I just started working on my car again, and it killed two batteries. I mean, killed not drained, they won't take a charge anymore. THank goodnes for Wal-Marts liberal "two year free replacement" policy. Anyways, I don't think its a serious problem with my electrical system, I think its stuff I hooked up. I unhooked my tach, stereo, and fm modulator, and put in a new battery. Hopefully this will solve the problem. I had tried to hook up the stereo wiring etc.. to existing wiring from the old factory radio, and I think that caused the problem. I suck when it comes to electrical stuff. What I would like to do is just put in new wiring to power the stereo, fm modulator, and also add a 12v socket (ciggarete lighter). THe thing is, I don't know what to wire it into. I already have the hole through my firewall, I just need to know what to wire into. (Battery terminal, starter solenoid etc...???) It's a '70 Ford Maverick, Inline 6. Also, the stereo needs two connections, one for constant power to maintain the memory, and one to power it when the car is running. Make fun of me for being a sucky car guy all you want (I am) but pleeeease help me. Driving without music drives me insane. Thanks in advance, I gotta get my baby back on the road
Best bet is to build your own subsystem. If you put a bunch of stuff on a system not designed for it, you could have even more problems. You need to tap off on the solenoid, where the battery cable attaches. That will be hot all the time so you need a fusable link right after the connection. Then you can run the line into your car. This will give you your constant hot. You can then tap a circuit off that and run it through a relay to get your switched hot. But, if you really suck at electrical, you really need to get someone who dont. Check out Painless, they might have something you can use. http://painlessperformance.com/
Quick question on the painless box. It says "Only a small activation wire from any ignition source is needed to turn on the relay that turns on the fuse block." Does that mean I only need to splice into one wire? That would give me constant hot, but what about acc hot? edit- Mavaholic, I understand most of what your saying, but how do I tap into the constant hot to get an acc on hot? If I just have to wire in a relay switch, I can do that. I just need to know what kind of switch. I don't suck at electrical stuff that much, it just takes more explaining. I can visualize mechanical stuff easily in my head. Electrical stuff needs layed out for me though. Thanks for all the help guys. I might look into a painless kit.
You will have to hook up 2 wires. 1 hot wire which can be tapped off as mentioned above, and the second will be a switched wire which will only activate circuits when the key is in the on or accessory position, depending on which way you want it. To find a switched hot, you need a test light or meter. Easiest place to find one will be the ignition switch which is mounted on the side of the steering column, under the dash. This line will just energize a coil in a relay so it is mimimal current drain. You wont have to worry about loading any circuits. The load will still come through the constant hot wire.
use a large wire when you do this for low ohm reading other wise you could have a natural heater if you know what i mean.
I'm lost. There is a thick red wire that comes off the solenoid that looks like a bolt with a nut on it. So to run another hot wire, just get another red thick wire & put an end on it that slides onto that same bolt & fasten it with the nut, right. If this is correct than how do you get the one thick wire to break down to power 8 gauges & a radio?
You only need a wire about half as thick as a battery cable. Then that wire is connected through a relay to what I assume would be like a fuse block. You can draw a constant power source by tapping into the wire before the relay. You can operate the relay off the radio circuit so that when you turn the key on, the power to everything connected to your new auxiliary fuse panel turns on. Need to take it to someone who knows what they are doing if you can't grasp that concept (no offense).
Non taken, I called Painless. Someone there told me to run a hot wire off the switch. Maybe put a inline fuse to protect the gauges. Tie all the grounds together on a nice size bolt to the frame & don't worry about the relay or the solenoid.
all you need is wire that is just about half the size of your battery cable if that. just to keep the voltage flowing. nothing to worry about.
Okay, next step. I can't find the fuse that go to the ignition. My fuse box don't have IGN labels on it. Does anyone know the fuse that goes to the ignition? In the harness I have located three(3) wires that is hot when the ignition is on though.
