My 71 Duster work in progress
- Thread starter b-body-bob
- Start date
Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
It's an ultra-common connector.
I did a bunch of stuff in that area last summer and forgot how much nicer it was working through the cluster opening.
Good suggestion right there. What you're trying to accomplish is much easier working through the dash than it is from beneath it.
I did a bunch of stuff in that area last summer and forgot how much nicer it was working through the cluster opening.
b-body-bob
Well-known member
No way, pulling the cluster is a hassle I don't need. I don't even want to drop the column down. Unneeded disassembly is the road that leads to hell. I've got evidence in my past record.
Everything seems to be wired up and working, it's just a cluster fuck of add on gauges and stereo that I've already cleared out and am waiting on a piggyback terminal kit to do the stereo power and gauge lights right.
Well, everything works except the fuel gauge, but I am currently thinking the "brand new" fuel sender I bought when this all started is to blame. It seemed old to me as soon as I pulled it out of the package. That's always a good sign of something that has never worked and eventually ended up in the hands of a shady reseller. I had a similar sinking feeling when I got that first messed up bumper in an open box, and sure enough, it was messed up. So, I won't be surprised if it turns out the sender is bad.
All of which reminds me, I need to google how to test the fuel sender.
Everything seems to be wired up and working, it's just a cluster fuck of add on gauges and stereo that I've already cleared out and am waiting on a piggyback terminal kit to do the stereo power and gauge lights right.
Well, everything works except the fuel gauge, but I am currently thinking the "brand new" fuel sender I bought when this all started is to blame. It seemed old to me as soon as I pulled it out of the package. That's always a good sign of something that has never worked and eventually ended up in the hands of a shady reseller. I had a similar sinking feeling when I got that first messed up bumper in an open box, and sure enough, it was messed up. So, I won't be surprised if it turns out the sender is bad.
All of which reminds me, I need to google how to test the fuel sender.
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b-body-bob
Well-known member
Cool. I guess the gauge could be correctly reading empty since I only put 5 gals in it to start with, but it never seemed to budge a bit off empty. I can sort of test it in place by checking the ohms through it and figuring out if that should be empty or not, but it seems I will have to actually have to remove it to test it by moving the float and checking that the ohms change accordingly.
b-body-bob
Well-known member
I read that you should also account for any ohmage built into the meter. Touch the probes together and see where your reading ends up. If the article I read is true, not all meters zero themselves so you're adding the ohms along the wire to the measured ohms when you take a reading. The cheap one that I've got did not, and IIRC had a high reading of about 6. I broke my last nice meter years ago but maybe this gives me a reason to go buy a decent HF DVM.
I removed the e-brake switch and found a bullet terminal that fit. Lucky me it was already soldered to a length of wire. Unlucky me, the wire is red and it needs to be black. Lucky me, I had some longish black shrink wrap so the red wire is black now. FWIW the switch is really easy to pull even with the seat in.
Now that's corrected, but the brake light on the dash is still on. With the e-brake released, it kind of wavers in brightness but never really goes out. When the brake is pulled, the light gets steady and bright. That is telling me something but I'm not sure what yet. Seems like maybe a weak ground between the dash and the other end of that wire down at the proportioning valve or in the proportioning valve itself. That's a tough spot with the big motor.
I removed the e-brake switch and found a bullet terminal that fit. Lucky me it was already soldered to a length of wire. Unlucky me, the wire is red and it needs to be black. Lucky me, I had some longish black shrink wrap so the red wire is black now. FWIW the switch is really easy to pull even with the seat in.
Now that's corrected, but the brake light on the dash is still on. With the e-brake released, it kind of wavers in brightness but never really goes out. When the brake is pulled, the light gets steady and bright. That is telling me something but I'm not sure what yet. Seems like maybe a weak ground between the dash and the other end of that wire down at the proportioning valve or in the proportioning valve itself. That's a tough spot with the big motor.
Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
This is something with which I'd concern myself only when dealing in milliohms. If you're set on ohms x 1 and you get a reading across your probes, your meter is worse than trash or your leads are solid green inside the insulation.
If you didn't have a problem prior to connecting the parking-brake switch, there shouldn't now be a problem in the prop valve wiring. If I'm guessing (which I am) I would expect to find that the parking brake light switch is not fully breaking contact with the handle fully in the released position. It's possible the switch or its mounting is somehow damaged, allowing partial/intermittent contact with the brake released.
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b-body-bob
Well-known member
My meter is definitely worse than trash.
This car had more problems to start with than you could shake a stick at. I don't think I even looked at the brake light until recently. But for sure the prop valve wiring and the valve itself seem like unlikely problems.
I'll check that closer. I remember that I could see plainly that it was gapped open about 1/4", which should be plenty. The switch itself did look kind of hinky like a little bit of wear or bending would cause it to make contact when you didn't want it to.
b-body-bob
Well-known member
I eliminated the e-brake switch as the problem by unplugging it and grounding/ungroundng the wire directly. The same dim light while ungrounded pointed to the prop valve and wiring as the problem.
I sprayed the switch with contact cleaner anyway.
I looked out under the hood and found several splits in the wiring insulation, but the problem turned out to be where the wire is in a retainer down low on the inner fender. I pulled the wire out of that and the light now works like it should. So the retainer had worn through the insulation and was grounding the wire.
Since I can't really get to the prop valve to unplug the wire and re-do it, I just applied electrical tape judiciously for the time being.
I sprayed the switch with contact cleaner anyway.
I looked out under the hood and found several splits in the wiring insulation, but the problem turned out to be where the wire is in a retainer down low on the inner fender. I pulled the wire out of that and the light now works like it should. So the retainer had worn through the insulation and was grounding the wire.
Since I can't really get to the prop valve to unplug the wire and re-do it, I just applied electrical tape judiciously for the time being.
Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
Liquid electrical tape is a nice option at times like those, assuming you're able to not paint everything around the item you're insulating.
I don't have a factory prop valve or switch on the Valiant, nor will I on the Challenger or Imperial. That light has never once told me anything I hadn't already figured out before it lit. You've got to push a soft pedal several times to get the light to finally admit there's a problem. I may use the dangling wire and dash in conjunction with the line lock.
I don't have a factory prop valve or switch on the Valiant, nor will I on the Challenger or Imperial. That light has never once told me anything I hadn't already figured out before it lit. You've got to push a soft pedal several times to get the light to finally admit there's a problem. I may use the dangling wire and dash in conjunction with the line lock.
b-body-bob
Well-known member
Here in WV if you've got a brake light lit up on the dash you don't get a safety sticker.
I think the sticker on my CTD has been expired for 8 years now, because the ABS is glitched and the only way to drive it safely was to pull the ABS relay under the hood. I also doubt I've but 2k miles on it during that period.
Cops don't even look at that grandpa vehicle, but you know they'll have an eye on the Duster. There's some kind of rule related to an antique tag and the lifespan of a sticker, but I'd still have to get the first one so I've gotta make it all work right. IIRC the sticker on it now is from 2007.
I think the sticker on my CTD has been expired for 8 years now, because the ABS is glitched and the only way to drive it safely was to pull the ABS relay under the hood. I also doubt I've but 2k miles on it during that period.
Cops don't even look at that grandpa vehicle, but you know they'll have an eye on the Duster. There's some kind of rule related to an antique tag and the lifespan of a sticker, but I'd still have to get the first one so I've gotta make it all work right. IIRC the sticker on it now is from 2007.
Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
The only way to get the the light in my dash to work is by pulling the parking brake. No prop valve switch = no light. We don't have inspections, but everything else on the car works as designed simply because I want it that way. Hell, stuff the car would've never had like the clutch switch even work as uh... not designed? It's like a brand-new clapped-out '69 Plymouth!
b-body-bob
Well-known member
Yeah I agree, I want things to work right whether the law requires it or not.
I put the front shocks on yesterday. Some creativity and zip ties did the trick.
I put the front shocks on yesterday. Some creativity and zip ties did the trick.
b-body-bob
Well-known member
Now for the next fun part, trying to get the car on stands and the rear end at the right height to get those shocks on with them factory strapped.
b-body-bob
Well-known member
I avoided putting the car on stands by wiring up the tach and some underdash gauges. Once I got that all worked up and went to put the tach back in place, I noticed that the mount had been broken and a piece riveted to it.
The piece was barely there to hold the thing in place under the band clamp. The cup looks to be magnesium but the bracket that screwed to that was steel so I knew I could rig something better up.
I dug around and found some sort of home hardware that fit into the remaining part of the mount. I think the thing I used was for hanging drapes or something. But I could weld that to the bracket part and shape it to fit where I needed it to, and after a few seconds of welding it's fixed better than it was, looks fine, and should hold it forever.
Sorry, no photos.
Also, the car ran out of gas yesterday, so it's possible the gauge is right and i didn't put as much gas in it as I thought I did.
The piece was barely there to hold the thing in place under the band clamp. The cup looks to be magnesium but the bracket that screwed to that was steel so I knew I could rig something better up.
I dug around and found some sort of home hardware that fit into the remaining part of the mount. I think the thing I used was for hanging drapes or something. But I could weld that to the bracket part and shape it to fit where I needed it to, and after a few seconds of welding it's fixed better than it was, looks fine, and should hold it forever.
Sorry, no photos.
Also, the car ran out of gas yesterday, so it's possible the gauge is right and i didn't put as much gas in it as I thought I did.
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b-body-bob
Well-known member
That's probably farther than I've driven the Duster. It's about 100 feet from where the wrecker dropped it to the garage next door, then from there to my garage is maybe a couple hundred yards. Which isn't a bad thing considering the brakes it had.
If I wanted to disconnect the sender and remove it for bench testing this would be the perfect time, but that's a lot of work just to find out that it works fine and the issue is user error
So this time I'll pay better attention to how much fuel I actually put in it.
If I wanted to disconnect the sender and remove it for bench testing this would be the perfect time, but that's a lot of work just to find out that it works fine and the issue is user error
So this time I'll pay better attention to how much fuel I actually put in it.