[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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