Working thru some wiring problems (wiper/engine harness/fuseable link)

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zeth hale

Greasemonkey
Aug 12, 2016
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clare, Michigan
Hey guys been a while since I've been on the forum or had a g body that I was working on. My dad recently has been diagnosed with cancer so we got him a car to work on to keep his mind busy thru it. It's an 84 El Camino the previous owner did alot of things to it that were subpar and I told my dad that when we were there but he liked the car so we got it for alot less then what it was listed as.
IMG_20200309_172040.jpg

Anyways the PO removed all the wiper components and heater components and hacked alot of the underhood wiring. As far as getting the wipers to work I think I found a person that's willing to sell me the 1/2 of the harness that has the wiper wiring on it, as it was cut off at the firewall. I don't have a volt gauge in the car that works and when I was fixing the trans lines I seen that they had one of the fuseable link wires next to the starter laying on the header.
IMG_20200320_143742.jpg
also note the 5 wires cut in the engine harness. The only 2 remaining go to alt excite and alt charge volt. I know the fuseable link should go to the + post on starter and by the picture below I would assume it is fuse panel feed that is broken. Could anyone ID the other wires that are cut in the valley? I'd eventually like to put heat back in the car for him and just want to pull any unnecessary wires out of the harness the correct way rather then leave them open to possibly ground out or cause electrical Gremlins thank you for any help 👍
StarterSystem.jpg
 

85442/86buick

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Feb 12, 2013
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Welcome Back ,

Sorry to hear about your father , fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
 
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mikester

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Mar 10, 2010
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Sorry to hear your father is going through this. I also had a "touch" of it back in 2008. Its not an easy thing to hear when the doctor tells you. Getting the car was a good idea.
As far as the wiring, the loose wire with the link is supposed to be in the same terminal as the other one. At least thats how its been on both of my cars. Understand, the link is the wire from the terminal to the black barrel. The black barrel is basically a factory butt connector.
Did the car have AC ? I coundnt tell by the photo but if it did/does the 4 cut wires might have been for that.
There should also be a purple wire (most likely faded to a different color) that goes from the small post on the starter to the bulkhead connection on the firewall. Thats the start wire.
You should also have a 12ga red wire from the starter post to the large post with a rubber boot on the alternator. Hope that helps a little.
 
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mikester

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Mar 10, 2010
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Just looked at my 83. The 4 wires that are cut.. red, black, dark green and light green ? If those are the colors theyre for the AC.
 
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zeth hale

Greasemonkey
Aug 12, 2016
244
218
43
clare, Michigan
Sorry to hear your father is going through this. I also had a "touch" of it back in 2008. Its not an easy thing to hear when the doctor tells you. Getting the car was a good idea.
As far as the wiring, the loose wire with the link is supposed to be in the same terminal as the other one. At least thats how its been on both of my cars. Understand, the link is the wire from the terminal to the black barrel. The black barrel is basically a factory butt connector.
Did the car have AC ? I coundnt tell by the photo but if it did/does the 4 cut wires might have been for that.
There should also be a purple wire (most likely faded to a different color) that goes from the small post on the starter to the bulkhead connection on the firewall. Thats the start wire.
You should also have a 12ga red wire from the starter post to the large post with a rubber boot on the alternator. Hope that helps a little.
Just looked at my 83. The 4 wires that are cut.. red, black, dark green and light green ? If those are the colors theyre for the AC.
So I guess there is only 1 wire up to the alternator I assume one of these in my hand is the other end of the one that was supposed to be on the starter and run the battery voltage to the alternator. He has the battery voltage signal hooked directly to charge post. Anyways so I should be able to delete those 4 ac wires as he doesn't plan to reuse ac. Just gotta figure out the light blue dark blue and brown?
IMG_20200321_201551.jpg
the only wire left seems to be excite wire from ign
IMG_20200321_201557.jpg
 

mikester

Comic Book Super Hero
Mar 10, 2010
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3,639
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Small town NY
Two things. First and most important. GET RID OF THE GLASS FUEL FILTER !!!!!!! Thats a huge fire hazard. Replace it with a metal can. They should have stopped making those years ago.
The second thing you might want to do is remove the split loom so folks can see exactly what you have as far as wiring right there. I would have to see what everything looks like and figure out where the wires start and stop. The alternator plugs in both of my cars are 2 wire. Brown for the exciter wire and a 12ga red. Then theres a 12ga red going to the hot post on the alternator.
If you do a search by my user name Ive posted a bunch of wiring questions and got a ton of help from the guys here.

Look through this thread I posted a while ago. It might help you but I dont know if your car was wired the same as mine. Look at comment #12

 
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zeth hale

Greasemonkey
Aug 12, 2016
244
218
43
clare, Michigan
Two things. First and most important. GET RID OF THE GLASS FUEL FILTER !!!!!!! Thats a huge fire hazard. Replace it with a metal can. They should have stopped making those years ago.
The second thing you might want to do is remove the split loom so folks can see exactly what you have as far as wiring right there. I would have to see what everything looks like and figure out where the wires start and stop. The alternator plugs in both of my cars are 2 wire. Brown for the exciter wire and a 12ga red. Then theres a 12ga red going to the hot post on the alternator.
If you do a search by my user name Ive posted a bunch of wiring questions and got a ton of help from the guys here.

Look through this thread I posted a while ago. It might help you but I dont know if your car was wired the same as mine. Look at comment #12

Yeah the glass filter is getting thrown out along with the rubber line it'll have a hard line from the pump up to the fuel filter then soft over to carb

The split loom is just laying there in the pics the wires that were in it are in my hand in the pic
 

zeth hale

Greasemonkey
Aug 12, 2016
244
218
43
clare, Michigan
IMG_20200322_165500.jpg

Ok so I pulled all the wiring out back to the fuse panel plug and I have a blueish green, a peach and a brown with stripe that actually makes it back to the firewall. I have the broken + lead that goes to the starter + post that I need to put an eyelet on.

I have a heavy 12 gauge? Wire that runs towards the alt (is spliced into the other + fuse link on starter) but is cut short. Also have a green wire that runs that way but is cut on both sides of the factory T in the split loom
Possibly for the AC but don't have volt sense wire on the alt all I have going to the alt is a brown excite wire that runs back to the ign in this harness. (Power post on alt is ran directly to + battery post. I've got a manual coming for the car but shipping is slow right now
 
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