clinton70

Slowly closing up the electrical situation.

Couple things for this snowy (yes, on the northern tip of that monster storm) Friday:

I have two aftermarket gauges, engine temp and oil pressure. Trying to get them lit at night. I got two bulbs for them. Somehow, I can't tap into the gray wire. They stay dead. Clock light is dead (bulb changed) so I can't use that. Ashtray lights work but I want to keep them there for the stock look. What other wire can I tap into for these two gauges and a potential move for the clock light.

Also, have a aftermarket trunk lamp, probably a couple watts darker than the old, which was missing when I bought the Toro. It works but doesn't shut off when the trunk is shut. The chassis and body manuals are vague on this trunk lamp. Was the old one connected to the trunk latch?

Found a clock that could be the new clock. It fits into the old clock's slot and is battery powered because I plan to keep the battery disco'd when I'm not driving it.
Solenoid is here, so I work on that later too. Hopefully with that and if the added lights work, the dash and driver door can be put back together.

Also, don't underestimate rubber undercoating. I got high off that stuff and a 10 minute nausea episode.

Lady72nRob71

Sounds like you would need to find out why the gray instrument light feed is dead. The lights for all the dash controls, ashtray, & clock all come from this same source. If you are concerned about cutting wires, carefully remove a terminal from a socket and solder on a small wire that can be run to your new light.
If just the clock light was dead after a bulb change, did the clock have a good ground?

The A body trunk light was controlled by a lever running on the trunk lid hinge, but not sure about the Toro. It is powered right off the main 12V feed, so it must have its own switch. It could be mercury switch controlled like the hood lamp in the A bodies. Your aftermarket one should be mercury switched and perhaps it is not tilting enough to turn off...

clinton70

Ashtray and flood lights work but I can't add any new lights. Wires already cut (I have connectors). It seems not to want to power more lights than it already does.

The trunk lamp is actually a license plate lamp so maybe it doesn't have a mercury. I'll look for something by the hinges that maybe belonged to the old lamp.

Lady72nRob71

So do the rest just dim, go out, or does the fuse blow?
Sounds like maybe you can get some LED replacement bulbs for the ashtray to bring the current draw down enough to power your other new light. It is possible that the previous owner replaced the existing bulbs with ones of too high a current draw (ie. 168 bulbs in place of 194's, etc.)

You're kidding, right?
Of course that does not have a mercury switch.
Who in the heck tried to rewire this thing? With what you have shown and told me so far, I am surprised the car was not destroyed by an electrical fire!
I bet he believed that since the light in his fridge stays on all the time, so should his trunk light.
In MY fridge, the penguins turn it off when i close the door.

clinton70

All the normal bulbs survive and are okay. I replaced all the bulbs with the ones specified in the chassis manual so wrong bulbs can be ruled out (remember almost no lights worked when I got it January 13). Guess, it (gray line) just doesn't like extra lights added or something. These sunpro ones are probably weaker too. Might just run it off a orange line if anything else fails. It would always be on but not sure on the life expectancy of these bulbs.

Fresh driver door solenoid works though, sweet. Guess the other one was seized to death literally. Only took 5 minutes too and was supposedly from a right door of a Cadillac but fit the driver door like a GLOVE.

Actually, I did the license plate light for the trunk light. Could be a "band aid fix" for now. Was only 3 dollars and I made sure to keep the wattage in check (it's 2/3 of the original trunk lamp/bulb). The trunk had no light when I bought it, just a loose wire. I guess I might be able to deal with the constant on for now, considering I always leave the negative cable off the battery unless I'm driving/checking the electrics. I just think it was connected to the trunk latch or to the trunk release button in the glove box (the silly electric diagram in the manual shows it does :P ).

Lady72nRob71

Why not just add the LED bulbs in the Sunpro gauges. The LEDs take such little power that the dash light circuit would not even notice it. This way it is all hooked up to the right spot.
If this is not an option, wire the sunpro lights to the switched 12V radio lead. Then the lights will be on only when the ket is on.

Glad the lock got fixed - excellent job at getting a righty into a lefty without mods!

Why not just hit the local bone yard and grab an underhood light? The ones from the 90's Cadillacs look very nice (enclosed plastic shell) and ones from almost any Cutlass style car (Chrome hooded open bulb) will function well (and they all have mercury switches.)
Last option - tap the trunk light into the side marker light circuit, so the light is on only when the rest of the lights are on.

With all the time and effort you are putting into this car, I would encourage you to wire it to where you would not have to disconnect the battery. This is inconvenient and what if you want to go on a long drive and stay somewhere for a while? A dead battery is a big problem and pulling the battery cable is a pain and will wear out the terminal also.

The trunk latch release is on the same circuit but they do not show the switch in the glove box for some reason.

clinton70

Probably will eventually get LED bulbs but trying to keep the cost low for now since my job has been off and on.

Can't find a junker car of mine around, oldest is like 1988 Toronado. Will try the side marker tap.

For the battery, probably getting a kill switch. Am wearing out the battery connector but was crappy shape before.

Also, the tail high light relays, trying to figure out what to hook where. I have two different kinds of relays, both are blower motor relays but one is for auto climate. Might have a general idea but probably can't mess something like this up. Pics of them attached. One is self grounding I think, the one with the chrome looking 5 port.

Lady72nRob71

For the std relay on the left, the top right (only) pin is the coil (~50-60 Ohms to case ground). Wire from existing low tail light inputs there. Be sure to mount relay on a metal surface.
Orange hot wire goes to middle pin on the left. Wire to the upper tail light goes to the left top pin (looks like there is a 3 by it.)
I verified this with a spare relay I have.

The other relay I will have to research, as I do not have that one.
You can use an ohm meter to find the coil. It may not have a case ground.
My guess is 4 is coil, 5 is coil ground and contacts are same as the other one...

clinton70

Got the first one hooked up.

Yeah, tried to find a diagram. Noone has them. All everyone has is the 85-87 type basic relays.

Tried to compare it to how the relays are hooked up under the hood but the chassis book omits the numbers and the diagram looks like it was done by a drunk :P .

clinton70

Absolutely nothing on this part RY13 and Standard's site is a big joke and everyone else only have pictures, connecting the ohm meter's red and black to the 4 and 5 ports revealed a + number. The relay itself has no diagram on it, or anything of use.

Lady72nRob71

What was the number? If around 40-60 Ohms, then thats the coil. Apply a good little 9V battery across those terminals and it should click.

I would then hook it up just like the other one, only difference would be grounding the right bottom terminal. NOTE how similar the pins look to the other relay but only its ground is a case rivet ?
The contacts should be the same as the other one - they are in the same configuration.