gb20 Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 This is in a '74 260. 2 days ago I was cruisin' down the street and my temp gauge started to rise. I got home and checked all my fluids and they were fine. The engine was barely warm, but the guage had spiked. Then on my way to work, every time I hit the brakes or turned on a blinker I would hear a "click" over by the fuse box and everything would shut off. Then another "click" and everything was back on. By the time I got back home, that click was shutting the whole car off then turning it back on. Do I have a short in my fuse box or is there another problem somewhere else? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys. gb20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Is your water pump mechanical or electric? Your fan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb20 Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 They're mechanical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okimoto Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 I'm not sure but is there a main relay in those cars? It sounds like it could be a harness problems to me. First the temp gauge goes full voltage and then the car shuts off? check behind the dash harness? I would check the following prior to a harness inspection: Ignition switch Fuse box connections, including underneath the fusebox. Solenoid connections Battery connections Alternator connections ampmeter Shunt for Alternator I would probably check the harness behind the dash last since it's hard to get back there, though it seems to be the most likely culprit. (break in the wiring insulation, etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memmert Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 If you are hearing a click the only thing I can think of that does that is a Relay and a relay ticking when you don't expect it to can only be a short. You should be able to see if there are any relay's in the general vicinity of the noise you hear. Once you do that (and if you find one) Identify it's purpose then trace the circuit on both sides of that relay, one should go to the battery and the other should go to it's destination. Lights, dash, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naviathan Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 This might sound odd, but check the wiring inside your wheel wells to your front quarter panel turn signals. I had a similar incident in my 77, the wires were hanging loose inside the wheel well and tire wore the insulation off causing a short that made the electrical go screwy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8ZRACER260Z Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 What do you mean everything turned off? Just your lights, turn signals or the entire electrical system. It sound like two thing to me, a relay that is losing its control power/ground or a circuit breaker clicking off & on. I have a 74 260 and don't recall there being a circuit breaker in the stock system. But I'll need better details to help you on this one. I worked on avionics on F18's in the Marines and can solve any automotive electrical problem with the right information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb20 Posted January 27, 2007 Author Share Posted January 27, 2007 When I say everything, it's the whole electrical system, the engine, everything. The clicking is coming from under the passenger dash. I know there are relays on the other side of the firewall there so I'll check those out and see what I see. I think I may just get a new electrical system put in with my tax return. Thanks for all the help guys. gb20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb20 Posted January 27, 2007 Author Share Posted January 27, 2007 I did some searching last night and this morning, and I think I have decided to go with the painless 18 circuit wiring harness. After looking around at the wires in the car, there are so many of them that are barely hanging on (chared, broken, loose hanging, ect.), I think it will save a lot of time and frustration in the future. I know painless has been covered many times in here, but if anyone has any tips for doing this, that would be great. Oh, by the way, wiring is completely new for me. I'm totally freaked out about redoing the whole thing, but it should be a great learning experience. gb20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okimoto Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 I did some searching last night and this morning, and I think I have decided to go with the painless 18 circuit wiring harness. After looking around at the wires in the car, there are so many of them that are barely hanging on (chared, broken, loose hanging, ect.), I think it will save a lot of time and frustration in the future. I know painless has been covered many times in here, but if anyone has any tips for doing this, that would be great. Oh, by the way, wiring is completely new for me. I'm totally freaked out about redoing the whole thing, but it should be a great learning experience. gb20 Do you really need 18 circuits in a 260? I had 1/3 of that in my 240 to make it street legal. Please also remember that the painless isn't "plug and play". No. You will have to do alot of splicing, referencing, tying off about 12 useless circuits, cutting off a few useless circuits, etc. You won't have the full functionality of all the circuits in the car without some hand wiring either, such as windshield wipers, alternator regulator circuitry, flux capicator, and some sensors. I will admit that the painless kit came with some primo top-notch high-grade wiring, but I feel that if you're going to go that far, you may as well go full-on custom and save some headaches. With your own harness, you will know exactly whats going on because you would have designed it from scratch. With the painless, you have to read a "manual". such brutality should only be saved for the likes of women and wussies. Before you buy the harness, try doing a bit of research into what you actually need and use in the car, and if the 18 circuit harness is really right for you. I've rewired two 240's. One with the 18 circuit and one with my own homemade wiring harness. I can say without a doubt that my wiring harness was better suited for my application than the painless generic 18 circuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinhZXT Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Before wiring anything you still need to understand how everything work electrically in the car. Even with the painless wring you still need to completely understand how everything works before you can wire it up. If you understand how everything works then why not find out what really wrong and fix it. So the bottom line is find out exactly what is wrong first. There aren't many relays in your Z. Maybe 3 or 4 the most on the passenger side. Relay rarely goes bad. I suggest you start checking all the connectors associate with the main power feed into the relays and fuse box. Your car doesn't have 1 relay that controls all the electrical system in the car. So it has to be the main power feed either to the ignition switch or the main power feed to the fuse box that is not making good connection that caused the lost of power. I suggest you check the connection for the fusible links, check the ignition switch contacts. Behind the carpet on the passenger side there is a big connector that feed the power from the fusible links to the iginition switch and fuse box. Check to see there is no corrosion there. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memmert Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 That slays me. Was that an option for my 83 too? if so I am definately hunting the junkyard for a donor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endurorider Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 A big problem area is the connection behind the glove box. I had on I worked on for a customer that when it rained, water would leak through the windshield gasket and onto the group of conectors behind the glove box creating a no start condition along with no lights. Found corrosion on many when pulled apart and I cleaned them and ran a couple of bypass for a couple of the 12 gauge wires. So take a look at those connections. open them up and if you see green corrsion, clean them with battery cleaner and use a small prick to tighten pin tention on them or butt or(prefered) solder and shrink tube in some bypass connections. add some dieelectric grease to the pins after cleaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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