Yet Another Engine Fan Post

[spider2081]

I apologize, I did not intend to sound like I was critiquing your response. I looked as closely at the photos as I could. It seemed to me the pink wire going through the firewall to C4 appeared over heated, leading me to believe that is the direction of the short. I can't see the pink wire leaving fuse holder 28/4 to the fuel pump relay. You are correct it to could be over heated. A short on that wire would have blown the fuse and caused the fuel pump operation to stop. That would mean there are 2 shorts in 2 different wires. I was hoping that was snot too likely. Being careful as you suggested is never a bad thing.
I'm thinking the over heated wires can be removed from the car or at least disconnected at the top of fuse 9. A new wire could the connect fuse holder 28/4 to the top of fuse 9.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

No need to apologize spider2081, and I like to be criticized as it keep me honest!

Back to matters at hand. Based on spider2081's last comment, I went back and looked again at my wiring diagrams. He's right, in that the fuse in the red inline holder is for the fuel pump, and that may not be where the problems lies. That smaller pink wire goes from the main fuse box to one side of that inline fuse, and then off again in another pink wire to connector C4. It is these smaller pink wires that are fried.

That smaller pink wire goes to the thermostatic switch for the ignition mode relay. It also goes to the idle stop solenoid and the tachimetric switch, but only for California cars, and it makes this connection through a jumper in connector C4 for those cars.

So, unless this is a California car, my latest theory is that the ignition relay (dual points) got goofed up, or someone tried to rewire it for a single point system and got the wiring wrong. Or left the ignition switch on for a very long time, which would heat up not only that pink wire, but the coil and points as well (assuming the points are closed). The ignition system in these cars is unfused, which explains why no fuses blew.

So Charlie, the issue may be something goofed up with your ignition system, even though the car may run. Also, leaving the ignition on while the car isn't running is OK for short periods of time, but it's not good for anything longer than tens of seconds. Early spiders had what was called a ballast resistor located next to the coil to mitigate this issue, but I don't know if your '76 has such a beast.

-Bryan

[CharlieB]

Thanks for the ongoing conversation. I'm probably not giving as much info as I should. I should mention that I do have a pertronix ignition which I installed about a year ago. I know the ignition should not be left on for more than a few seconds and I have been vigilant about not leaving it on.
All I have done so far is pull the pink cables off of the fuse panel. I clipped the connector off so I could attach a new piece of wire to the fat pink wire. The issue I have now is trying to find a connector that will fit both the fat pink wire and a new piece of wire. I have 12-10 female connectors but they are not nearly big enough to fit both wires. Does anyone know who might sell these connectors. I tried the big box auto supply stores but they just looked at me like I was speaking Italian.
By the way, fuse in the inline holder was not blown.
Thanks,
CB

[CharlieB]

Nevermind, I'm an idiot. Ok, new wiring is in and hooked up and the burned wiring is out along with the gray/red wires. Everything is working as it should. That is until I unplugged the thermoswitch wires to clean them up. One of the wire tabs broke off of the switch. But, for some reason I bought an extra switch a while back. I installed that and am in the process of bleeding the air out. So, all is well.
I can't thank you gents enough for the help.
So, just to wrap this up all I did was replace the wire from the fuse up to the inline fuse. Nothing else seems to be damaged. A test drive tomorrow will hopefully verify that.
Thanks again guys.
Charlie

[18Fiatsandcounting]

I have 12-10 female connectors but they are not nearly big enough to fit both wires. Does anyone know who might sell these connectors. I tried the big box auto supply stores but they just looked at me like I was speaking Italian.

The big electronic suppliers, (DigiKey, Mouser, Newark) will have all possible electronic connectors that you can imagine, but you might have to pay $15 shipping for a connector that is $0.02 each when you buy 1000 of them. There are also sources like Ebay, or if you tell us what type and size of connector you need, some on this forum might be able to mail you a few connectors.

Sounds like you need a female spade connector of the standard size, but able to accommodate 8 or 6 gauge wire(s), yes?

-Bryan
PS: Sounds like you fixed it on your own; awesome!

[spider2081]

I have 12-10 female connectors but they are not nearly big enough to fit both wires.

I have terminals I purchased from digi-Key however when i crimp the insulation crimp my crimpers mess up that crimp, somtimes even breaking off the little tap that should curl around the wire's insulation.

I now use 10-12 terminals and a single wire to for the female spade connectors. Making a 3-6" pigtail. Then butt splice the single wire to the 2 wires that were in the factory female spade connector. Doing this allows fabrication of the female spade connector on the work bench and butt splicing the entire connector into the car. This is especially useful when replacing the car's ignition switch 6 cavity female connector. This connector can have 3 pins with 2 wires in each pin.