[DeTomaso] Rookie Update...

Wed Aug 25 17:06:44 EDT 2010

Peter the idea of having a small electrical " first aide kit is a great
idea. I have a small bag (kind of like a gym bag. In it I have  a very good
quality multi meter ( if you are not familiar with operating one good ones
usually come with very good instructions , or you can pick up a book at your
local book store or library)  Like indy dave I have a couple of jumpers with
male and female ends so I can make jumpers to test individual circuits. Two
good test lights (one powered and one that uses the batteries power and
lights when grounded) a box of male and a box of female wire ends
replacement fuses, a note book with laminated pages of all the Pantera
schematics as shown in the Pantera place electrical section and a couple of
spools of wire in the common wire sizes 16 ga, 18 ga etc. and a good wire
stripper and small wire cutters. I also have a spark plug circuit tester ( a
small device  you put in line between a spark plug wire and the spark plug
or between the coil and distributor and it lights up when you get current to
the spark plug. It's great for diagnosing starting problems.
Boyd

On Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 10:49 AM, Dave McManus <dave at damardirect.com> wrote:

> Peter,
> One of the best electrical items in my toolbox is two 15 ft zip cords, aka
> lamp cord, with insulated alligator clips on each end (red & blk).
>
> Great for running a dedicated jump ground to a lamp or a 12v supply, i.e.
> to
> see if a fan works out of the circuit loop. They can be real time savers.
>
> IndyDave
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: michael at michaelshortt.com [mailto:michaelsavga at gmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 11:09 PM
> To: peterdemayo at comcast.net
> Cc: DeTomaso Forum
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Rookie Update...
>
> That little box is the Reverse Switch to activate your Reverse lights
> inside
> the tail light assembly. If that box is smashed, it could be grounding out
> God knows what, disconnect the wires from it, cover the ends with a wire
> nut
> and secure it with black electrical tape.  Now see what happens. You'll
> want
> to replace the little box.
>
> 8.0 amp fuse, I don't recall seeing any of those on my original style fuse
> box, see the list on Pantera Place and replace/check them all, its not
> unusual for folks to just slap anything in a blown fuse socket to get home.
>
> Michael Shortt
>
> On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 11:00 PM, <peterdemayo at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > Alright, the Rookie is back (graciously) with some results from all of
> your
> > advice. I can't say what caused the problems, or exactly how they are all
> > linked. However, tremendous progress has been made with my electrical
> > issues. I will go in chronological order w/ the steps taken.
> > Before I proceed, there are a couple of quick things worth mentioning:
> > .                My previous email mentioned that illumination lights for
> > all gauges and speedometer were out, but tach worked. Fans and fan light
> > were not working either. Before jumping into things tonight I took time
> to
> > see if and anything else electrical was out. Low and behold the reverse
> > lights and front passenger turn signal were not operating.
> > .                One thing I did not bring up before is my key ignition.
> I
> > didn't think it was related to my problems, and it very well may not be.
> > Nonetheless, somehow it was miraculously fixed tonight. I have been
> having
> > problems turning off the car. I turn the key back and instead of the car
> > shutting off it just keeps running. It's been about a 50/50 split
> > occurrence.
> > Let the games begin:
> > 1)        Left Fuse #3 out, which is the one that kept blowing when I
> > started the car.
> > 2)        Did ground test on fan relay and messed with wire. Fan and fan
> > light went one! I have tried this once before and last time it was
> > unsuccessful; go figure.
> > 3)        Instrument lights, front pass turn signal, speedo, and reverse
> > lights still remained out. Keep in mind Fuse #3 was still removed.
> > 4)        Replaced fuse #3 multiple times after messing with relays and
> > starting car. Fuse blew every time. Everything out, but fans working
> great
> > and did so for rest of the night.
> > 5)        Replaced Fuse #3 with a 10 amp vs. the 8 amp the box calls for,
> > messed with relays... and finally all instrument lights/speedo came on!
> Fuse
> > did not blow.  All the better, I realized my buddy and I had turned the
> car
> > off and on numerous times.  Not once did I have a problem w/ the key
> > ignition or turning off the car. Throughout the remainder of the night,
> > there were an "s-load" of starts and shut-offs. Again and again the key
> > ignt. worked flawlessly. Linked? Who knows?
> > 6)        Reverse and Rt. Pass. Signal remained out.
> > 7)        After pulling my hair out for a while, I finally stumbled upon
> > what I think is the reverse light problem and why fuse #3 may be blowing.
> On
> > the left side of the trans there is a shifter housing mounted. It has a
> > small 1" metal "cube" that screws into the housing w/ 2 wires coming off.
> > The bottom was blown out and hanging. Obviously the connection is
> destroyed.
> > Regardless if this is failing the rev. lights or not, it needs to be
> fixed.
> > 8)        Will this fix the turn signal? I think so, but I would love to
> > hear everyone's thoughts.
> >  Hope I didn't bore you with my ordeal, but I felt compelled to respond.
> > Lots of passion flying around my issue in the last 24 hours! Personally I
> > think it was an epic entrance into POCA!  You can't buy that! Thanks so
> much
> > everyone; I assure you that every single opinion was taken with
> > appreciation.
> > PJD
> > PS- I owe you all pictures, stay tuned!
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>
> --
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Michael L. Shortt
> Savannah, Georgia
> www.michaelshortt.com
> michael at michaelshortt.com
> 912-232-9390
>
>
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