electrical problems after engine swap

[jaguar68]

Hi chaps,

I've recently performed the engine and gearbox swap on my '69 4 door Saloon, but am now experiencing a couple of electrical problems.

Firstly the horn works when it feels like it. The horn itself is in pretty poor condition, major corrosion throughout and with the spade terminals in very poor condition. The problem is compounded by the horn push. I moved the steering colum so I could gain access to remove the glove box, however, the horn push is not a secure fit in the steering wheel, and has, on occassion, fired itself into my lap whilst driving. Is the combination of the severely corroded horn and a potentially worn horn push likely to give this type of problem?

Also, the indicator light for the main beam warning doesn't seem to work. The dipswitch in the floor seems to be working ok, but the telltail light doesn't illuminate. The under dash switch for the speedo illumination requires replacement as it has stopped working too.

Any suggestions?

Regards

John

[andy.pointeer]

I had a similar problem with my horn push and this was due to it missing the clips, these are available from ESM HRN105C, others suppliers may also have similar clips. The clips are only 25p +vat each, so you may want to wait until you get a larger order as postage will increase the costs by about £3

[chickenjohn]

If you removed the bonnet when winching the engine in and out you have have disturbed some of the connectors behind the dash that go to the speedo when you removed the glove boxes if you undid the bonnet hinges?

[mogbob]

John
Did you replace/ re-attach the earth strap from the gearbox to the body work when you did the swap ?

Whilst the internals of the horn are probably marginally OK ( i.e. they work sometimes ) would a clean up, with a small brass wire brush ( the type for cleaning suede shoes ) and or emery paper on the lucar spades improve the electrical contact ?
Have you made any attempt to clean up the horn push electrically.Is the wire from the horn sound...no breaks in the insulation ?
The push fitting is unlikely to be worn..very rare if it is, might have been swapped at sometime in it's life though.Can
you " wobble " it, when pushed fully home.A bit of PTFE tape might take up some slack.

Warning lights.... bulbs gone ?, check them first.Connections at the dip switch pushed firmly home and not dirty ? With ignition on, are you getting 12 volts supply on your multimeter on the wires feeding the bulbs ?
Bob

[jaguar68]

The horn doesn't work everytime you push the button, it either makes a half hearted parp, nothing at all or sounds without pushing the button. The horn push has both of the toothed clips, but doesn't seem to grip the boss inside the steering wheel, hence it firing itself into my lap occassionally. It may be worth getting some new clips as suggested to see if this improved the horn push location. The spade terminals on the horn are very fragile and wouldn't respond to cleaning i fear, one of the earth spades has already broken off and iths counterpart is not too far away either. Guess the best option here is repai by replacement.

The bonnet was removed when changing the engine, but the hinges were removed from the engine bay side. However, the wiring probably has been a little pummeled as i had to change the choke cable for a locking one to suit the HIF 44 carburettor.

The earth strap was relocated from the gearbox to run from a bolt on the side of the Ital engine to one of the engine tower mounting bolts. I will check again that everything is making good earth contact.

I'll go through the wiring and make sure that all of the connectors are making good contact and will report back.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Regards

John

[beero]

The main beam tell tale wire is a blue/white that runs back from a double bullet connector down by the offside headlight so assuming the main beams work it could be loose here.
Does the horn work reliably if you earth the purple black side of the horn? If it doesn't it is the horn at fault. If it does it is the horn push end of things is at fault.

[bmcecosse]

The main beam bulb has likely been pulled out of the speedo. Why did you take the bonnet off? It just folds back....saves a LOT of unnecessary work.

[jaguar68]

Roy, taking the bonnet off wasn't my idea. It has caused a lot more problems than I would have liked, but not the electrical ones.

The horn has parped its last, the last badly corroded earth tag has snapped off. I have a replacement on its way, but I fear that this won't cure the problem.

I was mistaken, the mainbeam light seems to be on all the time when the ignition is turned to the first position with the light switch in all positions and the dip switch operated on dip or main beam. It goes out when the ignition is switched on, and doesn't light in any of the headligh/dip switch positions.

I fear I may have a bad earth somewhere, but who knows where. The main earth was relocated from the gearbox to a bolt on the side of the engine and one of the engine mounting towers. The wiring loom is pretty ropey, the cloth insulation is pretty rotten, although the wire seems to be ok.

Electrical problems aren't my strong point, so any help and advice is gratefully welcome.

Regards

John

[beero]

Has the speedo or wiring behind the dash been disturbed? Sounds like the ignition light bulb has been poked into the main beam socket on the back of the speedo.

[jaguar68]

The wiring wasn't disturbed, no wires were detached when changing the speedo cable or choke cable. At worst, the wiring was moved by my fiddling about behind the dashboard. None of the lights were removed, so that isn't the problem. With hindsight it would have been easier to have removed the speedo. I did unbolt the top clamp of the steering column to the dashboard to aid the removal of the glovebox inner, in the process the black wire which runs down the column to the horn wiring became detached. When the engine was started I didn't notice the main beam light being on or off at the time. However, the horn sounded on its own after a minute or two and was disconnected. Whilst fiddling about behind the dash, i moved the under dash switch which controls the speedo illumination, in the process the switch plate became datatched fron the body and the contact slider was lost. I'm awaiting a replacement, along with the horn. Somewhere there is a current drain, as the battery was drained over a couple of hours and wouldn't turn the engine over yesterday evening.

Regards

John

[bmcecosse]

The lights fall out the speedo only too easily...... In Ecosseland we would describe your tale of woe as needing a sprig of 'Lucky White Heather'

[jaguar68]

Roy, thanks. I think I could do with some lucky white heather. Now the oil pressure warning light is playing up, there's no voltage to the horn when checked using a multimeter, the sump plug is weeping AND the top heater outlet has a hairline crack!!! Think I need an auto electrician.

[bmcecosse]

Check fuse for horn - the lilac wires, and what's wrong with the oil pressure light ?

[jaguar68]

The oil pressure light now isn't illuminating. I had a look at the fuse box earlier, the fuses seem ok althought the end caps on the fuses are quite corroded. I'll order some more next time I order some bits.

Regards

John

[bmcecosse]

Have a look in the back of the speedo -seems like some of your problems are there with lamps pulled out or in the incorrect holes...... No need to 'order' fuses - get them locally! But there should be two spares on the fusebox anyway. The contacts must be clean.....

[jaguar68]

I think I've managed to sort out the majority of the electrical problems. I took the speedo out of the dash this morning, with a view to temporarily replacing it with the spare 1280 tpm speedo I had lying about. Turns out this speedo is knackered, as the mounting brackets have been snapped off from both sides of the speedo and the square drive is broken and won't allow the cable to be located. Whilst the speedo was out I took the opportunity of making sure all of the bullet connectors were tight, a couple were a little loose, although not completely disconnected. This seems to have cured the warning lights not illuminating/illuminating at random times.

I still haven't been able to replace the under dash speedo illumination switch or the horn yet as they haven't turned up .

I have noticed that the fuel gauge seems to be slow in returning to empty when switching the ignition off. This could, however, be more of the fact that I've been concentrating on other issues and have not noticed before.

Regards

John

[chesney]

If the lugs are broken off one speedo, the 'back' (or casing) can be swapped over from the other speedo. Not sure about the cable drive though..