[DeTomaso] Recurring Electrical Problems (was Dear Boyd...)
boyd casey
boyd411 at gmail.com
Thu Aug 26 02:03:33 EDT 2010
On Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 11:44 PM, <wkooiman at earthlink.net> wrote:
> My problems...
> Ihad the same problem with my fuse box. The fuses kept losing contact with
> the fuse holders. I don't know if it was from the fuse holders being
> stretched to far open or if the weather in the north east kept causing the
> external fuse contacts to corrode (I tried useing chemical to remove
> oxidation but the problem continued) The best soulution was using the glass
> bullet shaped fuses but they became impossible to find, I finally broke down
> (not literally) and bought the Pantera electronics fuse box. All the
> intermitent electrical problems I had vanished. Soon after that my headlight
> relay burned out so I bought the Pantera electronics headlight controller. I
> like the fact that iy dosen't allow the lights to go own until the headlight
> doors are all the way open, the leds to show the status of the various
> systems and the jumper that allows "super Hi beams" (all four projector
> lights one at once) It's great for driving on dark unlit roads. I did the
> radiator relay mod as shown in the Pantera Place article. . The only other
> problem of an electrical nature was a hot start problem which was solved by
> following the wiring instructions of the starter vendor and runing the lead
> to the sarter from the hot side of the solenoid. The car starts a turns over
> hot with more torque and speed then my old strater did when it was cold.
> This is using one of the $49.00 PMGR starters from the internet vendor that
> was written about on the list.
Boyd
> Electrical problems...
>
> About 2 weeks after I got my car, it started smoking into the cabin. I
> quickly shut it off and coasted to the side of the road. The smoking
> stopped. It smelled electrical. I couldn't find anything wrong, so I
> started it back up, and headed for home. I made it 100 feet or so, and it
> started smoking again. This time, I could tell it was coming from the front
> trunk. The previous owner had run wires from the battery cables, through 2
> inline fuses, and to dual SPAL radiator fans (which were mounted backwards
> and wired backwards which works, but with curved blades, they don't work
> worth a damn, but that's another story). One of the inline fuses had
> melted, but it didn't blow.
>
> Analysis - previous owner mod, technically okay, even though the routing
> was unprofessional and the fuse carrier was defective - not DeTomaso's
> fault.
>
> About 2 weeks after that, I adjusted the carburetor, and took it for a
> spin. When I gave it some gas, the tach went to zero, and the engine died.
> I left it on the side of the road for the night (that was hard). I picked
> it up the next day by walking (3-4 miles) to the car with a tool box. I ran
> a hot wire from the battery, over the top of the car, to the coil. It
> started right up, and I drove it home. And, of course, once I got home I
> removed my hack. The car died because when I adjusted the carburetor, I
> must have knocked the electric choke wire off the carburetor. The choke was
> wired to the alternator w/out a fuse. When I hit the gas, the wire grounded
> to the intake, melted the insulation, melted through the insulation of a
> wire it was touching - the tach wire, and melted the insulation on the tach
> wire all the way to the dash until it shorted out the hot wire to the coil.
>
> Analysis - previous owner mod, technically okay, but it should have had a
> fuse on the choke wire. Also - current owner should have been more careful.
>
> About 6 months later, I was replaced the headliner. I accidentally shorted
> out the dome light wire as I was working on the back section of the
> headliner. It started smoking, but I stopped it before it melted through
> anywhere.
>
> Analysis - Why didn't the fuse blow? I don't know. Maybe the wiring loom
> has an issue due to the previous problems. I've since checked the wires,
> and while there are some problems, they aren't near the dome light wiring.
> Why didn't the current owner remove the battery cables? Isn't he smarter
> than that? Or does he think he's so good that he can work on a live
> electrical system?
>
> Here's another: My tail lights stopped working. I forget the exact
> symptoms, but it turned out to be a short in the license plate area.
>
> Analysis - SO Bill rocks. Ask him an electrical question. He'll know the
> answer.
>
> Recurring problems:
>
> 1. The fuse box doesn't hold the fuses tight enough. After a while, they
> stop working. If I twirl the fuses, they start working again. Analysis?
> Maybe I have cheap fuses? Maybe the fuse box has been bent around too much
> and they don't hold tightly anymore?
>
> 2. The dash lights weren't bright enough. I added extra lights per the
> Space City project. The extra lights are great, but I switched to Autometer
> gauges later on, so the fix was brief.
>
> 3. The rocker switches for lights, etc. in the center console are poorly
> made. I've broken several, and some of them were brand new, and they broke
> just by attaching blade connectors. I wasn't pushing/pulling on them very
> hard. They just cracked and fell apart.
>
> Next project:
>
> I'm installing the Pantera Electronics fuse box. It is wonderfully made.
> If it is 1/2 as good as I think it will be, I'll be a happy camper. I plan
> on using all of the original DeTomaso parts, but I plan on replacing
> anything that is damaged.
>
> My overall analysis: There are issues with the stock Pantera wiring,
> especially if you include all of the components - switches, motors, etc.
> The issues are slightly overstated and easily fixed, though, especially if
> you catch them before someone else fixes them with hackery.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: JJD1010 at aol.com
> >Sent: Aug 25, 2010 10:47 PM
> >To: detomaso at realbig.com
> >Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Dear Boyd - was Rookie needs help
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >In a message dated 8/25/2010 7:07:38 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
> >mikeldrew at aol.com writes:
> >
> >A more valid question would be, "How many owners have recurring
> >electrical problems with systems that were not modified, or hacked in
> >some way?" Chances are, the number would be very small.
> >
> >____
> >
> >
> >I drove a bone stock 74 Pantera ( I was the original owner ) daily for 3
> >1/2 years and never had an electrical problem. In fact, the car never had
> a
> >problem of any kind. I drove it in the heat of summer and the cold of
> >winter in Chicago. Once Panteras got thru the early problems of the 71-72
> cars,
> >they were very reliable, provided they were maintained properly.
> >
> >Jeff
> >6559
> >
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