I had an electrical issue with my 1976 Cobra II that I wanted to share with everyone. There was an inline fuse that blew that was hooked to the solenoid and went into the wiring harness. My brother and I (he's an electrical engineer), replaced it with a 30 amp fuse holder. A year or more later, I found that the fuse would blow for no apparent reason. The car would start fine then after I shut it off, it wouldn't even turn over. For a while I kept a bunch of fuses in the car in case I had to stop, then I would replace it and start the car again.
I discussed this with my brother and we reviewed the wiring diagram. It seemed that this wire was somehow linked (according to the color) to the rear window defroster (why I ordered that as part of the car, I will never know....NEVER driven in the winter). This did not make any sense so I looked all possible sources of an inadvertent ground and lo and behold, found that the rubber cover on the alternator was maybe too close to the spark plug wires (first picture). I didn't see how this could be it but maybe when the engine is revving, it bounces enough to get close.
So I zip tied the wires away from it and put a temporary wire cover on the alternator.
Problem solved!
I discussed this with my brother and we reviewed the wiring diagram. It seemed that this wire was somehow linked (according to the color) to the rear window defroster (why I ordered that as part of the car, I will never know....NEVER driven in the winter). This did not make any sense so I looked all possible sources of an inadvertent ground and lo and behold, found that the rubber cover on the alternator was maybe too close to the spark plug wires (first picture). I didn't see how this could be it but maybe when the engine is revving, it bounces enough to get close.
So I zip tied the wires away from it and put a temporary wire cover on the alternator.
Problem solved!
