I'm not buying a new wiring harness for my 65 Valiant 170. I took out the engine/forward light harness today. There is not much to this thing at all. The only problem I see is the previous owner has may have rigged up what looks like a fusible link coming straight off the firewall plugin. The C connection firewall side they have a large gauge red wire connected to the black wire from the C cavity using a butt connector. And it goes straight to the middle terminal on the starter relay. Instead there should be that black wire going straight to the starter relay and a fusible link wire going from the firewall to the stud on the starter relay. I see the back of the Ammeter on my gauges was melted. So there must have been a problem, but I want to make it work now. I'm not familiar with how the fusible link should be wired in on this 65. According to the wiring diagram it looks as if a black wire plugs into the red wire going to the ammeter gauge. But what is a fusible link. Is it just a larger gauge wire than the red ammeter wire? I know I can make this work, there's not but a few wires here and that's the only one that needs to be corrected. Oh yeah I want clean each wire so I can tell the colors better and rewrap them all. What's the best thing to clean the wires with to be able to see the color again?
Fixing the fusible link from the Ammeter gauge?
- Thread starter wh23g3g
- Start date
-
The main feeder wire that from your battery, (ie....post on your starter relay), that powers most of the cars circuits, uses a wire that acts like a fuse to prevent a serious meltdown. This is usually a short piece of 16 gauge wire that will melt in two before any serious damage can be done. Circuits that recieve power from this main fuseable feed, are also individually fused. Your amp meter is tied in with this to show current flow. Hope this helps with your problem. I've eliminated my ampmeter, and will use a voltmeter to monitor system status. This is a better way to go. Good Luck
swinger 367
A-body addict
the previous owner may have done something like what was discussed in this thread; http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=46036
i did this in the warlock, works great, will be doing this to the dart later this year.
i did this in the warlock, works great, will be doing this to the dart later this year.
That diagram is a little easier to understand. This Valiant I have will never be a show car nor is intended to. It was a free car given to me. It's just bare bones 4 door. I'm just trying to get everything back the way it should be so I can drive it reliabily. There's not much at all under the dash or under the hood. Getting everything back the way it should it should be pretty reliable. What parts would I have to purchase in order to replicate the OEM hook up of the ammeter? Do I need to buy any of those fusible links from Year One? My harness doesn't appear to be missing any of the wires just maybe the connector ends. So I don't know what ends I need. I just want to run the factory ammeter gauge.
73dust340
Well-Known Member
A little reading will reveal that these ammeters will be detrimental to the reliability of your car. I'm not sure what you need to reconnect yours, but I know that because the factory layout has all electrial current passing through it, they tend to catch fire. I would highly recommend just bypassing the thing and get a voltmeter as others have said. Wouldn't want to see your Valiant in ashes.
I do want to keep it original eventhough it will never be show car under my ownership. There's nothing on here. It's just a neat little knockaround car to drive around town in once it's throughouly checked out. No A/C only radio once I figure out how to hook it up. I'm going to try and find a NOS ammeter to use. I now see the red wire and black wire lugs going to the ammeter. I believe I see how it now transfers through the firewall. There is two bulkhead connectors that connect to the firewall, one for the engine and one for the lights. But in the middle of the bulkhead connectors there are two blade connectors. One is black to the ammeter and the other is red for the fusible link. I see the black connector is still intact on mine but the spot for the red wire is blank and I notice a random medium gauge red wire that would pass through there with a connector missing. So all I would have to do is put a new blade connector on there and stick through the firewall connector and get a fusible link wire connector to it going to the stud on the starter relay. I remember on one of the firewall connectors it had a separte black wire coming out the back to plug into the middle blade connector on the firewall. I'm assuming it was on the engine harness and not the lighting. I can't remember. Where should I get the new fusible link wire from? Should I get one from Year One? I think they only have the 66+ type. Or should I make a better one with parts from the parts store with a fuse in it?
The fuseable link is different from a fused circuit. The fuseable link is like a slow blow fuse. If you accidently short something out, you will not blow the fuseable link immediately. A regular fused circuit will blow instantaniously when shorted. Either will work, depending on what your willing to put up with.
I'll be satisfied with whatever the factory had on there. I just need to get everything back that way. I took out all the harnesses to check for damaged wires and that's all I saw. So I want to add a factory fusible link system back. I've found an NOS ammeter gauge that will replace my old one. Everything worked but the ammeter gauge. So I just want to make sure I get it working now and I have start by making sure the wiring is ok. I'm one of those who wants to make sure everything at least works how it was intended to regardless of how insignificant it is. Everyone told me not to worry about the seat belt buzzer on my 73 Charger but I had to make sure it worked too. I just like everything the way it should have been.
I looked at the Year One website and they only offer the correct fusible link starting in 1967 for the Valiant. Would this hook up correctly? I know sometimes they have the year range off. Secondly I need to know what type of end to put on the red wire that goes through the bulkhead firewall connector. That's where the black fusible link would plug in outside the firewall and onto the starter relay stud. But I see the end on the black wire that goes through the firewall bulkhead connector is a male end. Is the red wire suppose to be a male or female end? It looks like the fusible link connector is male but since it says it starts for year 67 I don't know if it's different. Does anyone have an OEM part number for the fusible link? Maybe someone still has some available if the one at Year one won't work.
-
