall. Lost it at this point.
>That splice dropped a bunch of green junk onto my face. YUCK. Oddly, I
>reached up and turned the key. Silly girl fired right up..
>
>
>
>Anyone know how that white and red wire, the headlights, and my being stuck
>at work are related??
>
>
>
>ONE MORE! I bought some of those bright 'a**' white headlights from ebay
>yesterday. The ones with the glow thingies around the bulb. Anyone have
>anything good or bad to say about those? They should be here tomorrow.
>Should I go get another 7" Hella bulb and leave those in the closet?
>
>
>
>See Y'all at MITTY!!!!
>
>
>
>Matt Smith
>
>And LORELI (70' 2000 Solex)
>
>
-- Support Habitat for Humanity - a hand UP, not a hand OUT --
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