Electrical Interference?

[wmpwilson]

Hey ya'll,

I just finally got my 77 Spider on the road after 6 years. It seems to run okay, with minor gliches which I intend to remedy as the weeks go by. My main issue right now is with an intermittent Electrical Issue..I'll try and describe it to the best of my ability-----

1) When first started, car runs good, but normal cold running issue--hard to idle.
2) Tach does not work.
3) Radio Works fine.
4) After running a while, the radio begins to distort and pop, tach moves all over the place, dash lights blink. If I'm not careful, engine will die at a stop.
5) A couple times I lost all power to the dash and engine quit. The starter would crank, but no ignition power--Dash lights came back on after engaging starter in gear with clutch out.

Any ideas as to what I'm dealing with? I'm thinking it is loose wires somewhere, but I cant find any loose. Also, the radio has a lot of "noise" which made me think of a possible condensor bad..

Thanks for your input.....

[So Cal Mark]

disconnect the tach from the coil and see what happens, I've seen shorted tachs cause similar troubles

[wmpwilson]

I will try that tomorrow, thanks----as an Update, on my way home from work tonight, when I pulled up to a light everything went dead again. Had headlights, taillights and starter motor, but nothing else--no fuel pump, dashlights, blinkers, etc... I tried messing with wires in the dark, running hands along wires to see if there were any loose connections, but couldn't find anything. After about 15 mins sitting at the light in the dark, I pushed car thru light and down a hill, popping clutch----fired right up and ran great. When I got home, turned off and started again no problem....

[bwilson27]

When the electronics go south on these cars, you can be 99.9999% sure that it's a bad ground somewhere. If Mark's suggestion doesn't work out, start looking at your grounding pods.
It's those bad grounds that gives the car a bad rep. Silly Italians and even sillier Russian steel.

[TommyClocks]

I was reading through these posts and was wondering where the grounding points could be found. I have a 1975 Spider with a split personality, some days it runs fine. Lately I am glad that I have AAA. I am having ignition problems and would like to eliminate poor grounding as a cause.

Thanks,
Tom

[2ndwind]

wmpwilson,
I just went through almost identical problems. With a lot of help from members of this board, I was able to determine that the black wire coming from the alternator needed the contacts cleaned up. They didn't look terribly corroded but sort of darkened. Shining them up with scotch bright did the trick. I know too, grounding can be an issue so prior to the black wire discovery, I went through and cleaned the terminals on the grounding pods on each inner fender and the one under the dash, ignition side. My electronics friend stressed the importance of good grounds and contacts everywhere. We tightened each of the spade terminals by squashing them a little bit with needle nose pliers. When you shove them back on, they are good and tight.

[boogiedude]

your car reminds me of this:

[mcane227]

I've been learning a great deal from everyone and I want to thank you all.

I've had several problems and I am presently in the process of cleaning up my electrical connections under the hood. I've replaced all of the connectors to the pods, using dielectric grease and making sure the wires are in good shape. In a few instances there was some corosion and "green" discoloration which was quickly cleaned up by spreading the strands and dipping briefly in acid, followed by water. The pods themselves were removed and likewise cleaned up. The first by sanding and grinding to bare metal. The second by dipping in acid, which was unbelievably fast and thorough. They look brand new.

I intend to change and upgrade all visible connections to the coil, alternator and whatever else I can find. I will have to look for the pod under the dash. May need some help finding it. Then on to the ignition switch for a cleanup. Headlight relays will be installed with the help of friends from newjerseyfiats.org.

My question is this: Can the bolt that holds the ground pod be removed and replaced? They are kind of rusty and I want to be sure all connections are with good, bare metal.

Again, thanks for the help.

[mcane227]

Mission accomplished. Using a brass wire brush, metal brush on the dremel, some CLR, and elbow grease, the bolt looks pretty good and acceptable. On to the under dash pod.

[mcane227]

Mission accomplished. Using a brass wire brush, metal brush on the dremel, some CLR, and elbow grease, the bolt looks pretty good and acceptable. On to the under dash pod.