Have a bunch of wiring questions for my 280Z

[dpuma8]

I bought an EZ wiring kit and I thought it was a bit hard trying to adapt it to my car so what I did was rip the wires out of it and try to follow the 1976 wiring diagram (I have a 75). I have a few questions though about how to do this right.

 

1) I know the headlights are ground switched so I followed the relay diagram from the Atlantic Z site. I need to connect my high beam wire to the gauge along with the turn signals. Not sure if the turn signals run off of the ground like the headlights but how do I connect them to my Speedhut gauges? Is there anything special I would need to do to make them work?

 

2) My combination switch doesn't look right. Rather than Red/Black and Red/White on the left combination switch, I have Red/White and Red/Yellow which I thought was just the power. Also there is a pack of thin white wires with a red stripe, black stripe, and I think a green stripe on it. Does anyone recognize these combination switches? How do I wire this up? Should I just get new switches?

 

3) How can I connect multiple wires into one easily for the ignition accessory, on, and start? Which wires should go where? I tried splicing into other wires and it takes a lot of room and looks messy.

 

4) What should I have a relay for in my car? What should be connected to the fuse block?

 

5) I am looking at the Crazy Octopus wiring diagram and he has an 80 amp fuse coming off the battery. I can't really find this kind of fuse holder. Can someone point me towards one?

 

6) How do you determine what size fuse to use for every wire connected to the fuse block?

 

7) The 1976 diagram has a transistor unit and voltage regulator but the EZ wiring harness did not have any of these. I have Megasquirt ready to go in so do I need these things? What else can I drop from the rewiring?

 

8) Do I need a special fuel injection or ignition relay that is different from the 40 amp bosch styled ones I have?

 

9) I see everyone complaining about how strange it was that the turn signals are connected to the hazard switch. Since I have all wires pulled out of the car, is there an easier and smarter way to set my turn signals and hazard switches wired up?

[kaito]

I just did this with a rebel wiring 9+3 harness using all the factory switches. I got all my wiring info from my fsm (just for wiring colors) and the painless sticky. Some of my stuff didnt match up with the sticky info but Ill definetly look at my stuff when I get home and help you out. just give me a few hours, Im still at work.

[dpuma8]

Anyone?Really could use some guidance here

[4.6StangRage]

first of all, I would advise you not to attempt to replace the EFI harness with the aftermarket wiring setups (unless you have a system like Wolf EMS, MegaSquirt, or a refurbed stock harness. A Standard style Relay for the EFI can be used, but you need to know what triggers certain parts of the relay to do the voltage switching. There is a 6 Pin (or 5 pin with 1 stray pin, i think) connector which joins the EFI harness to rest of the Z harness, I would look into what you need from there. You need numerous relays (not entirely sure how many or what exactly they are) in your car and they are configured differently than a standard 5-pin relay. The large fuse you are asking about is called a MAXI fuse, some audio shops sell Maxi fuse blocks otherwise you can check out your local auto-parts store or look it up on painless wiring's website. Weatherpack connectors are expensive but are worth it and keep everything clean. I would recommend making the wiring in the column area longer to where they connect under the dash, I would use smaller pin connectors for in the column. Buy a Weatherpack tool because it will save you so much time. Wire sizes, length and Fuse amp ratings are to be taken into effect when wiring. Anything with an electric motor will draw high amps because they peak at high amps during the closing of circuits. Looking up some electrical principles would help in understanding how electrical circuitry works, trust me on this for I wire hot rods for a living. There is a lot to consider when you build a circuit. Protection? do I need a relay for this device? Does my relay have protection? When it comes to specific wiring, the original diagram will not be specific enough to help you, when it comes to this, you just need to do heavy research. Are you using the black/white diagram? These are just some things to think about.

Edited July 4, 2012 by 4.6StangRage

[Silverone858]

You should get a multimeter or some kind of fuse protected test light or even a powerprobe, with it you can test switches and easily figure out if they switch ground or 12v and quickly identify the wires the switch uses. If you know how standard bosch style relays work you can mock up circuits and test the outputs to be sure you get what you want. Buy a box of 1a fuses and use them to test your circuits to be sure it works the way it should, it's best to find a mistake with a cheap fuse than to ruin some other components.

[dpuma8]

Ugh.........I think I am so close but I guess so far away. I am using the color 1976 Wiring Diagram I found on the internet but some of it is difficult to follow. All wires are ripped out so I have no choice but to custom wire everthing.

 

Yes I have Megasquirt.

 

Any help with those numbered questions I laid out?

[NewZed]

You have bitten off a choke-size piece of work.

 

This might help you out with the combo switch wire colors. Apparently there were several combo switch versions used over the years.

 

http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/electrical.htm

 

Edit and p.s. - I saw your question about "transistor unit". You should read through the FSM to figure out how your engine and control system works before going too much further. If you're asking if you need a transistor unit, you have a lot of reading to do. Read the Megamanual site also. http://www.megamanual.com/index.html

Edited July 7, 2012 by NewZed