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So I have been working on a no crank no start for my 1984 944. this car was running well as wired. Suddenly, had a no crank no start situation. I started to investigate the wiring and found the following -
On the images that follow please see detail.
First, there appear to be a lead off the + battery terminal that splits to two wires each through a fusible link that were then wired back together and run across the engine bay to the drivers side and then into the cabin under that dash. Are there supposed to be two wires? The wires are hot using my test light at the battery terminal and each of the two areas the previous owner had spliced in the wires.
Second, this pictures (below) show the fusible links disconnected. Each fusible link using a test light are hot as they should be. However, even when the fusible links are disconnected, the wire with the splices remains hot with my test light at each of the spliced spots.
Is there aftermarket stereo stuff installed? Disconnected from the battery, I can't think of a reason those should be hot; it makes me think that there's a short, or miswired section, somewhere down the line.
That wiring is making my eye twitch. Even if you don't remove it completely, which you might really want to consider, as it doesn't appear to be doing anything, that needs a proper cleanup for safety's sake. At the very least, I think it will be worth your time to trace where that goes, isolate it, and then keep working on your no start condition. This could be causing all kinds of havoc with electrical systems that are just sensitive enough to get thrown off by something like this.
Is there aftermarket stereo stuff installed? Disconnected from the battery, I can't think of a reason those should be hot; it makes me think that there's a short, or miswired section, somewhere down the line.
That wiring is making my eye twitch. Even if you don't remove it completely, which you might really want to consider, as it doesn't appear to be doing anything, that needs a proper cleanup for safety's sake. At the very least, I think it will be worth your time to trace where that goes, isolate it, and then keep working on your no start condition. This could be causing all kinds of havoc with electrical systems that are just sensitive enough to get thrown off by something like this.
Good luck
So, funny you should say that. There is a microphone on the dash with a wire that disappears into the dash. That is a problem.. But not the major problem.
Whatever that is, it didn't come from the factory. Perhaps someone added a high power stereo that the factory wiring could not support, and paralleled that wiring with the existing wiring. Whomever did it certainly likes the concept of parallel wiring.
The only after market stuff in the car is a microphone for I am not sure why and an aftermarket stereo. There are two other wires under the dash as pictured below. I assume there are for the aftermarket accessories.
What did you think about the fact that the wires at the batter, even when disconnected (last picture of my initial post) were hot? My assumption is that they were being fed current retrogradely ?
I agree that whatever was being done to set up aftermarket electronics has resulted in a situation where one of the new wires in the battery box is tapped into something on your "always hot" circuit. If you don't have them, this would be a good time to get copies of the wiring diagrams. It will also help to nail down what else might be causing your general issue.
I didn't see it in this post, so apologies if I missed it somewhere else, but have you followed the Clark's Garage process to narrow down the potential cause of your no-start?
Thank you. Yes. I am focusing on the ignition switch because when I turn the key I get nothing - no lights on dash or anything. Interestingly right after the no start started, I was able to see lights on dash, wipers worked etc, but no more. The car ran with the wiring as it currently is in these pictures. none of it has been disconnected. I am replacing the starter as well for good measure. Despite this wiring mess, the car did start and run. I am not sure if taking all the funky wiring down until I get the car to start is smart. I know it all needs a good redo job.
If you have any suggestions apart from above, please share.
11-21-2023, 11:19 AM
Battery Business - Please help
