where to start (wiring ign/solenoid/dash)

[Juarez88]

I feel embarrassed saying this and posting in this section again, but I don't want to take any chances. The other day I was removing old vents and hoses so I can plug up the holes in the firewall to help avoid engine fumes. Anyway A couple of the hoses were attached to a metal box (behind the center console which holds some vents in the dash) and the nuts were held on tightly. I used wd40 to loosen the nuts and was able to remove them with no problem.

 

As I attempted to remove the box It was caught between something and I was unable to see what it was (night time). I didn't notice that it was bare metal and the surface it was held on to was metal and as I wiggled it out it ignited the remaining wd40 residue. Being an old car dust/cobwebs were around and before I had any time to react it had spread to the remaining plastic vents in the dash and was nearly out of control.I tried franticly to put it out using everything I could find and was finally able to with a fire extinguisher my roommate has.

 

during the time the car was on fire, the lights turned on and off, the horn (though not connected correctly) and basically the entire car was acting out of control. I was nearly loosing control of the situation and my buddy disconnected the battery which shut off the lights and electrical stuff and we continued use water and a fire extinguisher to put off the fire.

 

The aftermath of the entire situation was my rpm gauge, oil/amp,fuel and clock gauges were all fried. A few fuses in my fuse box were fried but amazingly enough the wiring to the fuse box was intact with a few plastic drops on them. The ignition wiring looks very good and has no signs of any fire damage to it but most of the wiring from the gauges is fried. I waited a couple of days for the wiring to dry on its own and during that time I cleaned up the car and inspected the damages before thinking of reconnecting the battery.

 

So I reconnected the battery and it was dead (deka etx14) and had it charged. After reconnecting it with a good charge the windshield wipers were on and stay on. I can not turn them off and there is a slight whining sound coming from the firewall. The lights turn on, the turn signals work and the emergency lights work but the windshield wiper will not turn off. Whenever I tried to stark the car, I hear nothing. The fire did not reach the engine and most of the wiring looks intact and fine.

 

I read the engine won't start sticky and would like to know if the horn going off and lights flickering sounds like a solenoid issue. Have any of you dealt with fire damage and wiring? I let my friend who is a electrician know and he's going to take a look at it and check the wiring for me. I would like a few pointers so I can do this properly and avoid any future accidents.

 

I would note that one of the solenoids that was mounted in the dash was destroyed and covered with melted plastic. I'm really bummed out because my intentions were only to make this car drivable and get rid of the fumes. I wasn't messing with any wiring of mechanical parts of the car, I was only removing plastic vents and the metal heater box behind the center console. I made a stupid mistake that could have easily been avoided.

 

 

The car is a 73 240z with roundtop carbs and appears to be stock. No aftermarket fusebox and there is no cd player, ac or heater.

 

p.s i did call the fire dept and let neighbors know about the situation during the ordeal.

[RTz]

Very sorry to hear that.

 

I don't know what your end goals are for the car, but my first thought is to remove the stock harness entirely and install another. I'm afraid trying to fix one thing at a time is going to result in serious tail chasing and possibly another fire.

 

Good luck,

[RB26powered74zcar]

I feel for you buddy.... I think I have a pretty nice complete 240 wire harness I picked up off ebay awhile ago that I can donate to your cause. I know how ruff it can be on a person when crap like that happens, especially when you can't afford to fix it.

 

If you want to pay the shipping, I'll help you out with this. Send me a PM if so.

 

joel

[woldson]

With the amount of problem people have with new wiring, triing to fix the old stuff will problaly result in you hateing the car. Maby this is a good time for also wiring in megasquirt!

[Juarez88]

I'm going to bump this thread to ask a dash harness part number question. So I took the advice that was suggested (remove dash,ect) and have all the replacement parts with the exception of the dash harness. I tried asking several dealers and part guys if they carried it but no one came through. It wasn't until this morning someone returned my call once they found a harness.

 

So, here's my question.

 

 

I have a 1973 Dash Harness with the part # 24013, N3321/N3322. Would I be able to use a harness with the part # 24013 N3324/N3325 OR # 24013 N3326/N3327?

 

Apparently 1973 dash harness are not interchangeable with other years (from what I've been told by a few people) so it makes it a little more difficult determining which harness would work. Hope one of you has the answer to this question, thanks!

 

PS. I searched but had 348 results. I looked through about 120 of them but didn't find anything on this.

[sTonedaZn]

I got 2 wiring harness

 

both from a 77280z

1 i'm swapping with my 73

other i can donate

i'm in nor cal

[hoov100]

I got 2 wiring harness

 

both from a 77280z

1 i'm swapping with my 73

other i can donate

i'm in nor cal

 

lvl 2 necro-post!