brown wire bummer

[georgeramos]

Finally did the brown wirefixtoday. Did a careful, clean job including managing to push the wire through the shrunk tube with the other alternator wires, running it behind the metal plate along the top of the firewall etc. Connected it to the blank #30 behind the switch and...no change. lights no brighter, wipers no faster...

anyone else ever run into this?

Thanks

George

[4uall]

what year of car do you have? I was going to do this as well until it was brought to my attention that mine had a factory installed brown wire fix


IMG_0494 by itzebtze, on Flickr

[georgeramos]

71 there seems to have been some mods but I dont think the brown wire fix was among them.

[4uall]

My understanding was that they started in 1980. Looks like I made it just in time. Other than relays I am not sure myself.

[RRoller123]

I would expect that if the wipers, lights etc are no better, that the weak (high resistance) electrical connections therefore must be further downstream from the switch, so the Brown Wire in that case only lessens the load up to the switch. I am in the middle of taking a quite different approach to this that I will share with the Forum as it is completed. I am running a heavy lead directly from the battery connection to a firewall-mounted electrical box with a high amperage connector distribution block installed, from which I can provide rewired fresh power directly to anywhere that it is needed (lights, wires, fog lamps, etc etc.) The box is big enough to hold the relays too, so the old wiring just becomes trigger signals for the relays, and the rat's nest of connections under the dash become largely irrelevant. This approach also negates the need for the Brown Wire fix. The firewall on the driver's side looks to have enough space to mount the box. Will advise and show pics as it progresses, but I must admit it is going to take some time as my Spider time these days is limited!

[georgeramos]

Ive also mounted a power distribution block off which I plan to run relays for the lights (hi & low) and maybe the wipers (frankly i dont plan on driving the car in rain but this IS Oregon) but I thought Id do the brown wire first since its easier and my hobby time has also been quite limited.

I am still curious though as to why there was no change. thanks for the replies, I will investigate further.

George

[124JOE]

to me theres no change because all your factory connections are fine

[jimmycakes401]

Looking forward to seeing Roller's approach. I don't even know if I have any problems yet, but it seems like a good way to be READY for any problems that arise.

[RRoller123]

It will take a while but I will post it. The basic idea is to have newly wired fresh power to distribute where wanted, with one local box that holds relays and connections, protected from the elements and easy to service. Hope it actually works! I think space will be the biggest challenge. <{:^)

[jimmycakes401]

I look forward to it. Take lots of pictures. Then post the new thread link in this thread so we can all check it out.

[baltobernie]

Why do half the job? Introducing fresh "power" doesn't cure any "signal" issues, as George has discovered.

If you're doing a complete restoration, the Cure is a modern wiring layout and harness:
http://www.dcfiats.org/tech/Installing% ... less-C.pdf

[RRoller123]

Fresh power removes the voltage loss from the rat's nest, and establishes a better power distribution scheme. I have no intention of rewiring the entire rats nest. The current connections are all acceptable for relay signalling. Also plan to look at replacing the horrible original fender well ground-pod approach with a terminal block approach.

[124ADDHE]

Sounds like a grounding issue.

Also, if you want real performance from your car electrical, run the brown wire from the alternator with a fuseable link real close to the alternator, much less resistance. Also to get any real performance, the headlights need to be wired to relays, again, powered from the alternator directly and switched with the old headlight power supply, this will allow all the lights, wipers, guages and etc to be run to a much higher potential - hey, i hear people complain about the wipers over the years but actually they work just fine (other than parking high at times) if they have the correct voltage. always use dielectric grease on your grounds on this car, clean them up with some 4-600 grit first though.

to do the relays with all the soldering and etc will only run about $10-$15, probably even less south of the boarder.

If on a budget, go strip wires from the junk yard lol

[marty3d]

Newbie here...what is this "brown wire fix?" Looking at my '81, I have a brown power wire coming from the starter to a connector under the dash and ultimately to the ignition switch. There is another coming directly from the battery to the relay set for the fuel pump and fuel injection. Are they frequently the source of problems?

If I wanted to redirect power to the headlights, I could tap into the under-dash power connector (C17 on the wiring diagrams) as there is a spare lug already in place. Bad idea?

I should add that it seems that almost all of the electrical needs of the car run through the ignition switch. Mine had a poor connection inside the switch that reduced voltage to the turn signals/ignition. I would not be surprised to see similar issues on the other outlet from the ignition switch that powers headlights, etc. Installing a relay here to bypass most of the power would seem to be ideal.

[RRoller123]

The "brown wire fix" increases the carrying capacity of the wiring that leads up to the ignition switch, and you are correct in noting that nearly all the power distribution runs through the ignition switch, which is a problem. So usually 2 things get done: First is to add a heavy "brown wire" as per many earlier posts to increase the capacity to the ign switch, and second is to run the high draw items, headlights, wipers, foglights, etc from relays, to lower the load passing theough the ign switch.

My understanding is that from 1980 on, the cars had the "brown wire fix" installed at the factory? Someone can correct me on this if I am wrong.

My approach is the emphasis getting the load off the ignition switch in the first place by using relays, triggered by the normal wiring, but at resultant dramatically lower amperage, and to simultaneously provide fresh power distribution from a new feed, and also to replace the ground pods with ground blocks. That should clean it all up, and provide high voltage where needed without having to mount an expedition into the horrible rat's nest under the dash. It remains to be seen if this will all work, but I will report as it gets done.