About a year ago I had a short circuit in my 65 Fastback that burned out the harness from the dash to the headlights. Luckily my insurance paid for the repair and a local Ferrari shop did the install. There were some issues with the AAW harness and I was forced to buy a "one-wire" alternator since the original one was not compatible with the harness. The dash light switch that came with the harness was also defective so I had to but another. AAW sent me another but the shipping time was an issue to getting the car back. Initially everything was good then I noticed the aftermarket gauges (Amp/temp/oil press) mounted under the dash below the ignition switch were not lighting up. Then one day the tach stopped functioning.

I always hated the small 3-gauge set and started looking for larger ones and mounting options. My car is quite loud and radio does not work. I could replace the radio but I couldn't hear it when it did work (two hearing aids) so I decided I would just pull it and put the gauges in the dash.

When I opened the dash I quickly found there was no power to the tach and could not trace where the shop had connected it because of a lot of tape. I moved that to the power stud on the back of the ignition switch and all was good. I had to move/extend some wires to get the gauges connected, particularly the two leads for the Amp gauge. When I cut the leads there was a small spark, forgot to disconnect the battery. When I got everything connected the Amp gauge was reading "12" with the ignition switch in the off position, when I disconnect a lead it went to zero. I tried the old gauge and it did the same thing. All other lighting works normally with the switches. When I tried to start the car the ignition switch did not activate the starter motor but all of the lights work. I used a large screwdriver to cross two studs on the solenoid and was able to start the car and it runs as normal.

I pulled the starter switch and discovered some really concerning work. Apparently the shop got something installing the harness and burned up the ignition switch pigtail, there is some evidence of the the existing wires have been exposed to flame. Rather than get a new pigtail from one of the two sources here (available in 2 days) they improvised with what looks like a glue of some sort and various colored wires... I now have in hand a new switch and pigtail so I have to track down the existing wires to get the connections right. I know that the heavy purple wire goes to the solenoid.....

I improvised an volt gauge using an extra amp gauge I have. I used this to check voltage at the solenoid connection of the wire from the old switch. I got a strong 12 volts so I don't think I have a burned out wire hiding in the tape. The starter is not activated though so I am thinking the ignition switch is the current problem. Is there something else I should be considering?



three questions:

1. Do I need to do something about the amp gauge or is this somehow normal? I don't remember the Amp gauge being on 12 with the ignition off before, I will have to look and see if I have a photo somewhere to check.

Update: I found a picture of the old gauges and with the engine off the Amp gauge was at "0". I think I will have to go in and relocate the hot wire to that gauge.

2. Can I run a hot line from the ignition post stud to the Amp gauge or does it need to come from somewhere else?


3


. I found a location behind the instrument cluster where there are a lot of "grounds" connected to the chassis, can I add others here or can I overload a location?


BTW: I hate playing with electrical but being here in the Black Forest I don't have many options. German "car guys" are for the most part drivers, most can't/won't turn a wrench.

 

Today I tracked the purple wire to the Solenoid. I then cut the pink wire and using my improvised voltmeter determined it is the hot line to the ignition switch so the last red line is to the coil. Once I got this connected the ignition would still not turn the starter. I ran another line from the switch to the solenoid and viola the car will start. Looks like I need to removed the purple line and replace it... I used bullet connectors and shrink tube to make things easier.

I do however still have a problem with the Amp gauge, it is showing 12 amps with the ignition off. How do I track down the problem? Could this come from the radio power or something else?

 

I discovered the leads to the amp gauge were coming direct from the +/- on the battery.....

I have relocated them, positive to the post on the ignition switch and Negative to the ground behind the instrument panel.

I replaced the lead from the ignition switch to the solenoid since it was not working. I was going to remove the old one but that would be a crazy amount of work. There is a bundle of three wires going from the interior into the engine bay wrapped in cloth tape. When I dug into that I found two of the wires (of course the one I wanted to remove was one) were wrapped together in plastic tape. I checked both ends (at the firewall and at the solenoid) and found plastic tape. I suppose when a day comes that it is really bothering me I will have to disconnect everything and take it apart....