Advise on possible wiring issue

[HermanM]

I am looking into purchasing a '71 240z and the current owner of the vehicle said that the car use to shut headlights off randomly and that the fuse box would constantly heat up.

To me this sounds like a short somewhere within the wiring harness and COULD be fixed. However, she is recommending a new harness (which I can't find around). I am no master in wiring what so ever and I am brand new to the world of the Z.

I would love some input by you guys to tell me what I could be in for IF i pick this car up and what I should do to fix any problems with the wiring.

SIDE NOTE: The owner (older female) said that her and her ex were fixing the car up little by little and tried to fix this problem. I am thinking that they could have botched the the wiring when they TRIED to FIX the issues they were encountering

[SteveJ]

Search on here for headlights and parking lights. You'll find a lot of information pertaining to your query.

[Arne]

Herman, the most common cause of melted fuseboxes in a 240Z is the lights. From the descripton you gave, as a guess I'd suspect a badly worn combo switch (headlight/wipers). If the wiring harnesses themselves have not yet melted, this can likely be fixed by repairing/replacing the combo switch, replacing the fusebox (if it has melted significantly), and adding relay kit(s) for at least the headlights, and probably for the tail/park lights too.

I've been through worse on one of my '71s, so I certainly would not rule out an otherwise nice car just for this reason.

If the combo switch needs replacing, or if it turns out that some of the wiring does need replaced, you'll need to know the production date. There are two major variations of '71 models, and the electrical parts are different between the two.

Here's a couple of threads that dealt with similar issues for reference. Also, feel free to send me a PM if I can be of more help.

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19793

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34917

Edited March 19, 2011 by Arne

[esmit208]

HermanM

www.ezwiring.com based out of Ormond Beach Florida specializes in this sort of business. I plan to order a harness for my AVATAR to the left. I have personally seen some of their work. The technician I spoke with seemed at least familiar wth the "S30" tag used by some when referring to these cars. I know that others may be skeptical about whether or not an accessory such as this can be duplicated to factory specs but I would trust them as much as I would trust pulling a harness from a parts hog.

[HermanM]

Thank you all for your help so far. The women I have been talking to about buying her '71 240z doesn't have the car on site so she doesn't know the production time for it off hand (unfortunately). As for getting the harness from ezwiring.com, the only question I would have would be the same as the questions and concerns from those with the other posts, that is "is the wiring going to be color coated just like the original?" I am not a wiring guy at all so I need it to be like "wiring for dummies".

A little more info on the car interested in buying: re-finished and painted/coated interior of original gas tank with new lines run. Also, new brake like and master cylinder installed, heater and ac were taken out years ago (don't know if and where I could get other ones to put back into the car).

Where could I get a new fuse box that could be able to maintain a better and more constant power source?

[Duffman]

MSA has an updated fusebox you can buy.

[HermanM]

what exactly is MSA?

[HermanM]

what exactly is MSA?

Nevermind, I googled it and found out,

Great site, thanks

Edited March 20, 2011 by HermanM
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