[DeTomaso] Electrical questions--HELP!

Tomas Gunnarsson guson at home.se
Sun Apr 29 04:53:08 EDT 2007


Connecting the black and blue wire to the negative side of the coil should bring your tach back to life.

Tomas

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christopher Kimball" <chrisvkimball at msn.com>
To: <cdifani at pacbell.net>
Cc: <detomaso at realbig.com>
Sent: den 29 april 2007 08:49
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Electrical questions--HELP!


> 
> Thanks for the note--I actually did charge the battery overnight with a 
> trickle charger, and you can read other details in the note I just sent to 
> the forum in answer to another note I got.
> 
> The Dakota Digital fan system seems to work great (assuming it's not the 
> cause of all my problems!)  The unit with an extra relay to control both 
> fans separately, plus the sending unit (ordered separately along with the 
> extra relay) cost about $125 plus shipping.
> 
> As far as the tach--I think the tach wire needs to go to one of the 
> terminals on the coil, but I'm not sure which.  Plus, I'm not sure which 
> wire from the car is the tach wire.  The diagram I have shows a white wire 
> and a black/w blue stripe wire both going to the tach, but it doesn't show 
> if they hook to different places.  There is a molex connector from the car 
> which has a pink wire on one terminal and a black wire with a blue stripe 
> tied to a black wire on the other terminal.  Currently, the pink wire is 
> going to the positive terminal on the coil and the black/black/w bule stripe 
> wire combo is not hooked to anything.  I'm wondering if the black/black w/ 
> blue stripe wire combo is the one I should hook to one of the coil terminals 
> to get the tach working, but again, I don't know if that's true or if it is, 
> which coil terminal to use!  The alternator is new from Pantera Performance, 
> but I didn't get any instructions with it.
> 
> I'm really reticent to try anything until I find out why the ammeter is 
> pegging to the right--it's showing 75 amps flowing through it.  No wonder it 
> started smoking!
> 
> One more thing; when I lifted the ground while the car was running, the 
> ammeter went back to normal (just a little above zero), but since that also 
> caused the fans to stop, I realized I couldn't do the second ten minutes of 
> my cam break-in without risking overheating, so I just turned off the car 
> immediately.
> 
> Oh brother!
> 
> Thanks again,
> 
> Chris
> 
> >From: "Chris Difani" <cdifani at pacbell.net>
> >Reply-To: "Chris Difani" <cdifani at pacbell.net>
> >To: "Christopher Kimball" <chrisvkimball at msn.com>
> >Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Electrical questions--HELP!
> >Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 15:44:01 -0700
> >
> >Chris:
> >
> >As for the engine temp, watch your temp gauge. If it climbs too high, past 
> >the 200° mark, then you may have an issue.
> >
> >On the ammmeter, just what Tomas said. Remember that battery probably isn't 
> >"full", and it's just had a big drain on it via the starter. So it's going 
> >to be calling for all the juice it can get from the alternator to get 
> >filled back up, just as soon as possible. But after 45 seconds, maybe a 
> >minute, it should back off a bit. Kinda kick down a bit, maybe to the 30 
> >amp mark. Then eventually it will drop all the way down to the middle, 
> >zero.
> >
> >One thing you can do is charge your battery up with an external battery 
> >charger. Get it full to begin with, before you start the car. That's 
> >probably a good idea since it will keep the big load off your alternator.
> >
> >As to the tach, you should be able to look in your directions, and info 
> >from the distributor manufacturer and the coil maker, and see what they 
> >say. Your tach needs both switched power (as in it's power turns on with 
> >the key), and a signal (from the coil usually or the distributor), and a 
> >ground. That's about all.... unless you've gone completely wonkers like I 
> >did in my instruments with something like 17 wires coming from one, and 13 
> >from the other...
> >
> >Now about that Dakota switch system. Which model is it, and what do you 
> >think of it? I'm kinda thinking about that too....
> >
> >Hope this helps, and all that stuff.
> >
> >Chris
> >
> >Chris Difani
> >'73 L #5829 "LITNNG"
> >Sacramento, CA
> >Email: cdifani at pacbell.net
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Kimball" 
> ><chrisvkimball at msn.com>
> >To: <detomaso at realbig.com>
> >Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2007 2:44 PM
> >Subject: [DeTomaso] Electrical questions--HELP!
> >
> >
> >>Well, it happened again.
> >>
> >>This afternoon my mechanic was SUPPOSED to come over and finish the work 
> >>on
> >>the '72 to get it running and the cam broken in, or seated, or whatever.
> >>But, for about the fifth time, life intervened, there was a death in his
> >>wife's family, and he isn't going to make it.
> >>
> >>Therefore, I am once again asking for help from the ever-helpful forum
> >>(maybe I can do this myself and save some money!)  There are two immediate
> >>things with which I need help:
> >>
> >>1) Although the motor needs to be run for 20 minutes to break in the new 
> >>cam
> >>(that's what I was told, I don't exactly know how that works), I have run
> >>the car for 30 seconds or so, just to make sure it runs, and the first
> >>problem is that the tachometer doesn't work.  I received a new, 
> >>single-wire
> >>alternator from Pantera Performance, and I apparently have a ready-to-run
> >>distributor, so I was told I just need to hook up one wire for the tach to
> >>work.  My first question is which wire and where do I hook it?
> >>
> >>2) The other problem is that when the car is running, the ammeter pegs to
> >>the right all the way.  Although I'm completely pathetic as a mechanic, I 
> >>do
> >>know that although it's good that the alternator is providing power, the
> >>needle is supposed to sit about in the middle of the gauge, not all the 
> >>way
> >>to the right.  What do I need to do to correct this problem?
> >>
> >>There is one more question I have as well.  I installed a Dakota Digital 
> >>fan
> >>relay system and set the fans to turn on at 150 and 175 degrees,
> >>respectively.  I ran the wire to the new sensor I bought and installed in
> >>the engine block by the water pump.  How long will the engine run before 
> >>the
> >>fans should kick in?  I was thinking if I could fix the first two problems 
> >>I
> >>might try running the car for 20 minutes at 2000 RPMs to break in the cam,
> >>but if for some reason the fans don't work, I need to know how long before 
> >>I
> >>should shut off the engine to avoid damage.  With everything being new,
> >>there is a very pronounced "hot" smell if I run it for even a minute or 
> >>two.
> >>  (I have put all new coolant in).
> >>
> >>I know this is asking a lot, but if anyone can help me with any of these
> >>questions, I'd really appreciate it.  I REALLY WANT TO DRIVE MY PANTERA!!
> >>(It's actually starting to get sunny here in the Evergreen State and 
> >>believe
> >>me, that doesn't last for long).
> >>
> >>Thanks,
> >>
> >>Chris
> >>
> >>
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> >>
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> 
> 
> 


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