The Crusty Cuda: Whole lotta Shakin' (N96) Goin' on!

[A12pilot]

Oh, never fear! I’ll get this figured out! But at this point I’m 100% confident with a 25% assurance that this is the problem. But the good news is that in fact, yes, I do have the key-in-buzzer feature. Why? Because all 70s did! Frankly, I’m a 68-69 guy and that wasn’t standard on B-Bodys during those years. This being my first 70 and an E-Body to boot the learning curve is steep. So Darrell still gets some props for a correct guess.

And I did get that fixed along with the other electrical issues I thought I was having, so now the dying cat sound when the door is open and key is in waifs through the cabin much like it does in the alley behind an Italian restaurant in New York City.

It’s aftermarket, but no fluctuation of voltage between any key positions, Steve-O. There’s a short somewhere internally in that main harness. Gotta be!!

Cheers
Dave

[cook_dw]

[32KZ]

Fire it up without the harness in it, like a few posted. Simple and quick. Peace of mind.

[njsteve]

Dave is from Jersey. He should know how to hot wire a car!

[A12pilot]

Say what? I can’t believe (cut splice) you’d say something (pull, twist) so degrading to all people from New Jersey (crank crank..vrrooommm).....Bye!

Yes, that’s a good point. I’ll do that and test it.

Cheers
Dave

[L78_Nova]

I thought if there was no load present the voltage should be equal on both sides of the ballast resistor ? ie. The resistor only drops the voltage if there is draw across it.

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by L78_Nova

I thought if there was no load present the voltage should be equal on both sides of the ballast resistor ? ie. The resistor only drops the voltage if there is draw across it.

You have to be actively cranking the motor to check the cranking voltage and then again when its running. It should be something like 12 volts cranking and then 9 when running. You are correct: if you test a ballast resistor of the car it will be the same reading at both terminals if there is no (engine running) load on it.

Here's the original chapter from my 72 Trans Am saga with the wiring harness glitch. Has all the voltage testing info:

https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthre...ts#post1095635

BTW, what do the contact surfaces of the points look like? Mine were a really pretty, iridescent purple color from the high-voltage effect, down the arm from the burnt point, contact area.

[A12pilot]

That is actually incorrect. A ballast needs no draw of power, it just needs power supplied to one end for it to be reduced on the other end. By the basic dynamic function of the ballast, power going through it from one side to the other through the ceramic reduces the voltage to the determined level. Draw on one end does not affect the voltage drop. A ballast does the voltage drop by just doing what a ballast does, but it doesn't need a load on it. The 12V brown wire is needed on the ignition 1 circuit to bypass the ballast due to ballast limiting the volts through itself.

Cheers
Dave

[mockingbird812]

Huh, I just asked what time it was.......

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by A12pilot

That is actually incorrect. A ballast needs no draw of power, it just needs power supplied to one end for it to be reduced on the other end. By the basic dynamic function of the ballast, power going through it from one side to the other through the ceramic reduces the voltage to the determined level. Draw on one end does not affect the voltage drop. A ballast does the voltage drop by just doing what a ballast does, but it doesn't need a load on it. The 12V brown wire is needed on the ignition 1 circuit to bypass the ballast due to ballast limiting the volts through itself.

Cheers
Dave

and perhaps I would be feeding you fake advice to get you more frustrated? Hmmmmm