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Electrical wierdness
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Author:  MTSeve [ Mon Mar 08, 2004 5:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Electrical wierdness
75 Dart Sport Coupe
Last summer I took the dash out to test the IVR as the fuel and temp gauges had not worked since I got the car. A shop had supposedly replaced the IVR just before I got the car, but the gauges still were not working. I cleaned the contacts and got things to work normally (with the exception that the fuel gauge never read above 3/4 when the tank was full) until winter hit and suddenly the gauges quit working again...Then, when it warms up outside-like today-the fuel & temp gauge work, but the oil light comes on as well :shock: This has happened three times in the last couple months. Oil is still getting to the rockers, so I don't think it has to do with the oil pressure, but some kind of short in the instrument panel. Anyone know of a particular trouble spot to check first?

Another, probably unrelated problem is when it gets cold out, the low idle sometimes drops way down, causing the lights to dim significantly, and even causes stalling. This happens when the fast idle cam first comes off, until the car is fully warmed up--that is after say 10 minutes of driving. I'm thinking this is choke-related, but wondering if something in the electrical system could also cause this? Its got a 1 year old battery, new alternator, and new coil. Could the ballast resistor be on its way?

Thanks in advance for your input...I've got a few days before I can tear into things, but it is my daily driver, so I need to take an organized approach and get it back together with minimal downtime :P MTSteve
Author:  ShivaDart [ Mon Mar 08, 2004 6:11 pm ]
Post subject: 
Not sure if a ballast resistor can go bad(it's the white thing near the electronic ignition or washer resevior, correct). Looked into get a new one of those and all the one they had were at least partially cracked. As for the other problems I can say I have most the same one except my fuel gauage works but my water temps broke.

As for the idling problem, I have that same problem as well, if it's choke related, which I think it is, then it's not set well. Now, I'm guessing you got a 1 barrel and from what I've heard it's hard to get just right, I've sort of given up on trying personally. If it turns out to be electrical(other people on this form would know better than me), I'd be very interested in hearing it as well.
Author:  Chrycoman [ Tue Mar 09, 2004 12:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Electrical wierdness
Quote:
75 Dart Sport Coupe
Last summer I took the dash out to test the IVR as the fuel and temp gauges had not worked since I got the car. A shop had supposedly replaced the IVR just before I got the car, but the gauges still were not working. I cleaned the contacts and got things to work normally (with the exception that the fuel gauge never read above 3/4 when the tank was full) until winter hit and suddenly the gauges quit working again...Then, when it warms up outside-like today-the fuel & temp gauge work, but the oil light comes on as well :shock: This has happened three times in the last couple months. Oil is still getting to the rockers, so I don't think it has to do with the oil pressure, but some kind of short in the instrument panel. Anyone know of a particular trouble spot to check first?

Another, probably unrelated problem is when it gets cold out, the low idle sometimes drops way down, causing the lights to dim significantly, and even causes stalling. This happens when the fast idle cam first comes off, until the car is fully warmed up--that is after say 10 minutes of driving. I'm thinking this is choke-related, but wondering if something in the electrical system could also cause this? Its got a 1 year old battery, new alternator, and new coil. Could the ballast resistor be on its way?

Thanks in advance for your input...I've got a few days before I can tear into things, but it is my daily driver, so I need to take an organized approach and get it back together with minimal downtime :P MTSteve

I doubt the oil light problem is connected with the gauge problem, unless you have something lying across the circuit board joining the three together.

As for the lights dimming and the engnine stalling, check your idle. Sounds as if you have it set too low. It has nothing to do with your charging system - your engine is not turning enough rpms. Also, it has nothing to do with your ballast resister. When they go you car will not idle - period.
Author:  Pete Dumbleton [ Wed Mar 10, 2004 1:21 pm ]
Post subject: 
Don't forget that on a lot of designs there are two connectors on the oil pressure light sender; one is for the light and the other is part of the choke pulloff heater arrangement which sometimes cooks wires... Check your wiring diagram.
Author:  ShivaDart [ Wed Mar 10, 2004 4:39 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
As for the lights dimming and the engnine stalling, check your idle. Sounds as if you have it set too low. It has nothing to do with your charging system - your engine is not turning enough rpms.
I'm not saying your not right, but the quality of charging can effect idle(not common). This is one of the reasons I took an alarm system out of my car, it wasn't installed well so it was taking a lot out of the charger. On top of this the wire from the alt. giving juice was in bad condition. These things combined made it so that during cold weather my lights were almost non-existant and it was hard to see my dash. Case and point, if your electrical system is in unusually bad condition light fade can be attributed to bad charging, but this would likely be cause by poor condition of the wires. So, check to see if like my charging wire from the alt you have one that's been splice in three spots and corroding :D . By fixing some minor problems I've made my car run much better and I can see more than two feet in front of me in the dark now 8)
Author:  MTSteve [ Wed Mar 10, 2004 6:12 pm ]
Post subject: 
Thanks for the input. I do have the 1920 1 banger holley, and I noticed today that the car ran just a little bit rough on the way to work (colder, so the fuel/temp gauges and oil pressure light were off) than it did on the way home for lunch, when it was warmer and the gauges & OP light were on. The strangest thing is that this seems to be an all-or-nothing situation, not intermittent: if the gauges and light come on when I start the car, they stay on till I shut it off. If they are off to begin with, they'll stay off. Granted I haven't driven the car all day recently to see if the stuff will eventually come on while driving, but it doesn't seem like a typical short, as there is no flickering on and off. Outside temperature at the time I start her up seems to be the only common factor I can find. I'll have to check the wiring diagram as I think Pete may have nailed it, but I'm also curious about thermal interaction with corrosion...although most of my wiring appears to be in good shape.
Author:  ShivaDart [ Thu Mar 11, 2004 8:56 pm ]
Post subject: 
I've noticed a similar phenomena with my left dash turn signal light, it only works in cold weather. Electrical things can be odd creatures at times... and I question if the hours it would involve to figure out why that left dash light works that way would really be worth it.
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