Wires colors

[BigMacDave]

Hello friends

Im not trying to kick a dead horse, but i have an odd (what i believe to be odd) situation and I'm hoping someone can point the right direction to figure it out.

I have MANY loose wires in the engine bay. By many i mean over a dozen, maybe even 2 dozen. They all have what looks like factory connector ends on them, but are just hanging with no place to go. All the lights and horn and what nots in the front work and are using factory wires so i know they weren't replaced, so I'm pretty stumped. Is there a place i can look up a wire color and see what it is, i can't imagine they are all "future use" but they literally do nothing. I haven't tested them for current, but id like to cut some dead wood out if i can. Some are grouped together in a single bundle like I'm missing something, and some are just loose. ALL are single wires, by that i mean they all have single spade terms on them, not going to a 2 or 3 spade plug. The spade term looks like one that would plug into your horn. If that makes sense.


Thank you as always,

David

[baltobernie]

1978/79 were transition years for the Spider; the end of carburetion and the beginning of fuel injection. Just saying that an "official" wiring diagram may not match your particular Spider. Here's what should be in most '78 examples: https://www.mirafiori.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=68

Newbies are always cautioned that these cars have some bits that are very robust, and others that are crap. Coupled with the fact that Spiders are not very valuable classics, and it's a fair bet that many (most?) have a mis-mash of parts by the time the car passes into your hands. Proceed troubleshooting with a cynical outlook.

[BigMacDave]

thank you sir.

I can already see i have several wires that aren't even on the diagram. My plan is to make sure the ones that SHOULD be there, are. and work backwards. Almost looks like they took a parts bin wire harness and slapped it in there and called it a day

[baltobernie]

The Pinninfarina and Fiat factories were notorious for treating assembly instructions as mere suggestions. End- or beginning of model-year cars often have "wrong" bits, as Luigi reached into the next door handle bin when the present one was empty. There's a thread here somewhere describing stuff folks found behind panels in their brand-new cars. But that's part of their charm. The sinister stuff is usually the result of Previous Owners, and butchered wiring heads the list of woes you'll discover here.