Check my thinking...

[j par]

So I'm trying to wrap my head around this cheap aftermarket 20 circuit wiring kit..
I have a power supply that I can use for testing wires and so forth. I'm thinking there's two real sources for power one being what looks like one that goes to the battery solenoid and one that looks like it goes to the alternator. Both of which I believe are the power sources for the fuse box... I got wires a dangling everywhere LOL.. anyways I was thinking if I hook the positive of the power supply to the positive battery or alternator and my test light to the negative of the power supply I could touch my test light to certain wires and test each circuit and also test the blinkers and mainly the ignition switch is the one that there's a little iffy. Just wanted to test things before I actually hook them up and start splicing into too many wires...
I was kind of hoping to set up my steering column and run juice through it so I can test to see if the ignition wires are working the way they should and if they're lighting up the fuse box the way it should..???..
I figured as long as I didn't use the frame or anything as a ground yet that the ground would just be the completion of my test light?...

 

[Mike69cuda]

Sounds like it would work, but weird things happen with no ground. Could you unhook the battery and put your power supply in its place?

 

[j par]

Sounds like it would work, but weird things happen with no ground. Could you unhook the battery and put your power supply in its place?

It's a power wagon ground up restoration project I'm working on and there isn't a battery or a wire in the entire truck. There's no starter there's no headlights there's no tail lights there's just this fuse box and 20,000 wires coming out of it LOL.. I have what I feel is the correct wires going to the steering column plugs and coming out of them...
Maybe a pictures worth a thousand words...

 

[j par]

Instructions are a bit iffy and definitely their colors aren't driving with some of the colors that the wires actually are...

 

[Scody21]

Run all the wires to where they go and use cheap butt connectors / jumpers as necessary and where it makes sense to get the system going. Don’t shorten any wires until you have everything sorted. This way you can test the system and make adjustments a necessary. I’d twist the runs with a drill to make whips as they bend easier, then use some sort of wrap, be it raychem, heat tube or the painless harness wrap. Mark all your lines / runs. Once your at a point in the restore finilaze your routing and make the final connections with quality connectors. I’d also leave a ‘service loop’ of 6 inches extra wire in the whips, just in case down the road. Also Dymo makes heat shrink labels, think it’s call the Rino, Super slick...

 

[j par]

I've done several American Auto wire kits and different brands of cars start to finish so I'm very familiar with the wiring systems... How to run them how to wrap them and so forth.. again they're pretty plug and Play... I've piggybacked in some Dakota digital as well but usually those wiring harnesses are prepared for that to happen...
This is a little different as I'm using my own standalone gauge system with its own sensors and my own stand alone heater with its own power and my own stand alone ac. It's wiring harness will just mainly run the ignition and lights...
Just kind of looking to see what wires control what...

 

[Mike69cuda]

Wow, that is quite a job! Sounds like you have a good plan.

 

[4spdragtop]

that's my electrical emoji

 

[6PakBee]

So what "cheap aftermarket 20 circuit wiring kit" did you get?

 

[j par]

So what "cheap aftermarket 20 circuit wiring kit" did you get?

The cheapest... China's best..lol..
It's not a brand name like American Auto wire or painless or something like that...
Like I mentioned I've installed all those and various Chevys and Fords and I'm very experienced with this kind of system. And to be honest this one isn't very far off of what I've seen of those.
The problem is is they don't make one for the particular vehicle that I'm putting mine in so it wouldn't be like when I did the 65 Chevelle and I just plugged the headlight plug into the headlight plug and plug the heater plug into the heater plug and so forth it was going to be buying a generic painless kit and splicing all the ends and making it work anyways.. this one is color coded and labeled it just doesn't have as good a diagram and the customer support that one of those kits would have but again having the experience of putting those in several times I'm feeling quite confident..
What I was asking was more of a basic continuity question than anything else
What comes to my head is that I put power to the main power lead and use my test light off the negative of my power source and it back loads the ground and electricity to the rest of the fuse box instead of just a clean isolation...
Again the question was more of a continuity question then how do I wire my truck...

 

[65wgn440]

I would say if you just want to test the continuity of circuits, I would use an ohmeter along with wiring diagram. If you actually want to power and activate circuits, like you mentioned blinkers, I don't think I would rely on the test light as your only true ground circuit, even a good low impedance unit.

 

[6PakBee]

The cheapest... China's best..lol..
It's not a brand name like American Auto wire or painless or something like that...
Like I mentioned I've installed all those and various Chevys and Fords and I'm very experienced with this kind of system. And to be honest this one isn't very far off of what I've seen of those.
The problem is is they don't make one for the particular vehicle that I'm putting mine in so it wouldn't be like when I did the 65 Chevelle and I just plugged the headlight plug into the headlight plug and plug the heater plug into the heater plug and so forth it was going to be buying a generic painless kit and splicing all the ends and making it work anyways.. this one is color coded and labeled it just doesn't have as good a diagram and the customer support that one of those kits would have but again having the experience of putting those in several times I'm feeling quite confident..
What I was asking was more of a basic continuity question than anything else
What comes to my head is that I put power to the main power lead and use my test light off the negative of my power source and it back loads the ground and electricity to the rest of the fuse box instead of just a clean isolation...
Again the question was more of a continuity question then how do I wire my truck...

Well, the thought was that if one knew exactly what you were working with one could provide a valid opinion. Just saying...

 

[j par]

I would say if you just want to test the continuity of circuits, I would use an ohmeter along with wiring diagram. If you actually want to power and activate circuits, like you mentioned blinkers, I don't think I would rely on the test light as your only true ground circuit, even a good low impedance unit.

I went ahead and put the positive of the power supply to the solenoid power which is in this wiring kit the wire that comes off the battery at the start relay..
I plugged in the ignition switch and I'm getting pretty much normal function according to the test light.
My only problem so far is the coil wire only comes on when I turn the start feature. I get accessories, the purple wire that runs the starter relay flashes on when I turn it all the way to start.. the accessories momentarily turn off..
So that all seems right it's just the coil that only comes on during the start feature and not during the normal run?..
Maybe I'm missing something in the loop here...

 

[Mike69cuda]

On cars with coil ballast resistors, usually full voltage is fed to the coil during starting, bypassing the ballast resistor. I think that is the wire you found. I be there is another one that stays on with the key in the run position.

 

[j par]

On cars with coil ballast resistors, usually full voltage is fed to the coil during starting, bypassing the ballast resistor. I think that is the wire you found. I be there is another one that stays on with the key in the run position.

I'm pretty sure you're correct and it all makes sense as when I turn it to the start position the other wires cut off so all the juice goes to the coil wire... With that said I know there's an ignition wire on the starter relay.. I think this is the wire that runs the coil when the starter coil wire is turned off...
What I don't understand is how that ignition post on the starter relay gets juice only when the ignition is in the run position?..

 

[rumblefish360]

Check my thinking...

All is good, your perfectly wacked.

 

[j par]

I'm thinking since I have so many extra wires I'll use a IGN on wire to the coil start wire...

 

[Mike69cuda]

On the ign switch there should be two wires that power the coil. On an a body it is IGN1 and IGN2. IGN1 turns on in the “run” position and powers the coil through the ballast resistor. IGN2 Turns on in the “start” position and provides juice straight to the coil.

Only one is on at a time. That is why the accessories go off, some are hooked to IGN1 which turns off in the start position.

I may have the IGN1 and IGN2 labels backwards, but that is how it works.