White/Red Stripe Wire and Lights

[SSuspect]

Hi all,

I was able to get her running for the first time this weekend - WooHoo!!! '83 2.8L ZX engine and 5 speed, new Z-Therapy carbs, stainless header, yada, yada... Here are a couple of shots:

Anyway - Done gloating. Here is the electrical issue that I have. Electrical issues ARE NOT my strong point!

I have installed the ZX alternator, dizzy (with Dave's plug-n-play diode - tach is working fine). I am just afraid that I might have missed something during the alternator swap.

Car will run fine with White/Red alternator wire disconnected, but obviously this wire needs to be hooked up (I assume no charging is being done without it).

When I hook the White/Red wire up, the ammeter shows strong charging, BUT, the headlights WILL NOT turn off. Headlight switch? Research shows this as a common issue. The white/red wire also starts to warm up fairly quickly (common issue?).

Also see ground wire pic below - part of the charging circuit?

Alternator connections. Do these look correct? Anything missing (condenser, etc)? The car was apart so long that I am fearful that I may have missed something.

White/red wire I am talking about.

Is this ground wire a part of the charging system and is it required right now> I was waiting for dash and stereo install before hooking it back up.

I can add more pics and details if needed.

Thanks in advance for the assistance!

Tim

Edited August 24, 2009 by SSuspect

[jtl260z]

Check your fusible links...Any additional amperage can pop a link.

I upgraded my alternator (Nissan Maxima 90A), one of my fusible links blew and my volt meter was instantly pegged. I was driving in heavy traffic at the time, all of my bulbs (headlights, tail lights, dash, everything) exploded and a portion of my wiring harness caught on fire. Once I traced down the issue I decided to eliminate the fusible links and switch to maxi-fuses. After replacing all of my bulbs and rewiring half the car, she was back running like a champ.

[Zs-ondabrain]

The alt's condensor eliminates spikes and engine noise in the radio, for the most part. Not totally needed.

Not sure why the headlights stay on with the white/red off but like the doctor says "If it hurts when you do that, DON'T do that" Leave it connected. The ammeter that you have is for a 40 amp alternator, you now have a 60 amp alternator. So the meter will peg occasionally, no big deal.

Headlights use more amperage than most other circuits in the Z. It will cause the power wires to heat up. no big deal. But I HIGHLY SUGGEST the HLH Headlight Upgrade harness that I sell. It will draw power from the battery, directly, for the headlights, instead of thru the fusebox and combo switch. Which is what makes your power wire heat up in the first place. Same thing with the Parking light circuit. (PLH-Hint Hint)

The PLH is a Parking light upgrade ahrness to stop the fusebox from melting the 3rd fuse down on the right. And Ground that loose black ground wire.

Email me at wolfin32z@yahoo.com if you're interested in the HLH or PLH

Dave

[SSuspect]

Not sure why the headlights stay on with the white/red off but like the doctor says "If it hurts when you do that, DON'T do that" Leave it connected.

Headlights use more amperage than most other circuits in the Z. It will cause the power wires to heat up. no big deal. But I HIGHLY SUGGEST the HLH Headlight Upgrade harness that I sell. It will draw power from the battery, directly, for the headlights, instead of thru the fusebox and combo switch. Which is what makes your power wire heat up in the first place. Same thing with the Parking light circuit. (PLH-Hint Hint)

The PLH is a Parking light upgrade ahrness to stop the fusebox from melting the 3rd fuse down on the right. And Ground that loose black ground wire.

Email me at wolfin32z@yahoo.com if you're interested in the HLH or PLH

Dave

Thanks Dave! The white/red wire issue you detail is backwards. They stay on when ir IS connected. That is why I am thinking that it is the switch itself. Do you agree??? Is it easy to remove and clean?

I'll check into the harnesses as you have detailed. I would rather do that than rewire half of the car like Jason had to do!

Thanks again guys!

Tim

Edited August 24, 2009 by SSuspect

[Zs-ondabrain]

Then it's likely the switch. They're farely easy to remove but be careful when dissasembling. clean the old grease out and only use a small amount of Di-electric grease for th plasic ball slide area on the contacts. I use a curved, fine-tooth file to clean the inner contact posts because it's easy and I don't have to open the fingers to remove the board and take a chance of breaking the fingers, like so many other people do.

Use a little dielectric grease where the springs sit, this keeps them in place when reassebling the switch. And I like to clean the contacts with a little acetone and steel wool. The acetone cuts thru the years of burnt on grease and suet (black carbon build-up)

If you need replacement parts, just send the bad parts to me and I'll replace them for cheap.

Dave

[SSuspect]

Then it's likely the switch. They're farely easy to remove but be careful when dissasembling. clean the old grease out and only use a small amount of Di-electric grease for th plasic ball slide area on the contacts. I use a curved, fine-tooth file to clean the inner contact posts because it's easy and I don't have to open the fingers to remove the board and take a chance of breaking the fingers, like so many other people do.

Use a little dielectric grease where the springs sit, this keeps them in place when reassebling the switch. And I like to clean the contacts with a little acetone and steel wool. The acetone cuts thru the years of burnt on grease and suet (black carbon build-up)

If you need replacement parts, just send the bad parts to me and I'll replace them for cheap.

Dave

Excellent info! Thanks Dave!

I may even have another one in all of my parts. I know that there is one there, but I am not sure if it is from an early or later car or if they are different. I'll try to look through one on my MANY boxes of stuff tonight.

Do you know which years are interchangeable with these units?

Thanks again!

Tim

[Zs-ondabrain]

All 240Z's up to early 73' combo switches have interchangable parts (nternally) The headlight and wiper switches are all the same as well.

The 240Z's with delayed (intermittent) wiper control have a different style wiper switch but the headlight switch (on top of the switch body) is the same as the early combo's. Those switches also have a square 9-pin connector, as compared to the 6-pin 69' to early 73' w/o wiper delay.

So if you order one of my PLH upgrades, let me know which connector you have (6-pin or 9-pin)

If you attemp a rebuild or repair, Use only a minimal amount of grease (white lithium) on moving parts but ONLY use di-electric grease on any parts that involve the contacts or the moving of contacts. Regluar grease will overheat and burn on the contacts and cause premature failure.

Dave