Purple wire??
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
Purple wire??
Ok I am rewiring my frame off 69 and bought all the new harnesses minus the main fuse box as it was in good repair with the exception of a few previous owner changes.
my main question is I have a heavy guage maybe 10 or 12 purple and purple-white stripe wire coming out very close to the fuse box that has been cut and spliced to a relay that is not hooked up or active, just the two wires into it.
I believe the wires chase thru the harness to a supposed nuetral safty swithch but doing a continuity test showed me they are also tied to the starter motor.
Anyone know where the wires to the relay were supposed to go?
P.S. the car does start and run great
Had it running for the first time Saturday
my main question is I have a heavy guage maybe 10 or 12 purple and purple-white stripe wire coming out very close to the fuse box that has been cut and spliced to a relay that is not hooked up or active, just the two wires into it.
I believe the wires chase thru the harness to a supposed nuetral safty swithch but doing a continuity test showed me they are also tied to the starter motor.
Anyone know where the wires to the relay were supposed to go?
P.S. the car does start and run great
Had it running for the first time Saturday
#2
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Sounds like bubba got his hands on it before you... I'm sure someone will chime in soon but this does sound like the wire running from the neutral safety switch to the starter. Could be that the switch has been bypassed.
#3
Le Mans Master
Ok I am rewiring my frame off 69 and bought all the new harnesses minus the main fuse box as it was in good repair with the exception of a few previous owner changes.
my main question is I have a heavy guage maybe 10 or 12 purple and purple-white stripe wire coming out very close to the fuse box that has been cut and spliced to a relay that is not hooked up or active, just the two wires into it.
I believe the wires chase thru the harness to a supposed nuetral safty swithch but doing a continuity test showed me they are also tied to the starter motor.
Anyone know where the wires to the relay were supposed to go?
P.S. the car does start and run great
Had it running for the first time Saturday
my main question is I have a heavy guage maybe 10 or 12 purple and purple-white stripe wire coming out very close to the fuse box that has been cut and spliced to a relay that is not hooked up or active, just the two wires into it.
I believe the wires chase thru the harness to a supposed nuetral safty swithch but doing a continuity test showed me they are also tied to the starter motor.
Anyone know where the wires to the relay were supposed to go?
P.S. the car does start and run great
Had it running for the first time Saturday
#4
Le Mans Master
Hot start modification. I do it myself once in a while on trouble cars. It's a cheap way to solve a frustrating problem. There are other solutions - some better, some more expensive.
-Mark.
-Mark.
#5
Pro
Thread Starter
does it need to be there?
Also does anyone know which wires I have to tap into (color), (location)
for my reverse lights to work for my tko-600?
I have the wires coming up from the trans, just need to know where to bring them to.
Also does anyone know which wires I have to tap into (color), (location)
for my reverse lights to work for my tko-600?
I have the wires coming up from the trans, just need to know where to bring them to.
#6
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#7
Le Mans Master
GM starters are notorious for having difficulty when the engine is hot. TSB's were issued regarding it and the solenoid spring was redesigned at one time in an effort to fix this problem. Even with that, you can still suffer the problem of the car not cranking when the engine is hot.
If everything is in perfect order and the wiring is not aged and the engine is not modified (headers, etc.) and the cooling system is up to snuff, etc. - you should not have a problem BUT if you have high electrical resistances, bad wiring harness splices, old electrical components in the system, extra heat from a variety of sources or whatever - you can have hot start issues.
There are several ways to stop the hot start blues. You can fix or replace the wiring and all the components, put heat shields in place, put the cast iron manifolds back on, buy a mini starter, or add a relay. You will probably need one or more of the above to get rid of the problem. Some of those solutions are "band-aids" and the relay is probably one of those. You can call it bubba if you like BUT the car starts and it costs very little to install. No permanant modifications are required. The GM starter requires a full 12V at the purple wire to work the solenoid on the starter especialy when the engine is hot. If you have less than a full 12V at the "S" terminal on the GM solenoid, you can have problems getting it to crank. The starter will typicaly not work untill the engine is cold again. If this happens to you and you find that you can actualy get it to crank by jumping the "s" terminal to the big battery lug on the stater using a screw driver, this relay mod will help you. The relay is just a substitute for the screw driver across the starter lugs. You can find kits to do this in the Jegs or Summit catalog but there isn't any reason you can't do this yourself with some wire and a relay. A Ford starter relay is what I would use probably because I have them laying around from my Dad's old Mustang but you can pick one up at the Pep boys for less than $10 or so. I have wired it like this but there are other ways to do it:
The commercial relay kits you can buy use a metal jumper at the starter but they still accomplish the same thing. This diagram shows the original purple wire that used tio go to the GM solenoid (drawn as red - sorry) now attached to the "S" terminal on the new Ford relay. The (2) blue wires are fabbed up from the same guage wire and some crimped ends. So if your car has something like this, a previous owner probably had hot start issues. This is an old school bubba mod. Nothing new here. It's what we had to do before we had mini starters.
-Mark.
P.S. - do not do this on a frame off. It has no place on a car like that.
If everything is in perfect order and the wiring is not aged and the engine is not modified (headers, etc.) and the cooling system is up to snuff, etc. - you should not have a problem BUT if you have high electrical resistances, bad wiring harness splices, old electrical components in the system, extra heat from a variety of sources or whatever - you can have hot start issues.
There are several ways to stop the hot start blues. You can fix or replace the wiring and all the components, put heat shields in place, put the cast iron manifolds back on, buy a mini starter, or add a relay. You will probably need one or more of the above to get rid of the problem. Some of those solutions are "band-aids" and the relay is probably one of those. You can call it bubba if you like BUT the car starts and it costs very little to install. No permanant modifications are required. The GM starter requires a full 12V at the purple wire to work the solenoid on the starter especialy when the engine is hot. If you have less than a full 12V at the "S" terminal on the GM solenoid, you can have problems getting it to crank. The starter will typicaly not work untill the engine is cold again. If this happens to you and you find that you can actualy get it to crank by jumping the "s" terminal to the big battery lug on the stater using a screw driver, this relay mod will help you. The relay is just a substitute for the screw driver across the starter lugs. You can find kits to do this in the Jegs or Summit catalog but there isn't any reason you can't do this yourself with some wire and a relay. A Ford starter relay is what I would use probably because I have them laying around from my Dad's old Mustang but you can pick one up at the Pep boys for less than $10 or so. I have wired it like this but there are other ways to do it:
The commercial relay kits you can buy use a metal jumper at the starter but they still accomplish the same thing. This diagram shows the original purple wire that used tio go to the GM solenoid (drawn as red - sorry) now attached to the "S" terminal on the new Ford relay. The (2) blue wires are fabbed up from the same guage wire and some crimped ends. So if your car has something like this, a previous owner probably had hot start issues. This is an old school bubba mod. Nothing new here. It's what we had to do before we had mini starters.
-Mark.
P.S. - do not do this on a frame off. It has no place on a car like that.
Last edited by stingr69; 04-01-2008 at 05:40 AM.
#8
Pro
Thread Starter
Thanks for the great information, I am running new wiring under the hood with jet hot coated hooker side exhaust and a hi torque mini starter on the motor.
I will have to see what the wires read again once I hook the battery back up, I would like to just get rid of the relay all togather so its one less headache later. Again the relay is not being used but only seems to be a means of dead heading the wires as the (switched) 12v on the relay is unhooked and not used.
I will have to see what the wires read again once I hook the battery back up, I would like to just get rid of the relay all togather so its one less headache later. Again the relay is not being used but only seems to be a means of dead heading the wires as the (switched) 12v on the relay is unhooked and not used.
#9
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Member Since: Jul 2006
Location: Hamden CT
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St. Jude Donor '12
On a 69 there should be a two wire harness coming through the firewall into the engine compartment approximately near where the tach cable comes through. This is from memory (so somebody correct me if this is wrong) but I believe they are green & brown.
#11
Le Mans Master
#12
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Thread Starter
#13
Pro
Thread Starter
Found a good one tonight, I was trying to get my heater blower to run before i put all the dash back together and it would not work
I did a continuity test on all the wires, pulled my fuse box at the firewall appart again
Here I am using the old fuse box with a brand new engine and light harness and the orange wire was in the wrong slot
I pulled it out of the fuse box and moved it over to the right hole and presto intant blower fan working again
It was easier to move it in the old fuse box then in the new harness but man what a pain
That whole relay purple wire problem it is part of the starting circiut and the car will not crank over when the relay is out.
Now can I just cut out the relay and solder the two wires together?
Of course it would make a great security device to just pull the relay I suppose.
I did a continuity test on all the wires, pulled my fuse box at the firewall appart again
Here I am using the old fuse box with a brand new engine and light harness and the orange wire was in the wrong slot
I pulled it out of the fuse box and moved it over to the right hole and presto intant blower fan working again
It was easier to move it in the old fuse box then in the new harness but man what a pain
That whole relay purple wire problem it is part of the starting circiut and the car will not crank over when the relay is out.
Now can I just cut out the relay and solder the two wires together?
Of course it would make a great security device to just pull the relay I suppose.
#14
Pro
Alarm?
Sometimes people will splice a relay into that purple wire from the neutral safety switch to the solenoid to act as an immobiliser relay for an after-market alarm system. Can't start the car until alarm unit is switched off. Your relay might be a leftover from a previous alarm installation.
Joe
Joe
#17
Pro
Thread Starter
Well I soldered the two together and it starts just fine.
Now the wiper motor will not work and I had it working the other night
The heater blower still works though
I have power to the switch and power to the motor and if I bypass all the wiring I can get the motor to turn so it is ok.
How do you test that relay under the console if its good?
Now the wiper motor will not work and I had it working the other night
The heater blower still works though
I have power to the switch and power to the motor and if I bypass all the wiring I can get the motor to turn so it is ok.
How do you test that relay under the console if its good?
#20
Pro
Thread Starter
Try this...http://willcoxcorvette.com/repairand...elp.php?hID=95
Download the supporting documentation...it's fantastic!
Joe
Download the supporting documentation...it's fantastic!
Joe
According to that trouble shooting guide I should not have power on the #1 and #3 wires, well the blue wire gets 12volts so theres one problem allready.
I am going to pick up a new wiper relay just in case thats the problem, its only $10 at the local speed shop.
I am using a longstyle hood so anyone with ideas on how to simplify this curcuit would be great, also I will not be having a washer pump