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unclepunchy

unclepunchy

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Hi Folks,

I am venturing down the Rabbit hole of wiring at the moment and noticed two fried wires on my bulkhead connection. One is coupled with a black wire, I think it was originally white? The other one is green.

1. Just wondering what might have caused this so I can check and hopefully fix it from happening again.
2. What are the name of those connectors in the bulkhead? Something 56?

Cheers,

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7196D6CC-76FB-4235-B319-857BB511E880.jpeg
 
unclepunchy said:
2. What are the name of those connectors in the bulkhead? Something 56?
Click to expand...
www.forabodiesonly.com

Sources for Chrysler type wire terminals

Found some on-line retailers for the 'mopar' style terminals. A couple places call them Packard 58. Need to confirm what covers. Only thing I don't like is one place claim the one covers 3 wire sizes; and the other place skips 16 AWG, and the third only carries one size? Eastern Beaver Open...
www.forabodiesonly.com www.forabodiesonly.com
 
unclepunchy said:
1. Just wondering what might have caused this so I can check and hopefully fix it from happening again.
Click to expand...
First you have to figure out the circuit.
unclepunchy said:
Oh, and the Car is a 73 Duster 340 if that matters.
Click to expand...
It matters greatly.
Knowing the model and options, we (that means you but we can help) can look up the wires and figure out the circuit.
Rear defroster, convertible, a/c are some options that will change the wiring.
If you have a decent internet connection, download the factory Plymouth (or Dodge) service manual from www.mymopar.com
Go to the back of the electrical section.

Once we know the circuits, we can look for a cause the related to the type damage observed.
It may be a short from wire insulation chafing, a poor connector, or something overloading the circuit drawing more current than designed.
 
Knowing its a '73 Duster, I can give you a little head start. If I recall correctly, '73 shop manuals are the start of the more complicated wiring diagrams. Often the circuits have to be pieced together from several pages. Splices are shown as diamons instead of solid circles.
The circuit coding remains the same.
Circuit Name, wire segment, - wire gage, color code

Since the wires of interest are very close to the multiconnector, I think I would start there.
Look closely at the connector to see if there are letters next to each cavity. In the shop manual go to the connector section and I'm pretty sure '73 has a circuit list.

let me see what crib sheets I have made for folks here in the past.
 
Look what I found. :)
Cut and pasting from another '73 wiring thread

This is the basic power distribution for a '73 Duster unless it has the fleet type alternator or rear window defrost grid.
The alternator and the battery supply power to a welded splice with feeds to the key switch, fuse block and the headlights.
1682030814011.png


Don't be fooled by the green wire from the headlight switch. It actually goes to the hi/lo switch; Then the high and low beam circuits go to the bulkhead connector.


FYI.
There's a 1974 Master Tech filmstrip and booklet about wiring diagrams. It covers the new style of diagrams introduced in 1973 and explains all of the wire codes. pdf version here: Browse MTSC by Model Year – 1974 – MyMopar
One topic not covered in that booklet is keeping track of the circuit. It might be covered in the filmstrip, I forget. It was covered in the 1960's version of the booklet. Basically it comes down to tracing or drawing just the circuit you're interested in. I think that's even more true on these later diagrams.

Complete listing of the Master Booklets and films is here:
Master Technician Service Conference - Chrysler's Training for Mechanics
Once you know the year to look under you may want to go back to the mymopar website toget them in pdf format.
 
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Taking a look at the Dodge FSM this morning compared to your photos.
It looks like the FSM is illustrating the connector from the engine compartment side.
That includes the wire identifications.
Some of these circuits will change wire color, and the battery connection will change size because the fusible link is 16 gage.
1682080487409.png

Circuit A1 is the battery connection. Fusible link on the engine side is 16 gage Dark Blue.
But on the inside, A1 is 12 gage Red. It's in position J on the diagrams and seems to match your photo.
R6 is the power feed from the alternator. It's also a 12 gage wire, and is in position P on the diagrams.
Use those and other easy to identify wires to help key the orientation.
1682081214742.png

Post some more photos and we can try to help out.


If you didn't happen to know that A1 has a fusible link at the engine side of the connector, here's how you would figure it out.
1682082191568.png

CE 2 (J) is Connector, Engine compartment, position J.
 
Hey Mattax,

I made this diagram of my exact bulkhead connector with the color codes and lettering as best I could. Hopefully this will help us figure it out?

Duster-Bulkhead.jpg
 
unclepunchy said:
Hey Mattax,

I made this diagram of my exact bulkhead connector with the color codes and lettering as best I could. Hopefully this will help us figure it out?

View attachment 1716080728
Click to expand...
That's great.
It may be that someone has modified the wiring. That's going to make the puzzle a bit more work.
Anything items you know of this Duster has for options or was modified later?
Such as
V-8, 4 speed, rear defroster or defrost grid, extra lights, after market radio, electric fans, fuel pump?
 
unclepunchy said:
Looks like there was another switch of some kind next to the rear air one. I will keep routing around in the dash.
Click to expand...
Rear air? H'm Ok new to me as well.
The gages under the dash may be another clue
 
The fact that someone added the gages under the dash which essentially replicate the gages in the rally instrument panel suggests a bunch of alterations.

Check the under dash gages to which ones are connected.
If the ammeter is connected properly, the R terminal will have a wire from the battery positive. The other terminal will have a wire from the alternator output - possible via the main splice.
1682096915444.png


We can look at Hamtramck Historical to learn the options available at the dealer.

If the car had rear defroster grid, it was supposed to get the 60 or 65 amp alternator and modified wiring. The clue will be heavy wires through a grommet in the firewall.
 
So here's what I get when comparing the circuits in the FSM to your diagram.

1682098990014.png


Some have a slightly different color combination, but not enough to consider it a priority to figure out right now.
Overall the wiring on your car seems to match the diagram. So lets go through the ones that are trouble.

Position B: B1-18 Bk. B is Back Up lamp circuit. (from page 6 of the Master Tech booklet, 324.pdf) Big clue!

Position E: V3-Br. V is Wiper and washer circuits. Being in a different cavity may simply be due to a 2 speed rather than a 3 speed wiper or something like that.

Position L: S2-18Y. S is Starter circuit. More precisely this is the wire from the start position on the key switch to the starter relay. Someone has replaced this. Hopefully they just used a heavy wire because it was handy. However they may have converted to a off starter solenoid which the key switch can not handle.

Position 6: D6-18BK/LGN*. D circuit covers emergency stop lamp and turn signal circuits. We'll have to figure out specifically what D6 does.

Positions W & Z: Your car did not come with A/C so that's probably why the C2 and C5 wires are missing.
 
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Mattax said:
Position B: B1-18 Bk B is Back Up lamp circuit. (from page 6 of the Master Tech booklet, 324.pdf) Big clue!
Click to expand...
Lucky for you we've been to the rodeo before.

On the interior, the terminal serves as a junction for D1 to B1.
1682103373744.png


B1 on the interior is White!
D1 is the black wire to the turn signal flasher unit
1682100617910.png


This gets confusing to follow and so is worth redrawing - at least for me.
1682102967939.png


It would be worth looking at the thread linked at the beginning of this post to see the connections and at least in his case, the short to ground.
The multimeter readings showed where to look. it took another page or so before he looked there. Last page has the photos.
www.forabodiesonly.com

Turn signals not working, blowing fuse

Don't concentrate on the turn signals!!! Find out what all is on that fuse, someone posted a chart earlier......... Radio Back up lights Dash mounted reverse indicator (if used) Stop lamps Turn signals. 1...Pull the flasher 2...Remove left kick panel and separate the connector to the rear...
www.forabodiesonly.com www.forabodiesonly.com
 
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D6 comes from the turn signal switch and goes to the left front turn signal lamps.
And the wire is green on the interior, green with trace in the engine bay.
1682101504658.png


Here's a start on redrawing those to better see the relationships.
1682104238689.png
 
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Oh man, this is super helpful - I will go over it in detail after work. Thanks so much.

FYI: I just pulled out about ten miles of crap wire from those gauges - the last guy had wired everything with low gauge wire when it should have been 12 gauge and 14 gauge in some cases. I disco'ed all of it. The back of the ammeter wire was melted -no suprise. I am just going to run all the factory gauges in the dash and add an RPM and Oil pressure for now.

20230421_114611.jpg
 
Oh ya, and if you haven't lost faith in humanity yet...

Instead of drilling a hole in the firewall and a rubber grommet, the last guy just blew a giant hole through it with a welding torch, jagged metal and slag everywhere.
 
unclepunchy said:
Oh man, this is super helpful - I will go over it in detail after work. Thanks so much.

FYI: I just pulled out about ten miles of crap wire from those gauges - the last guy had wired everything with low gauge wire when it should have been 12 gauge and 14 gauge in some cases. I disco'ed all of it. The back of the ammeter wire was melted -no suprise. I am just going to run all the factory gauges in the dash and add an RPM and Oil pressure for now.

View attachment 1716080775
Click to expand...
Oh Boy!

Yes. That should be 12 gage and a good crimp. Seeing your location, 12 AWG or even 10 AWG Marine wire if you can crimp it will be less prone to oxidation from the salt air.

The ammeters on the rally instrument panel seems to have been generally problem free, but any of them can get abused.

Since your car already has a hole in the firewall, if your not doing a full resto, then consider a making your own version of the factory heavy duty wiring. Also with a '73, you may find an connector in the engine compartment that can be eliminated. Apparently it was added to ease production, but is another point of resistance and vulnerbility to the alternator output and the ignition circuit.
 
This is based on one of the B-body versions of the heavy duty alternator wiring, and its pretty simple.
1682114285980.png


The terminal junction isn't neccessary, but does make a nice location to tap power for headlight relays and/or an MSD ignition.
Iff there are no high draw accessories (such as a defroster grid) I'd probably go with 10 and 12 gage wire rather than 8 and 10. Much easier to make good connections, less chance of problems with support and room.
 
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This type of rear air is a defogger fan motor found below the rear shelf under the back glass. The hole next to the rear air switch is for a map light switch.
 
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