Gauge problems

[KiltedBanshees93GT]

Well, I just tried to remedy my gauge problems, and seemed to have found/made even more problems. The gauges on the car havent worked since I got them , the fuel and oil would peg as soon as the car was started, temp is dead, and the ammeter doesent move at all.

I got a instrument voltage regulator, figuring that the old one was bad. I got in there yesterday, and find that the regulator had been completly bypassed. I had to wait till today to actually do anything , since I now needed blade connectors for the reg.
Well, I went down today, and started to first unhook and lable everything, about halfway through the left side, SMOKE starts pouring out of the instrument cluster. I quickly unhooked everything else, finding two of the dash lights broken (one was just the base, the other the base had come disconnected from the bulb.)
Could these be the source of the smoke?
All of the diffusers were partially melted, but none were warm. I replaced both bulbs.

Anyway, after unhooking the battery (Duh), I hooked everything back up according to spec, and cranked the car up. The only things that have changed is now the gas gauge stays dead too and none of the dash lights seem to work anymore.
Also, while I had the cluster off, I found several "wires to no where" in the dash, some had been wrapped, others left cut and hanging.
I'm not worried about the mystery wires too much now, but they will eventually have to be addressed. I closed off the loose ones with e-tape, and left them to ride for now.
Right now my big question is what else can I do, short of just buying a replacement harness?
Should I just pull the whole interior harness and redo everything?
What could have caused the smoke (aside from the obvious ID10T error)?
Do I have to worry about my interior catching on fire? I unhooked the battery for the time being, though there was no smoke after the inital occurance.

One word: HELP.

Thanks
J

[Jeff65]

I assume this is in regards to your '66 coupe. It helps to know what you're working on.

With respect to cut and damaged wires, it helps to know the color codes of the "mystery" wires since that may be a key to the mess you now have.

You need to make a decision about the harness and whether its worth trying to fix in place or whether its better to remove it to a bench situation where you and better see what you're doing. If you think you have more than a half dozen repairs to make, its probably easier to remove the harness and work on it away from the car.

To proceed below you'll need a shop manual with schematics or one of the cheapie schematics from your local Mustang vendor. You'll also need wiring tools, soldering iron, crimper and Ford bullet male and female connectors (NAPA auto parts).

How to remove it:

Remove glove box liner. Remove instrument panel after looking at the wire locations and comparing them to the schematic. Its important that you understand all the connections and color codes.

Pull out door switches and disconnect male plugs from same. It does not matter which of these males go into the switch. These will be black-red and yellow-green wires if I recall correctly. Do on both doors. Disconnect glove box light. Remove ash tray.

Start from the passenger side and roll back harness towards drivers side. Under hood disconnect the center ignition harness plug...pull on it to release. Also disconnect the lighting harness plug next to the brake master cylinder. Now this is the tricky part. There are four little metal tabs that hold the female side of the plug onto the fire wall sheet metal. You don't want to break these little tabs but you do want to push them inward enough to allow the female plug to release from the firewall. Its hard to get at on the lighting harness next to the fender apron. Be patient!
Once the plugs are released from the firewall go back under dash and peel the harness out through the instrument panel hole. You will have to unscrew a ground that holds the harness to the dash brace on the right side. Disconnect the ignition switch, the cigar lighter, the wiper switch and the headlight switch. You may take these out of the car if you wish for inspection and replacement as necessary. Of four in my car, all four were shot.

Remove the fuse block by unscrewing the two screws that hold it. Disconnect the harness at the brake light switch and the steering column.

Remove the flasher from the air vent tube and peel back the harness into the dash hole. Remove the harness from the dash hole.

Once its out, examine it for visual damage or wires not part of the original harness. If there are extra wires not part of the original assembly...my advice is to discard them unless they are part of an accessory you wish to keep...aftermarket stereo, etc.

Clean up all sockets and lubricate them with electrical paste. Fix any previous owner sins. Restore the harness to factory original configuration. Use the schematics to trace all wires and figure out where each goes and what it does.

This sounds hard but generally its not. It is detailed and does require a bit of brain power. Like any other job you get out of it what you put into it. Usually takes a few hours and the harness starts looking much better. Put back in car in reverse order of removal. Reconnect as you go and double check everything. If you do this, chances are everything will work perfectly. If not, you're left to troubleshoot items not working.

[KiltedBanshees93GT]

Thanks Jeff, the tips on the physical removal of the harness will be priceless, that was one of the things I was dreading.
And yes, it is for the '66, my '93 may be a lost cause w/o a garage to work in.
I've already got most of the supplies except the soldering gun, but we carry those at work for cheap.
I've also for the Ford wiring diagram for the car.

One of the wires was blue, I think it may be the rally pac clock power, but I didnt dig that far in. the other was I believe blue/w black, ending in an "o"ring. There were also a couple of foreign wires, run into the light switch and the harness bundle.

I'm leaning toward removing the whole thing, given the extent of damage (thats what I get for buying w/ my heart ).
As it stands right now, this is what is not working:
gauges (the lights do work now tho, and the speedo and tach always worked)
Radio (aftermarket pony style)
Door light switches (one is completly missing)
Lighter
Hood and trunk lights
Fog lights.

It has an aftermarket blade type fuse box, no idea how its wired. Its enough to make me think about getting a Painless harness, but @500 a pop, thats not really feasable right now.

Anyhow, thanks for the help, I'm going to save your instructions in word for later.

J

[Jeff65]

*Thanks Jeff, the tips on the physical removal of the harness will be priceless, that was one of the things I was dreading.

Its not bad for a stock harness but it does not seem thats what you have. From your description it sounds like someone has already tried unsuccessfully to install a street rod harness.

*One of the wires was blue, I think it may be the rally pac clock power, but I didnt dig that far in. the other was I believe blue/w black, ending in an "o"ring. There were also a couple of foreign wires, run into the light switch and the harness bundle.

Pretty much evidence that your harness is not stock.

*I'm leaning toward removing the whole thing, given the extent of damage (thats what I get for buying w/ my heart

We all do that kind of thing. My '65fb was a mess when I bought it and I spent three years and a lot of dollars fixing it up. Its very much like a new car now.

* As it stands right now, this is what is not working:
gauges Radio (aftermarket pony style)
Door light switches (one is completly missing)
Lighter
Hood and trunk lights
Fog lights.

Seems like the PO simply hooked up enough of the street rod harness to get the car running with no idea of what to do next.

* (the lights do work now tho, and the speedo and tach always worked)

Street rod harness may have been a cheap one with only those functions and left the owner to figure out how to wire the rest. I honestly don't know what to tell you now except that you've got a job on your hands. Its not that its hard to do but without being there and seeing exactly what you've got I don't know where to tell you to start.

Lets try this. If you can put your Mustang in the garage for some time...don't know how long it will take but some long time...several weeks or more then I can perhaps talk you through rewiring most everything. Here's how I propose we do it. Its going to take a lot of communication so using this forum is out of the question. I need your e-mail address. We'll do it a baby step at a time. For each step I will ask you questions and then give you specific step by step instructions to correct the problem. If you're willing to do this then you can probably save the $400 bucks for a new harness. Else I would say that is the best way to go. What do you want to do?

Jeff

[KiltedBanshees93GT]

Jeff,
I would guess parts of it have been fairly heavily rewired, but from the condition of most but not all of the wires I looked over in the dash and the underhood wiring, a considerable portion is still stock.
If you'd be willing to help, that would be great, I'll PM you with my address after I get done here.
I cant keep the car down very long (I live in an apartment complex) but if all the problems can be pinned down, maybe I could fix it in a long weekend.
The reason that I think its the rally clock, is the wire is bundled into the harness on top of the colum near the pacs wiring , and according to what I have the hot wires supposed to be blue/white. This was rather cruddy, but definatly blue. I'll have to take the digital camera down there and take some pics to give you a feeling of what I mean.
Again, your help is really appreciated.

Jorge
PM commencing....

[Kisner]

I had the same problem with my 68 coupe about 3 years ago. My original harness had been cut/spliced in over 30 different locations and battery was draining every 3 days. Was willing to fork out $550 for a new repro harness but at the time nobody sold one for a 68. I located a salvage yard (Georgia I believe) called Mustang Works and ordered a used original from them. Granted the wires were still over 30 years old but it was flawless with not one splice. Fixed all my problems. They charged me $250. If you're interested, their web site is www.mustangworks.com/. Keep in mind the underdash harness does not include the instrument panel harness. They might sell that separate if you need it.

[KiltedBanshees93GT]

Thanks mano, one problem tho, that url is this sites.

J

[Jeff65]

Gorge,

Kisner has suggested another option. You may also get a used harness from www.ilovemymustang.com Don't know what the cost will be.

I'm still willing to help but trying to do it via an open forum is a bad idea. I've checked my profile and the e-mail address given is correctly linked. If you send me your e-mail address via the Mustang Works linked e-mail then we can divorce our conversation from this forum.

Jeff

[KiltedBanshees93GT]

I sent you a message via the "PM" link the first time, I just tried the PM again, and the "profile">private email link this time. Let me know if they dont get through.
BTW, I tried your links for your rides, and got an invalid user ride page, maybe there is some system wonkiness about?

Sorry for any confusion. Anywho, off to bed this time for real,LOL
Jorge

[Jeff65]

Sent you my e-mail address. Ta-Ta for now! Sleep peacefully!

[Kisner]

Ooops sorry. Brain fart. The actual name of the company is Metro Mustang. Their "real" web address is www.metromustang.com/.