what are these wires ? 1972 dart 318

[moparjon]

i am trying to track down a possible grounding issue . automatic , everything is stock . the car does not have a firewall to block/head ground strap . but what is this that looks like it is attached to the trans housing ? rear almost center of the firewall , right below the coil . near the dist. . first two pics the black wire/s going to trans . this then goes to the yellow bit in the center of the next photo , with that one wire at the top then going to the starter relay . the wiring diagrams in the manual , are not helping me . anybody know ? thank you .

 

[72bluNblu]

They're the wires for the neutral safety/back up light switch in the transmission

And there should be a flat braided ground strap from the passenger side rear head bolt to the firewall.

 

[moparjon]

oh , ok , so they are not attached there in the photo . it looked like they were bolted to the trans at the top , they are just covered in crud and look that way . that then goes down along the trans then up over to the switch on the other side . ok thanks .

 

[72bluNblu]

There might be a couple of clips holding the wires in place along the route back to the switch

 

[Dana67Dart]

Not being rude, but you might want to get to a pressure washing place and do some cleaning.

Life is easier with a cleaner undercarage!

 

[413]

What year is your car.

1970 and newer mopars didn’t use a ground strap from the back of the engine to the firewall. They had the extra wire from the battery cable to the core support to supply ground to the body.

Your photo looks like a wire on the bellhousing bolt. But it’s hard to tell. Do the wires keep gong down below that bellhousing bolt?

 

[72bluNblu]

1970 and newer mopars didn’t use a ground strap from the back of the engine to the firewall. They had the extra wire from the battery cable to the core support to supply ground to the body.

Your photo looks like a wire on the bellhousing bolt. But it’s hard to tell. Do the wires keep gong down below that bellhousing bolt?

Uh, my '74 has one. Passenger side rear head to the firewall. Cute little flat braided ground cable. Looks factory to me, but, maybe someone added it a long time ago.

 

[Mattax]

Can wipe the grease off with a cloth or paper towel. Often thats quicker an deasier than starting big cleaning project.

Photos and routing of the wire to the NSS and reverse light switch in this post Daughters 72 dart not turning over

Some years there's an intermediate connector after the bulkhead for that harness.
Incredibly dumb question..Trans pig tail

 

[72bluNblu]

Heck I dunno, maybe it's not factory. Hardware looks right but the location seems kinda funky now that I look at it. I looked at the pictures of my '71's and neither have a ground strap there. My '74 does, it was a /6 car originally.

 

[67Dart273]

Body ground was ALWAYS "marginal." Look at the front of your pass side head. Those same holes are unused on the rear of the driver side. Go buy a foot--foot and half Ford style, "eye to eye" starter cable, and bolt one end to the rear of the head and the other to the firewall. The master cylinder studs are not a bad place

 

[H22A4]

Uh, my '74 has one. Passenger side rear head to the firewall. Cute little flat braided ground cable. Looks factory to me, but, maybe someone added it a long time ago.

My ‘75 has that flat braided ground cable too. I think the value of our late model A bodies just went up by $15 since we might have the only 2 with that ground cable/strap!