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Wiring Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Darrel
  • Start date Start date Aug 27, 2011
D

Darrel

New Member
Jul 27, 2011
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0
2
Aug 27, 2011
#1
  • Aug 27, 2011
  • #1
Have a question on wiring. I have installed a complete Ron Frances Harness in my 65 mustang. I am now ready to check to see if every thing works. On the instructions it said to make sure the ignition switch and all accessories are off . It said to connect to the battery positive cable only , Do not connect the negative cable. Then it said to take your test light and connect it to the negative post on the battery and the other end to the body ... If the light comes on you have a direct short somewhere, well guess what mine comes on. Now the question is what or how do I find the short ? Any ideas thanks for the help everyone.
 
J

JamesW

Member
Jul 15, 2005
64
0
6
Central Texas
Aug 27, 2011
#2
  • Aug 27, 2011
  • #2
Start at your fuse box. remove a fuse one at at time until you isolate the circuit. then begin to diagnose what is wrong in that area
 
D

Darrel

New Member
Jul 27, 2011
16
0
2
Aug 30, 2011
#3
  • Aug 30, 2011
  • #3
Wiring

Ok, had my wife hold the test light and told her to let me know when the light goes off. I did not get to any fuses just started to move some wires out of the way when she said the light went off ?????? I checked it and it was off so I tried the ignition to see if the engine would turn and it did. Ok I checked the heater switch and it works, the wipers worked and then i pulled out the lights and the dash lit up however I checked the tailights and the one on the left was bright and the one on the right was dim I reached over to twist the bulb and it blew the fuse. I did some checking and I had failed to ground the tailight assembly near the bulbs. I could not find any thing on how to ground them so I went from the tailight housing bolt to the rear trunk bracket do you think this would work also do I need to buy a grounding strap from the body to the motor someone told me I need one any ideas on what I should do next
 

Tim65GT

Active Member
Feb 24, 2004
1,149
2
39
West Texas
Aug 30, 2011
#4
  • Aug 30, 2011
  • #4
If twisting the bulb blew the fuse, I would say the housing wad already grounded...

You might need to replace the springs and insulator plate inside the bulb socket/housing if they are original.
 

Rusty67

20+ Year Stangneter
Dec 3, 2002
3,749
37
109
LA, CA
Aug 30, 2011
#5
  • Aug 30, 2011
  • #5
One way or another, the motor should definately be grounded to the chassis of the car. If your motor isn't grounded you should do so now as it can cause all kinds of wierdness. Much less so in these older cars, the newer cars with EFI/computers can have really wierd symptoms from bad grounding.

If you think there is an issue in the rear harness, disconnect the harness from the under dash harness to try an isolate the issue. I'm not sure if the Ron Frances kit has disconnect plugs for that run but the stock harness does....
 
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