Changed my oil today and when I looked up along the driver side of the torque converter housing ('94 coupe with auto tranny) was surprised to see a loose connection I hadn't seen before. Figured it probably came about when I had the tranny rebuilt a couple of weeks ago (but strangely, everything seems to work just fine) and thought it was probably a ground harness they overlooked, one of those that attaches to that bolt on the driver side of the torque converter housing that has other grounds. But then as I started to reattach it I wondered if I was correct as all the wires were insulated which seemed unusual for a ground (although the connector seems homemade).

I cleaned the wires trying to find color codes but wasn't successful so does anyone have an idea what I found and if it is indeed a ground harness. I could not find the source of the wires despite pushing and pulling but they do seem to come from the rear of the block.

Many thanks!

John

 

Yeah, that definitely looks homemade.
Do you have an aftermarket sound system installed?
That top wire looks like speaker wire.

I am going to post the full size picture, so maybe someone else has a clue.

 

Thanks for the reply. No, no aftermarket sound system; everything is original except for mysteries like this. It's hard to see but the wire you thought might be speaker wire is larger than that.

One other clue, the aftermarket connector is the same size as the ground bolt on the torque converter housing which is probably 5/16" or 8mm. Also I used the term "torque converter housing" and perhaps I should have used "bell housing".

John

 

My guess is ground wire also. If it is something aftermarker my guess would be burglar alarm(is it working if you have one?) or a PO might have gotten tired with a bad ground somewhere else and ran them there.
Since I have an 84 I have no idea though if it is factory or aftermarket on your car. Sorry.

 

Thanks for the thoughts, Megtom. No, I don't have a burglar alarm or anything else aftermarket and the only part of this that look aftermarket is the connector; the wires appear original.

John

 

Someone has to have a FSM for that year and will let us know if it is factory and if so what in the world it is. Good luck.

 

I have the FSM but haven't been able to find a definitive answer, just a better feeling.

Page 8A-14-5 shows the mass air flow sensor , low coolant switch and cruise control servo running to Ground Location G107 which is "LH rear of engine on bell housing". And those wires are described as .35 blk, .5 blk and .35 blk which sounds close to what I see. I don't know how the car would run without the mass air flow sensor being operative but I should easily be able to check the cruise control so that may be the next step. The FSM says G107 also has running to it the braided wire chassis ground and that is in place.

Thanks for the support.

John

 

Weird. Was the metal ring pushed up against the housing? That could give the wires just enough ground to work properly. Transmission shops see fewer and fewer of these kinds of cars so they probably just forgot about hooking it back up. The shop that redid the trans in my 89 Formula forgot a few things when they hooked it back up. Sadly they also did a lousy job rebuilding it and I just had to pay for it to be done again.

 

Tommy - Sorry to hear about your transmission rebuilding problems.

My unconnected harness mystery still isn't solved despite lots of rabbit trails. One question: when you turn your ignition switch to "ON" but before you start the engine does "Low Coolant" appear 2nd from the left in the second row on the Driver Information Center and then go off as you start the car? Thanks! John

 

On my 94.
My low coolant indicator does not light when I turn the key. Never comes on.

I also took a looked at the bell housing for any similar looking wire but could not really see anything here at work.

 

Thanks a million for the quick response and for even looking at the bell housing at work. You went the extra mile! (Incidentally the chassis ground - what the FSM calls the "braided wire ground strap" - attaches to the driver side of the bell housing at 9 o'clock which is about 4" about the top of the outlet pipe from the cat so it's not easy to see.)

My recollection is my Low Coolant used to come on with all the other Drivers Information Center info but then went off but I'll be the first to admit my recollections aren't what they used to be (except about ice cream and peanut butter on which I'm still mighty sharp!)

Maybe someone else will chime in.

John

 

This thread has seemed to edge away from my original "wiring question" and toward trying to understand the low coolant sensor and since I've read to the end of threads before but then found no summary or resolution, here's what I learned.

First, the loose connection I found is probably the grounds as shown on FSM Page 8A-14-5 for the mass air flow sensor, low coolant sensor and cruise control servo. I remain somewhat confused as the cruise control already worked and the mass air flow sensor had thrown no codes and there was no open ground at the low coolant sensor so somehow, somewhere they were already grounded. (I did ground them again rather than have the loose connection flapping around.)

Second, the low coolant sensor has generated a little confusion here on the Forum. '90-'96 (I have a '94) low coolant sensors can't be replaced, at least not easily as they're permanently mounted in the bottom of the surge tank. The way to replace the sensor is to buy a new tank ($55 from thepartsladi). '84-'89 can be replaced without replacing the tank but the sensors are different and were mounted on the passenger side radiator tank a few inches below the radiator cap.

On my '94 the sensor circuit is open when there is adequate coolant. Low coolant causes the circuit to close and illuminates the "Low Coolant" light on the Drivers Information Center. The Low Coolant circuit seems unique to the warnings that appear on the Drivers Information Center when the ignition switch is turned "On" but before engaging the starter in that "Low Coolant" only appears if in fact there is low coolant. Other warnings such as "Low Oil" illuminate briefly and then go off (unless there is in fact a problem). The cause of this different behavior is "Low Coolant" is a simple On/Off circuit whereas all the others are tied into the CCM.

So that's what I learned.

John

 

on my 94 manual, they all had seperate connectors on the end. i know the braided ground strap has a seperate connector.

 

That's helpful. Thanks!