The last week I was able to work on the mustang a little bit. I was trying to figure out what these extra wires were that I found when I was re-wiring some of the burnt wires under the engine bay. I noticed two wires with clips on the end and I had no idea what they were for. They didn’t look stock, so I descided to start tracing them back.
The wires I found:
I traced them back through the firewall, then they ran down near the drivers side of the car under the carpet. The big red Zero guage wire is the battery wire thats located in the trunk. I also found some other smaller red wires that ran from the fuse box to the back as well. I could not for the life of me figure out what these wires were. I continued to trace these back under the rear seat to the trunk…
Once I got to the trunk I found a ton more of the wire, then found out that all of this wire was going to a box which controlled some type of high voltage lighting. Once of the previous owners must have been a volunteer fireman. I pulled out the box, and all of the wires, it must have weight at least 25lbs all together.
Hopefully over the this week I’ll be able to see if the changes I made fixed my issues…
Over the past few days I have been slowly going over the engine bay looking for wiring problems. A combo of the heat generated in the engine bay and age of the car resulted in a bunch of wires needing replacement. I am replacing a few of the key wires completely and repairing others where needed. I ran a new 4 gauge alternator wire to the starter solenoid (where power is then distributed). The reason I went with a 4 gauge is so if I decide to go with a 3g alternator you need the bigger wire to support the increased amps. I still need to get a fuse before I finish hooking it up. I was reading that the 3g alternators give you the same amp’s at idle then a stock alternator at 5000 rpm’s, I think that may be my next upgrade.
The old wiring harness, pulled it out so I could get working on cleaning it up and re-routing it. I had to extend a few wires so I could tuck it into the fender.
The new alternator wires, I have them nice and high away from the exhaust so they wont fry like the last ones.
Below is where I still have to clean up wires, however its showing the new 4 gauge wire that needs to be terminated at the solenoid still.
So, everything is running. I’ve been babying it around trying to break in the clutch. Everything seemed OK until I went out to belmore last Friday. I literally pulled in the lot, parked, then the car died. It would turn over, but would not start! So after freaking out for a little, my buddy came over and we ran to 7-11 to get a flash light. Checked everything, and we noticed there was some arching going on near the coil. After it cooled down, the car started up.
I changed the coil to a MSD Blaster 3 (hoping that was the issue). I also changed the plugs, cap and rotor. I went out the other night in the car for a ride, and when I got back home it died again. This time I was out in the street right in front of my house. Again it wouldn’t fire up. I let it sit for 20 min, then bamm it fired right up.
After searching the net, it seems that this could be a TFI issue (Ignition Module). The issue seems to be heat related, because when the car is cold it’s fine. So I ran out to SK-Speed and picked up a new Accel TFI module, a set of wires, and a ground strap. I installed the new TFI and wires tonight, hopefully tomorrow I’ll do the new ground strap. I need to figure out where to put it. So hopefully the issue is the TFI, once this rain stops I’ll be able to test it out. If it runs well, it might be time for a dyno tune!
Here are some pics from last weekend.
Oh, and I also re-organized my shed. Built a work bench, tool/rake holder and a short bench (to keep stuff off the floor). Came out pretty good, shed is nice and clean/organized now.
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