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LOTS of strange problems in newly wired truck. Grounds?

3K views 20 replies 11 participants last post by  hduff 
#1 ·
I've recently wired a '59 Chevy truck with AAW Highway 15 kit. Great kit and I've wired one car before. I took my time and followed the instructions carefully.

The truck starts and runs fine. Headlights turn on and off. Gauges work.

Weird things happening: With no key in ignition and battery turned on, the left rear taillight is on bright. Blinkers don't work. Flashers don't work. Running lights don't come on. When I put the key in, I can turn it left one position (ACC?) and sometimes the electric fan turns on or sometimes the fuel pump starts running. Turn the key back to neutral and then over one click...sometimes the fuel pump comes on, sometimes not. Next key position over and it generally starts with no issues.

All my grounds I used star washers. The battery is mounted under the bed. I grounded the headlights to the inner fender, grounded the grille to the body, grounded the taillight housing itself to the bed, grounded the bed to the frame with 12 ga wire, and for the major grounds I have the battery going to a cutoff switch in the cab and from that switch to the frame. Engine is grounded to the frame, frame to body, and body to engine using battery cables.

Seems like it's grounded very well but when I look at the AAW instructions it says to ground BATTERY TO BLOCK, BATTERY TO FRAME, BLOCK TO FRAME, and BODY TO FRAME.

Do I need to do more grounding? I don't know where to begin to fix this. Any help is much appreciated.

Jeff
 
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#3 ·
not star wahers

The "wierd things" part of the post seems like wiring mistakes in the ignition switch, the turnsignal switch and the headlight switch. Could be missmatches in the harness connectors.

The other part that is strange (but not the cause of the "wierd things") is the battery ground going through a cutoff switch. That's a new one. The battery ground should go direct the engine block because that's where the starter is located.

Star washers are lock washers not to be confused with something to improve conductivity as stated here on HRBB sometimes. A good clean connection (preferably tinned), thru bolted then coated to prevent rust.

vicrod
 
#4 ·
Star washers are lock washers not to be confused with something to improve conductivity as stated here on HRBB sometimes. A good clean connection (preferably tinned), thru bolted then coated to prevent rust.
vicrod
I love to use star washers in this application because they dig into the metal, providing an excellent ground. Cover the connection with RTV to prevent oxidation.
 
#5 ·
Running the ground to the cut off switch,Then to the frame is fine... I usually put the cut off switch as close to the battery, Breaking the hot,,, But it will work the way you have it..As long as you have both good grounds on the frame.

When running the battery in the back..Running through the frame is find..

I would go back over everything..
 
#6 ·
I too use star washers, Your dropping the ground as a cutoff for the electrical system will work just fine, as long as the neg post on the battery goes directly to the cut off switch and no other wire is connected to the neg battery post. If any other wire is connected to the neg battery post, then that wire will try and act as the vehicle's ground and carry the entire load when the cut off switch is in the off position.

You might double check the column connector and make sure the wires are in the correct slots. Another issue might be the fuse box it's self, it normally comes in two pieces that are sandwiched together. Between the two halves are the wires and terminals, some have 4 to 5 terminals as one long piece, acting as a buss bar etc.... very easy for a wire to get turned/crossed and intermittently short.
 
#8 ·
I don't think the problem i s ground related but when you say you followed the instructions but did not ground it the way they said to it makes me think you may not have followed other instructions. Go back over the areas that are acting weird. The star washers are used for grounding the copier/printers I have serviced for the last 15 years so I would be fine using them.
 
#10 ·
The issue I see with the grounds is separately grounding everything. Tail lights to bed, bed to frame. Headlights to fender, fender to body... etc. I try to run everything to a couple of common grounds on the frame. Weld a bolt to the frame and use that as a common ground point.
The trouble is caused by trying to get a good ground thru all of the paint separating the body parts.
Run everything to common ground points and see what happens.
Mark
 
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#21 ·
Adequate grounds on fiberglass cars are always a problem.

The way I deal with it is to run a large cable in series from the battery-to-engine ground with bus bars along the way. Each electrical device gets a dedicated black wire the same gauge as the + wire feeding it to that bus. People tend to forget that the ground is the other half of any electrical circuit.
 
#11 ·
thank you for all the replies. I am definitely no expert and the electric is something I struggle with - I have to ask a lot of questions but I have wired another car and grounded it the same way and it worked fine from the beginning. However, this is the first time I used a cutoff switch. I did it based on the neg. post because a hot rod guy in the neighborhood told me to do it this way so...I dunno but I can switch it with a little work to the positive side if it will make a difference.

Yes, I grounded the battery post direct to the cutoff switch with no other wires coming off of it. I actually added the separate grounds between the grill and body and tailgate to frame recently. At first the headlights weren't working unless I grounded them to the bumper so that problem was fixed. Then I realized the bed is wood and has no contact with the frame so I ran a separate wire for it.

Actually, I've been on and off with this truck for almost a year out of frustration. Runs great but I just don't know how to solve these electric problems. I guess about a year ago I was looking around at the wires and the wires coming out of the column were frayed and some were cut. I bought this column brand new from CPP. They wouldn't send me another turn signal switch so I bought their "best" one and installed it so I was also kinda thinking the switch still is not working right but it's on switch #2. :( I know the wires are color coded but I did my best to match the AAW column wires to the functions of the wires coming out of the column and they matched.

Is there a way to test the turn switch? I'll guess all of you are right about the ignition switch. I probably crossed something and will check.
 
#12 ·
I was not trying to come off rude, if I did I apologize. Electrical stuff can be frustrating. I would double check all my work and try to check the connections you made initially. You may have a couple wires in a harness supplying power to each other where they have rubbed through insulation. Check everywhere wires go through metal
 
#14 · (Edited)
My 2 cents on your grounds....... One thing you need to avoid is a ground loop.... ie neg post on battery to the engine block from the engine block to the frame from the frame to bed from bed to lights etc...... any one of those in the chain comes loose and you lose your ground.

My advice.... Battery to the engine block, from the same bolt on the engine block to the frame, then connect every other major ground to the frame.

I'd change the cut off to the pos side of the battery, I'd put the cut off switch as close to the battery as I could.

The purpose of a cut off switch is, IMO, either stop a battery from draining or be able to stop the juice should a major short occur (and the battery has been relocated to the rear) in a long run on the pos cable, if the switch is located in the cab and the short occurs between the switch and the battery...... cable still frys. You can always make a long extension rod for the actual switch and the switch located close to the battery. Personally I don't use a cut off switch except for the ease of disconnecting the battery on seldom driven vehicles. I prefer to insulate and protect the long run on the pos cable.
 
#15 ·
I agree with some of what was posted...I never let a car leave my shop without a cutoff switch... It will work just find on either Neg Or Pos. The reason I put it on the pos side of the battery and as close to the battery is so when it's off, There is no hot wire...


Now the reason behind using a cutoff switch is,, (For me anyway) If you have a short or a wire get's burnt by the header or any other reason,, You WILL NOT stop the fire if it is still a live wire... IF there is a fire, FIRST turn off the switch, THEN put out the fire... One of the hotrod magazines had a picture of a fiberglass car burnt on side of the road...

I stand behind a cutoff switch and a fire extinguisher... If you don't have these two things in your hotrod... Put a lot of insurance on it...:mwink:

Anything can happen..

Another good reason for the cutoff switch is.. If you go on vacation and the car stay's home,, It will not be hot while your going..

I really think your problem is in the column connector, light switch,or blinker switch,,
 
#17 ·
I don't think it's in your Key switch,, Re-check everything,,, Sometimes when you back track yourself you find it.. If I took the truck from you,, I would do just what I'm telling you.. I would back track EVERYTHING you did to find the problem...
 
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