26 replies to this topic

[Dan]

Err, as you say it's a bad photo but there looks like there's a lot wrong there. The wire you are hooking to the carb and which is causing the trouble, is that the thick white one on the left? It looks like it loops around and is connected to the brown/yellow at the bottom. Please say it isn't. If it is it would go some way to explaining things but it would be very bad news.

Is that a yellow/white crimped to the white/black? What terminals are the what on the coil in the photo? What is connected under the thick white with the red terminal?

[Cerberus]

On a car of this age, with that ignition system, shouldn't it only have 3 wires going to the coil? Especially as there's no 'interference thing' (forgot the proper name for it).

One wire coming from ballast resistor to pos.
Cold start wire coming to pos.
Sense wire from dizzy to neg.

Although, it sounds as though the engine works, so can't be that bad,

[studavis]

Ok, folks, a quick update (haven't forgotten about this thread!) and apologies for the wait.

I've taken another more clear pic and also a bit of a wiring diagram with wire colours (as best I could!). I'd be really grateful for any responses on these and if you have any questions please ask.







I'm currently running it with the Yellow / Brown (extended with white and the red connector) unattached - this removes the oil light from the dash and the car still starts.
Thanks!

[lrostoke]

I'm getting confused by the wiring on this, what year is it ??

The dizzy looks to be non electronic so unless converted should just have one wire coming out of it which plugs into a white/black wire coming out of the loom

The wires on the coil look odd. The negative looks fine, 2 white/blacks one should go to the loom and then to the dizzy, the other will be the tacho wire

The positive is odd the white/yellow should be a ballast byepass, the other joined to it I would think should be be pink/white, but looks more white/brown ?? could just be faded.

No idea what that thick white is doing, unless the coil is non ballast and they left the original wiring in place (white/yellow, pink/white)

Oil send should be white/brown

[Dan]

What is plugged in to the back of your alternator? The brown/yellow should be the alternator warning connection. By connecting it to the ignition live at the coil, you will stop the ignition lamp from working but the oil lamp should still work fine. The alternator will be fried though because it needs to sense battery voltage through that wire to work. Having said that, in the latest photo it looks like the white is connected to a white/brown rather than a brown/yellow. White/brown is the oil warning connection.

You need to be sure about the colours you are describing, the codes are all very specific. White/black is very different from black/white for example. The first colour is the body colour and the second is the tracer, the thin stripe.

Where is this car?

[Dan]

I'm guessing this car is from around '82 to '84, is that right? It seems that it has a secondary ballast loom. The plain white you have connected to the oil switch would then be the unused non-ballasted ignition feed.

[lrostoke]

It's all very confusing :) the photo shows white/black coming off the coil negative, but his diagram calls it yellow/black.

Are you colour blind ??? No serious question not taking piss, would explain differences to what is visible.

[studavis]

Yes its an 84, but the engine is a 91 if that matters. And to be honest, it could well be black and white, just massively faded, but it definitely looks brown to me (though the white is almost a yellow too!).

@Dan - so is the oil lead connected correctly? To be honest, because it starts and the battery maintains charge I'm not too fussed whether the 'new' white is connected or not - what I am concerned about though would be the low oil pressure switch not working, much more expensive to replace a shot engine!

[lrostoke]

If its 1984 then its a ballasted ignition system.
1st check your coil, any numbers on it, need to know if its still as original a ballast coil, or been converted to 12v.

If its still original then the positive of the coil should only have 2 wires going to it, white/yellow and white/pink, mines a 1984 and those wires share a spade connector which looks like yours does.

That thick wire with the new spade connector looks wrong, is it connected to a white/brown ...If so that wire should be your oil sender wire.

[Dan]

I think very little there is connected properly. If you can't tell what colour is what due to their age and condition, and giving them all a good clean doesn't help, you should get it to someone who is more experienced. It's almost certain your oil lamp is not connected properly, and fairly likely your alternator isn't either and will become damaged. Where is the car?

[lrostoke]

If he winds back the insulation a bit on the loom, he should be able to see the wire colours better, good chance less faded under the insulation.

[studavis]

Hi folks. Hmmm, it seems that it may be the case that somebody with a bit more knowledge than myself needs to take a look at the wiring. I'll have one last look to see if I can identify the colours and to take a closer look at the coil for any features.

I'm near Wolverhampton in the West Midlands by the way.