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I was checking my car and found this red wire dangling on the driver side. It is coming out of the side panel.
The wiring diagram did not help in identifying what it is and where it should be connected.
It has 11V on it (battery running at 12.3-12.5V).
I initially thought it could be the door open buzzer but the voltage does not change whether the door is closed or opened.
Any idea?
You could start removing fuzes and/or switching various things (e.g. ignition) to see what circuit it might be wired to. Looks to be fairly heavy gauge.
The PO may not have done you any favors. Crimp on connectors are usually not stock and, to my knowledge, the stock harness did not include in-line fuses.
I'm wondering whether your heavy gauge red wire could had powered and aftermarket amplifier\speakers at one time or another.
I am currently in that low phase ('why did I buy that car?!, I should have waited for a better one' mood type) after the high phase of purchasing a corvette...
I keep on discovering little things which are not right and try to tackle them one by one.
There is a switch on the driver side panel of the central console, where the radio is. I highly suspect that there was a high power amp at some time in the car (the non working speaker box at the rear is also a very good hint). The wiring is a mess in the central console too and my next task.
So I would not be surprised if this wire was a relic of a high end speaker.
I guess removing the side panel would give me some more clue...
PO broke it and fixed it with whatever he could. But at least that part works!
I have another thread 'Part ID needed': it is a small broken plastic part with electronics, connected to the end of a wire in the engine compartment (pic in the thread). I would appreciate if somebody could tell me what it is.
This kind of wire butchering seems to happen to most cars of this age . My 72 only has 53k. miles but the dash wiring harness was butchered so bad that I gave up trying to fix shorts and trying to trace cut wires and I just bought a new wiring harness . Hard to swallow at $500. but it sure makes things simpler in the end.
That is a mod for something a previous owner did. Chase it to find out its sorce and endpoint.
You know these cars are 40 some yrs old. Owners do some weird things. Just today as I was putting my console back into place, I was eliminating the buzzer and relay for the seatbelts and P/B. Why? Im not doing a factory correct resto and I dont feel like paying good money to replace seatbelt switches or seat sensors. Anyway, there was a diode a previous owner installed coming off the P/B switch going to the seatbelt/PB buzzer. Why? No freaking idea. Its not in the wiring diagram and my P/B light operates normally without it so I removed that as well as the buzzer, and relay. Now I am making notes of what I have removed, or altered in my 72 manuals wiring diagram. Thats the important part. Make a note and a revision so youre not scratching your head down the road.
I keep on discovering little things which are not right and try to tackle them one by one.
That's exactly how I did mine. Concentrate on one problem/anomaly, work only on it, repair it, and move on to the next. Took me 6 months before I could even think of driving my project, but I knew it was right.
That fuse box is indeed pretty badly hacked. Have a fire extinguisher close by when hot checking any of those rouge wires.
I was checking my car and found this red wire dangling on the driver side. It is coming out of the side panel.
The wiring diagram did not help in identifying what it is and where it should be connected.
It has 11V on it (battery running at 12.3-12.5V).
I initially thought it could be the door open buzzer but the voltage does not change whether the door is closed or opened.
Any idea?
What year is your corvette? Does have a factory alarm?
I actually think I have the same wire on mine hanging. I noticed it a few days ago but didn't have time to look into it. I have a 77 with factory alarm wired to the driver side key lock. Alarm doesn't work correctly though. I can hear some type of sillanoid activate when I turn the key, but no alarm sounds when/if I open the door.
I wonder if this wire has something to do with it...
I do have a factory alarm installed and may have identified a reason why it is not working: the anti-tamper switch is dangling in the engine bay... Identified thanks to CF members. See my other thread 'Part ID needed'.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
Unknown (dark) red wire
