Help ID this Napa Echlin...thing.

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beezel

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I'm poking around my botch-job of a wiring harness, and can't seem to figure out exactly what this is.

Voltage regulator? It's near the alternator, at the end of that 'harness.'

This is from a 68 'Cuda, if that helps at all. Guys at the shop didn't quite know what it was.
 

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Nothing # wise on it at all. Just the worn "NAPA Echlin" on the top, that big-ish mounting hole, and the 4 wires coming out of it.
 
What is it hooked to? Almost looks like it's hooked to your temp sender? What's "appears to be" a loose connector laying on top of the timing cover?

It certainly is not factory

Can you find your voltage regulator?
 
It goes into my inherited "bad *** electrical tape wiring harness," and yes, that same harness has my temp gauge sensor coming out of it as well as going to the alternator. The "loose" fitting is the factory temp gauge wire, which has been bypassed as the gauge is bad. It lays there sadly and mocks me.

The entire thing is wrapped in electrical tape all the way back to the firewall, making it very hard to figure out. I was hoping someone would recognize it. I'm slightly nervous about just botching it off. I should probably shove my multimeter in there and see if there is any voltage, but I really dont want to **** anything up.

I'm not sure what my voltage regulator should look like. Could you try to describe or something? This is my first piece of old iron, and I'm still learning.
 
Large guage wires mean loads of juice. Perhaps a alternator splitter for a dual alt setup?? Voltage reg is a pack of smokes size box mounted hard to metal to provide a ground to the alternator to regulate the output. It has a triangle connector and 2 lugs in that triangle, usually there are blue wires going in and out but that may be year specific.
 
Looks like an old style 30 amp relay.Does it have electric fans as it looks like its tied to the temp sending unit in the pic.
 
Your regulator "depends"

There ARE some aftermarket ones and that thing "could" be a regulator.

Some of the Powermaster ones use a alternator rear mounted solid state regulator that is nothing like original

If you have the original '68 setup it might look like this: (or same except very short in height if solid state replacement)



a20792a12d51fd50f34907_m.JPG


or this

VR128_FULL.jpg


or if you or someone has converted to the 70/ later system, would look like this:

a20792a12d51fa8d2bfe25_m.JPG
 
i think you are on to something right there

It didn't go on that car originally.
Somebody pulled that out of wrecking yard to run fans with I bet.
If the red wire out of it goes to the temp sender.

Either way it looks like a relay. (3 wires)
 
Looks like an old style 30 amp relay.Does it have electric fans as it looks like its tied to the temp sending unit in the pic.

That's why I asked, and whut I 'us thinkin'
 
Fan is old-school on the motor style. As far as I know the last motor also did not utilize electric fans.

I did some tearing/tracing and found that the red wire went to a spade onto the Alternator, but has been taped away. The Green and one Yellow go to some clips that were buried in more tape near my carb. There isn't any slack, so whatever they plugged into was there. The 2nd Yellow I can't find. No idea where that went.

It doesn't appear to be connected in any way to my temp sensor, other than the sweet tape job someone did.

I guess since 3/4 of the wires aren't connected, and the 4th doesn't show any voltage, it means nothing? Another oddity to add to the board, I guess.
 

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It's not a relay. It appears to be a thermal sensor-switch for the heater in an aftermarket electric choke. You'll see one much like it here, but with only one wire. That one wire goes to the choke heater. The big copper mount is also a ground path; as it warms up, the thermal sensor-switch gradually decreases the resistance in the choke heater's ground leg so the heater warms up progressively more and more to relax the choke spring tension and allow the choke plate to open. The simple one-wire variety senses engine temperature via the big copper grounding strap. You mount in a location that heats up at the right pace and to the right degree to operate the choke correctly. Usually this is on or near the manifold.

Yours has more wires and appears to be more intricate than the linked one. Does one of the wires go to the engine coolant temp sender, or does it just look that way because of the angle of the photo?

It also does not appear to be hooked up any more; looks disconnected and abandoned.

I do see an electric choke on your (nonstock) carburetor. Can't see for sure, but it looks as if one of its two terminals has a wire, but the other might not. Without a thermal sensor-switch (either built in or external), an electric choke of this type will not behave properly.
 
Thanks Dan, I think you nailed it. Placement of the wires matches up.

As for my current setup, it does have wires to each terminal and was setup by a pro on a dyno for proper AF ratios. I just got the motor and wanted it done correct. Tunedbypsi.com actually did the work and might even have my dyno run video up by now.
 
Nice call LT.Dan
Mamma always told me that I was no different from anybody else.
Obviously my Mamma never met you. :)
 
Dang, I thought it was a flux capacitor! lol
tmm
 
I was going to say an old A-body — the older the better — would be perfect as a time machine, because then you wouldn't have to hide the too-new car when you went to the past, just figure out how to deal with licence plates and such. But that's wrong; a C-body or a pickup or van would be better because then you could haul parts and tow cars back to the future.
 
You are funny Dan.. Using a C body to tow cars back to the future.. Heheh. Friggin 73 New yorker shows up out a cloud of lightening and hooks up to a hemi dart and tows it off into a vortex.
.
 
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