More Wiring Issues (I think)

Ikestaa · #1 (**permalink**) 05-24-2003, 08:22 PM

Bob and anyone that can help,
We started her up for the first time, but everything did not go exactly as planned. It fires, but as soon as you let off the starter, the car dies. My dad tried holding the starter on longer after it had fired, and it stayed running as long as the starter was on, but as soon as he let it off it died. Does anyone have any idea as to what the problem could be? We haven't done any troubleshooting, because it was getting late, so it could be something simple we haven't found. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated.

ac289cobra · #2 (**permalink**) 05-24-2003, 08:31 PM

make sure you have power at the coil when key is in the ignition position.

Rick Parker · #3 (**permalink**) 05-24-2003, 08:41 PM

Check the wiring from the ignition box to the back of the ignition switch. It sounds like the box is getting current only when the key is in the start position. Check the connection, the wire from the ignition box (MSD??) should connect to a switched terminal that is hot when in the "Run" position. With an ohm meter or trouble light check to be sure the terminal is hot in both the "Start & Run " positions and is "dead" when the key is in the "Off" position. This is an easy one to overlook.

Rick

Bob Putnam · #4 (**permalink**) 05-25-2003, 04:23 AM

Ike,

If you're using my MSD wiring recommendations, are you connecting the yellow and white ballast connections (#43) together?

If you're not using an electronic ignition, check the yellow #43 with the ignition on. It should be live. If it isn't, I'd check the IGN terminal on the ignition switch first, then the block connection between the front and dash harnesses.

Ikestaa · #5 (**permalink**) 05-25-2003, 09:30 AM

Bob,
You're right again. My dad first thought that they should be taped off, but this morning he reread the directions and tried connecting them and I think you can guess the result. It took a couple of cranks to wake her up, but good lord. I have never heard anything so nasty and beautiful sounding all at the same time. We are still have some issues, mainly with gauges though. It appears the gas gauges is not registering. There is a good chance we may have fried it, as I know that can happen. Is there a test we can do to see if it is the gauge or the sender (a certain voltage battery hooked up to the gauge)? Water temp was rising at it came up to temp, oil pressure was around 60 but we did not register any oil temp. We may not have had it running long enough for the oil temp to come up. We only ran it for about 3 or 4 minutes, and the water temp only came up to about 65 deg C, so hopefully, it simply wasn't warm enough for the gauge to register (min on the autometers is 60 C). Also, the tach has been, and continues to sit at about 2100 rpm. We ran a wire from the tach signal output out to orange #40 wire in the engine compartment. Should we just tape off #40 and run the tach signal straight to the gauge? That's all for now, but thanks very much guys for the help.

SSSnake · #6 (**permalink**) 05-25-2003, 02:55 PM

Ike,

We also thought the gas gauge was not registering at first. Put some more gas in it and see if it comes up. We put 6 gallons in to start and it was BARELY above empty. It seems to work fine now.

Glenn

CJ428CJ · #7 (**permalink**) 05-25-2003, 07:29 PM

Ikesta,

You definitely didn't run it long enough for the oil temp to come up. In fact, I don't recall mine rising at all until I had the car out on the road for a while.

I've got about 80 miles on my car and everything is working great except I'm still tinkering with the little stuff. One front caliper is seeping brake fluid and I have an annoying oil leak dripping off the bottom of the bell housing. Haven't decided if it's the rear main seal or the back of the intake manifold. Oil leaks - what a pain in the ....

Chris

Ikestaa · #8 (**permalink**) 05-25-2003, 09:00 PM

Chris,
That is definitely good to hear.

This afternoon we ran into another problem. It is nothing electrical, but I didn't want to start a new thread. When bleeding the brake and clutch systems we noticed that the hard line feeding into the clutch master has come loose. It doesn't really wiggle around, but brake fluid was dripping out very quickly. This developed about 45 minutes after we had bled the clutch system, and while we were in the process of bleeding the brakes. How is the tube secured into the master? And, is it something that we could fix easily (solder, epoxy ???). Once again, any help would be much appreciated.

Bob Putnam · #9 (**permalink**) 05-26-2003, 05:23 AM

Ike,

The feed tube has a "bulb" on the end that fits into the rubber seal. It just needs to be pressed further into the rubber. It may help to loosen the clamps that hold the tube onto the footbox.

If your MSD is mounted inside the passenger compartment, Just run a wire from the tach output to the tach. Make sure that the tach is grounded.

Ikestaa · #10 (**permalink**) 06-07-2003, 07:43 PM

Okay, we got the leak fixed and the entire brake system bled. Problem is, the pedlle is still soft. It will go all the way to the floor. There is no air coming out of any of the calipers, or out of the master. Any suggestions on what to do?

Also, I tried running a wire straight from the MSD to the tach and still nothing. It just sits at 2100. Is there some sort of test I can do for both the gauge and the MSD? Can I use a multimeter to read voltage or current coming out of the box, and can I induce some kind of current across the tach to see if it functions?

Bob Putnam · #11 (**permalink**) 06-09-2003, 05:54 AM

Tach:
Check that there is 1.0-1.5V at the MSD tach output. If not, the MSD is defective – even if the car runs OK. If the MSD is OK, we'll replace the tach.

Brakes:
Remove the brake master cover.
Have someone push the brake pedal while you watch the motion of the brake balance bar. Which master cylinder is absorbing all the stroke? Are the rods (and especially the cylinder pistons) returning all the way?

The bleeders are at the top of the calipers?

If you have Wilwood or Sierra calipers, are you bleeding both inner and outer pistons?

CJ428CJ · #12 (**permalink**) 06-09-2003, 12:16 PM

Ike,

I had a similar problem with my SW tach. ERA replaced it and the new one works fine. The tach output signal at the MSD box is a square wave. The multimeter you use should be a "true RMS" type. If you use a "cheapy" meter it probably won't be a true RMS type and it will give you erroneous readings.

Chris

Ikestaa · #13 (**permalink**) 06-09-2003, 10:15 PM

The brake problem has been taken care of. I remembered seeing bleeders on the inside of the caliper, and when I did a quick check for them while bleeding I felt only a bolt. On second inspection, sure enough, there they were. Needless to say, the peddle feels much better now.

I will try the suggestions for the tach. Bob, keep in mind these are the Cobra Autometer gauges that we supplied. I don't know if that will change anything. Anyway, thanks again for all of the help.

Bob Putnam · #14 (**permalink**) 06-10-2003, 05:03 AM

Ike,

I suggest that you ask the people who sold you the Autometers about wiring with the MSD. I have no Autometer documentation at all, since we don't use 'em.

Chaplin · #15 (**permalink**) 06-10-2003, 07:58 AM

Ike-
Please post whate ever info Autometer gives you on wiring the msd- I've got the Autometers too and will need to wire it up in the coming weeks.

Thanks,
Mike

CJ428CJ · #16 (**permalink**) 06-10-2003, 09:40 AM

Ike,

I don't have the MSD documentation here in front of me but I recall that the MSD6 manual had a list of tachs and it indicated which tachs would need an adapter and which wouldn't. Does it list the Autometer? If you don't have your documentation, let me know and I'll dig mine up.

Chris

Ikestaa · #17 (**permalink**) 06-10-2003, 03:17 PM

We have ours, and I remeber reading the section on which tachs will work and I believe the autometers comply. I will certainly check though.