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Topic: Need Help Identifying Interior Items

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Re: Need Help Identifying Interior Items (14/24)
 6/1/14 3:49pm
Jasond56
Former Member

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Kenosha, WI - USA

Vette(s):
1973 Corvette Stingray Coupe VIN 1Z37J3S418986 350 L-48 Automatic T-Tops St. Louis Assembly, 18,986th car built in 1973, Paint = 976 Mille Miglia Red, Interior = 425 Dark Red Vinyl (Ox Blood)


Joined: 5/7/2014
Posts: 154

F4Gary said: Picture no. 4 is your A/C fuse

Picture no. 5 is your idle stop soleniod.

Need to take a pic of the base verticle shaft of your distributor showing from the intake manifold up to the bottom of the big part of the dist.  That is where the tach drive is.


Okay, here is the only other black wire.  It's underneath the distributor.  Runs from that silver female piece (which seems wet for some reason) and into the cockpit.  What is that silver female piece and is this the tech cable?


Also, I found this cluster of taped wires under the car, passenger side.  Could this have any bearing on my electrical issues?


Thanks again for any help/advice!


______________
"You know, we always called each other goodfellas. Like you'd say to somebody: You're gonna like this guy, he's all right. He's a goodfella. He's one of us. You understand?"




Re: Need Help Identifying Interior Items (15/24)
 6/1/14 11:24pm
dyoes
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Zachary, LA - USA

Vette(s):
1974 L-48 Auto. Just your basic Vette. GM crate motor w/vortec heads and intake. Crane cam. Scorpion rockers, Edelbrock carb. Lots of parts still in boxes... :(


Joined: 1/27/2013
Posts: 201

I think that is the tach cable.  That silver piece should have a larger knurled nut on the end that screws into the base of the distributor.  Your stuff looks stock (or stock replacement, anyway), my theory of a swapped ignition and distributor doesn't hold up. 

Anyway, you can safely say that your tach issue is probably not related to the rest of the gauges.  If you're a contortionist, get your hand up behind the dash and make sure the cable is plugged into the tach.  The tach cable could be broken or the tach itself bad. 

The oil gauge appears to be mechanical also; I think I saw the oil pressure line in one of your pics and there is no electrical gauge shown on the '73 wiring diagram.  No idea why it isn't working.

So I think you have several different issues going on here...

The pink wire feeds the following:

- Door ajar light.  (Does it work?  Probably a silly question, I know!)
- Fuel gauge.  (If it's floating around some, I'd venture that it has power, and the sender or ground is not good.  But without power, it pegs low, I think.)
- Water temp.  (Does it work at all?)
- Parking brake light (Gets power from the ignition, and a ground whenever the park brake is pulled or the system has a low pressure.)

The clock is junk.  Not just yours, but all of them.  If the lighter isn't working, it's probably disconnected in the center console or just broken.  Does a phone charger work if you plug it in?

That power comes from the ignition switch via a fuse.  It's the fuse on the bottom right on my '74, a 10 amp.  With the ignition on, see if you have voltage on BOTH sides of the fuse.  Voltage on one side tells you the fuse is bad, voltage on neither side is an uh-oh in the wiring somewhere.  Voltage on both sides of the fuse means you're good to that point.

Taking out that center stack is not for the faint of heart.  You'll teach yourself swear words that'll make a Navy man blush.

Dad and I have swapped all of the center stack gauges in our cars for AutoMeter 2" units.  They actually work and are reliable!!  If you find the wiring intact behind the dash and don't mind taking the car non-stock, it's an easy swap (and easy to put back again if you choose to later). 





|UPDATED|6/1/2014 8:24:38 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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Re: Need Help Identifying Interior Items (16/24)
 6/2/14 10:40am
Jasond56
Former Member

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Kenosha, WI - USA

Vette(s):
1973 Corvette Stingray Coupe VIN 1Z37J3S418986 350 L-48 Automatic T-Tops St. Louis Assembly, 18,986th car built in 1973, Paint = 976 Mille Miglia Red, Interior = 425 Dark Red Vinyl (Ox Blood)


Joined: 5/7/2014
Posts: 154

dyoes said: I think that is the tach cable.  That silver piece should have a larger knurled nut on the end that screws into the base of the distributor.  Your stuff looks stock (or stock replacement, anyway), my theory of a swapped ignition and distributor doesn't hold up. 

Anyway, you can safely say that your tach issue is probably not related to the rest of the gauges.  If you're a contortionist, get your hand up behind the dash and make sure the cable is plugged into the tach.  The tach cable could be broken or the tach itself bad. 

The oil gauge appears to be mechanical also; I think I saw the oil pressure line in one of your pics and there is no electrical gauge shown on the '73 wiring diagram.  No idea why it isn't working.

So I think you have several different issues going on here...

The pink wire feeds the following:

- Door ajar light.  (Does it work?  Probably a silly question, I know!)
- Fuel gauge.  (If it's floating around some, I'd venture that it has power, and the sender or ground is not good.  But without power, it pegs low, I think.)
- Water temp.  (Does it work at all?)
- Parking brake light (Gets power from the ignition, and a ground whenever the park brake is pulled or the system has a low pressure.)

The clock is junk.  Not just yours, but all of them.  If the lighter isn't working, it's probably disconnected in the center console or just broken.  Does a phone charger work if you plug it in?

That power comes from the ignition switch via a fuse.  It's the fuse on the bottom right on my '74, a 10 amp.  With the ignition on, see if you have voltage on BOTH sides of the fuse.  Voltage on one side tells you the fuse is bad, voltage on neither side is an uh-oh in the wiring somewhere.  Voltage on both sides of the fuse means you're good to that point.

Taking out that center stack is not for the faint of heart.  You'll teach yourself swear words that'll make a Navy man blush.

Dad and I have swapped all of the center stack gauges in our cars for AutoMeter 2" units.  They actually work and are reliable!!  If you find the wiring intact behind the dash and don't mind taking the car non-stock, it's an easy swap (and easy to put back again if you choose to later). 







To answer your questions:
-The door ajar light does work
-Water temp gauge does work, meaning it does move while I'm driving (not sure what is correct, I need to research how it should behave when operating normally)
-Parking brake light - Car is on, in park and I set the brake (which sets VERY easily, not sure if that's a concern) but the BRAKE light does not come on
-Fuel gauge as you said floats quite a bit.  How can I check the Sender and Ground?
-Phone charger to cigarette lighter...brilliant!  Never thought to try that!

Stupid question, when you mention check one side side of the fuse then the other, do you mean while the fuses are in the fuse box, or take the fuses out of the box and check them individually?  I assume I'm using a volt meter of some sort?

Finally, "center stack" = Center panel with all the gauges?  Or the panel with tach and speedometer? 



______________
"You know, we always called each other goodfellas. Like you'd say to somebody: You're gonna like this guy, he's all right. He's a goodfella. He's one of us. You understand?"




Re: Need Help Identifying Interior Items (17/24)
 6/2/14 10:54am
Jasond56
Former Member

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Kenosha, WI - USA

Vette(s):
1973 Corvette Stingray Coupe VIN 1Z37J3S418986 350 L-48 Automatic T-Tops St. Louis Assembly, 18,986th car built in 1973, Paint = 976 Mille Miglia Red, Interior = 425 Dark Red Vinyl (Ox Blood)


Joined: 5/7/2014
Posts: 154

Oops, one more question...any idea about that taped wire cluster in the 2nd pic?  Looks a little "bubba" Dead

______________
"You know, we always called each other goodfellas. Like you'd say to somebody: You're gonna like this guy, he's all right. He's a goodfella. He's one of us. You understand?"




Re: Need Help Identifying Interior Items (18/24)
 6/2/14 12:12pm
dskopp
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Oak Creek, WI - USA

Vette(s):
1981 Great White Shark. Red Interior, 350/190hp. PS, PB (SS), A/C CC, T-Tops, Going to remain as Stock as possible. Served three years in Active Duty Army, then Retired Air Force after 34 years! Badger State Vetts Car Club. 175,000 Original miles!!


Joined: 5/21/2008
Posts: 1958

Cinor said: its is hard to see how many wires are there but those ends should clip in to the back side of the consul parts for example on your cluster one could go to fuel gauge one to pressure gauge or perhaps a different part of counsul as in one to flasher one to park light etc   can you start at fuse box and follow backwards, the colors of wiring could also help ex park brake alarm is pink, lh  signal is light blue.  if you plan on doing a lot of work yourself the assembly manual is very helpful I got mine at faxon literature


Nice looking "family" you got, Cindy!!  No mail from you.....yet !


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Re: Need Help Identifying Interior Items (19/24)
 6/2/14 12:25pm
Adams' AppleLifetime Member
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Duncanville, TX - USA

Vette(s):
#1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas


Joined: 11/8/2003
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|UPDATED|6/2/2014 9:25:33 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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Re: Need Help Identifying Interior Items (20/24)
 6/2/14 8:28pm
dyoes
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Zachary, LA - USA

Vette(s):
1974 L-48 Auto. Just your basic Vette. GM crate motor w/vortec heads and intake. Crane cam. Scorpion rockers, Edelbrock carb. Lots of parts still in boxes... :(


Joined: 1/27/2013
Posts: 201


To answer your questions:
-The door ajar light does work
-Water temp gauge does work, meaning it does move while I'm driving (not sure what is correct, I need to research how it should behave when operating normally)
-Parking brake light - Car is on, in park and I set the brake (which sets VERY easily, not sure if that's a concern) but the BRAKE light does not come on
-Fuel gauge as you said floats quite a bit.  How can I check the Sender and Ground?
-Phone charger to cigarette lighter...brilliant!  Never thought to try that!

Stupid question, when you mention check one side side of the fuse then the other, do you mean while the fuses are in the fuse box, or take the fuses out of the box and check them individually?  I assume I'm using a volt meter of some sort?

Finally, "center stack" = Center panel with all the gauges?  Or the panel with tach and speedometer? 


Sorry... Center stack: yes, center panel with the gauges.  Not sure that's the official term!  Wink

If the door ajar light works, and the fuel and temp gauges work, you've got ignition voltage to the gauge cluster.  Ignore checking the fuse, it's good.

I'd guess that the gauge issues are individual ones... Not one big, easy fix, unfortunately. 

The coolant gauge sensor is in the driver side cylinder head, a single green wire attached.  With the ignition on and the car hot (watch your hands!) unplug it, and see if the gauge pegs low.  Ground the wire to a piece of metal under the hood and it should peg high.  That temperature gauge is really just a voltmeter; the sending unit varies resistance with temperature and translates it to temperature.

Under the bottom of your fuel tank there are two wires: a tan one, and a black one.  With the ignition on, unplug the tan one and see what the gauge does (it should peg).  Then, ground it and look again (should be on empty).  The fuel gauge is (you guessed it) just a volt meter.

Oil pressure: you got me.  It's mechanical.  If it's hooked up, it should work.  Not much to go wrong. 

Tach: Here is a suggestion. 



Unplug it from the distributor.  You should see the end on the left of the picture.  Hook up a power drill to it and spin it (in reverse on speedos, I'm assuming the same for the tach).  See if it works.  If it does, it's the tach drive on the distributor (doubtful).  If it doesn't, it's between the cable and the instrument itself.

Brake light: could just be a bulb. 

Good luck with it all!  Trial and error, and getting your hands dirty.  Two joys of being a classic Corvette owner.




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"Let them that don't want none have memories of not gettin' any."
- Brother Dave Gardner

Re: Need Help Identifying Interior Items (21/24)
 6/2/14 10:45pm
Adams' AppleLifetime Member
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Duncanville, TX - USA

Vette(s):
#1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas


Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20126

dyoes said: Oil pressure: you got me.  It's mechanical.  If it's hooked up, it should work.  Not much to go wrong. 

If it is in fact connected on both ends, but still does not register on the gauge, there are only a few possibilities.
1. You have no oil pressure.....
2. The gauge is faulty..
or...and my mostest favorite one of all...
3. The plastic line has kinked, or melted/fused together under the dash...usually right where it passes thru the firewall, or shortly after that point. I've seen that more than once.....
Best way to confirm #3 is to install a temporary gauge right on the engine. If pressure there, then blow some air into the plastic line and check the gauge. If nothing, then disconnect AT the gauge and air it up. If the gauge works then, you know the cheesy plastic line if fubared.



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Joel Adams
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             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

Re: Need Help Identifying Interior Items (22/24)
 6/3/14 6:10pm
dyoes
Former Member

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Zachary, LA - USA

Vette(s):
1974 L-48 Auto. Just your basic Vette. GM crate motor w/vortec heads and intake. Crane cam. Scorpion rockers, Edelbrock carb. Lots of parts still in boxes... :(


Joined: 1/27/2013
Posts: 201

Adams' Apple said: fubared.



FUBAR: Of all the military acronyms, my most favorite!  Other than BOHICA, of course...


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"Let them that don't want none have memories of not gettin' any."
- Brother Dave Gardner

Re: Need Help Identifying Interior Items (23/24)
 6/4/14 1:03pm
Jasond56
Former Member

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Kenosha, WI - USA

Vette(s):
1973 Corvette Stingray Coupe VIN 1Z37J3S418986 350 L-48 Automatic T-Tops St. Louis Assembly, 18,986th car built in 1973, Paint = 976 Mille Miglia Red, Interior = 425 Dark Red Vinyl (Ox Blood)


Joined: 5/7/2014
Posts: 154

Is removing the fuse links a common practice?

(quote with images removed-aapple)

|UPDATED|6/4/2014 10:03:41 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


______________
"You know, we always called each other goodfellas. Like you'd say to somebody: You're gonna like this guy, he's all right. He's a goodfella. He's one of us. You understand?"




Re: Need Help Identifying Interior Items (24/24)
 6/4/14 1:02pm
Adams' AppleLifetime Member
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Duncanville, TX - USA

Vette(s):
#1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas


Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20126

 Yeah...it actually is, tho it's not recommended. Those fuse links are there for a reason....it keeps from burning the car to the ground if something shorts out that would normally just pop a fuse. Fuse links are installed in certain areas of the wiring to protect as much of the wiring as possible, which is why those are down by the starter....they protect pretty much the entire vehicle harness. There are other fuse links in other areas, such as behind the distributor(for the A/C system, and/or power windows, if equipped), but the ones there by the starter usually power the headlights, and interior stuff.....just depends on which circuit they are on.
You can get replacement fuse links at most parts houses, if you find that yours have been cut out. It's possible that bulge there is replacement fuse links....need to unravel the tape and see....just be sure to disconnect the battery first.Thumbs Up


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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    

My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)
             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

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